Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[XARA]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering whether you had an opinion on how to approach the question: "How is [Firm X] different to other firms you have applied to?". Does answering this entail listing the firms you have applied and drawing comparisons, or perhaps taking a more abstract approach? Thanks

Just to note this is for an application answer, not an interview question.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering whether you had an opinion on how to approach the question: "How is [Firm X] different to other firms you have applied to?". Does answering this entail listing the firms you have applied and drawing comparisons, or perhaps taking a more abstract approach? Thanks

Either option can work as long as you are specific in terms of linking it to your motivations.

 

[XARA]

Either option can work as long as you are specific in terms of linking it to your motivations.

Great thanks!

 

[Andrew M]

Looking for some help with a question please!

"Think of a current commercial issue that has recently attracted your attention. Why does this interest you and why do you consider it to be significant?"

The wording of it is making me doubt myself... Should I be explicitly linking the commercial issue to the firms practice areas? And if so, how much of the word count (250 words) should I devote to that, versus against "why does this interest you"?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Looking for some help with a question please!

"Think of a current commercial issue that has recently attracted your attention. Why does this interest you and why do you consider it to be significant?"

The wording of it is making me doubt myself... Should I be explicitly linking the commercial issue to the firms practice areas? And if so, how much of the word count (250 words) should I devote to that, versus against "why does this interest you"?

you don’t have to explicitly link it to the firms practice areas unless you want to (and obviously if you can do so). If it is obvious it is linked to the type of work the firm does, then it will be obvious to the reader and may not need explaining. What will need explaining though is your interest in that subject matter.

 

[Andrew M]

you don’t have to explicitly link it to the firms practice areas unless you want to (and obviously if you can do so). If it is obvious it is linked to the type of work the firm does, then it will be obvious to the reader and may not need explaining. What will need explaining though is your interest in that subject matter.

Thank you! I'm used to there being more of a "how does this impact our clients" slant on these kinds of questions.

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering if you think this would be an appropriate question to ask at an interview (purely because I am extremely curious about this) - "What are your thoughts on how the firm has promoted female representation in senior leadership, and do you think the firm can do more?"

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering if you think this would be an appropriate question to ask at an interview (purely because I am extremely curious about this) - "What are your thoughts on how the firm has promoted female representation in senior leadership, and do you think the firm can do more?"

Yes - perfectly good question to ask unless the firm has a very clear policy on this and has promoted it heavily on their website/through PR channels. If they do, then you can just twist the question around a little to ask how that is working on a practical level/what successes are they seeing so far.

 

[IntrepidL]

Thank you, @Jessica Booker!

 

[NLaw18]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I was wondering what sort of skills the recruiter or firm might be trying to assess through this question ‘What does exceptional client service look like from a future facing lawyer?’
Thank you.

 

[Hermes123]

Hi Jessica,

I got a query in relation to the following statement:

"Please give full details of previous and current employment/ work experience. List specific responsibilities, experience and knowledge gained".

Particularly, it asks the candidate to list the knowledge she has gained. Now, my question is whether this has to be addressed explicitly by way of an extra sentence or two? Generally, if I were to list work experience my approach would be to talk about what particular tasks I've done; wouldn't the knowledge gained be doing these particular tasks be implicit so to make it superfluous to mention what I've gained from them separately?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I was wondering what sort of skills the recruiter or firm might be trying to assess through this question ‘What does exceptional client service look like from a future facing lawyer?’
Thank you.

They are assessing your knowledge of the job and the industry.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I got a query in relation to the following statement:

"Please give full details of previous and current employment/ work experience. List specific responsibilities, experience and knowledge gained".

Particularly, it asks the candidate to list the knowledge she has gained. Now, my question is whether this has to be addressed explicitly by way of an extra sentence or two? Generally, if I were to list work experience my approach would be to talk about what particular tasks I've done; wouldn't the knowledge gained be doing these particular tasks be implicit so to make it superfluous to mention what I've gained from them separately?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Knowledge can be something separate to understanding how to do a task. It is important not to be superfluous as you have suggested, but in some cases describing responsibilities, experiences and knowledge may actually be three different things.

 

[Vivie]

Hi Jessica,

I am preparing for my vacation scheme applications and have heard it is highly recommended to network with the recruitment team so basically they know your name when reading applications. Is that true? And how would you recommend approaching them? I'm really bad at networking and have no clue on how to make it natural!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I am preparing for my vacation scheme applications and have heard it is highly recommended to network with the recruitment team so basically they know your name when reading applications. Is that true? And how would you recommend approaching them? I'm really bad at networking and have no clue on how to make it natural!

is this for a particular firm or were you told this more generally?

If more generally, then on one level it is rubbish. Recruitment teams in a normal year will meet 100s possibly even 1000s of people and a good percentage of those people will be good candidates you would want to try and remember. They also meet candidates over multiple years (you could easily meet a first year non-law student in their first year, who doesn’t apply until 3 years later). So remembering is generally impossible - the exception will be people you have met for a long period of time like a first year programme or an open day.

Sometimes firms have data capture systems where they basically flag candidates who are particularly impressive, but with the lack of face-to-face events this year that’s going to be difficult too. But even the firms that use those type of systems, if your application is not strong enough it means nothing. And also if you have a strong application and you haven’t met the firm, you are still going to be considered/shortlisted. Firms don’t really use these systems for recruitment purposes, they use it to make decisions on whether the events are successful or not.

You could interact with the firms online if they are running virtual events/webinars - that doesn’t really require networking as such though. All you have to do is participate online.

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi Jessica, for interview questions, such as "Tell me a commercial story you've been following," I've been following a few but I am not sure what would be the best way to structure my answers given that my interview answer would probably be 2 minutes or so.

Would it be appropriate to go straight to how the commercial story would affect the firm and the opportunities/challenges it presents, or should I give several facts of the story first? Thank you

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, for interview questions, such as "Tell me a commercial story you've been following," I've been following a few but I am not sure what would be the best way to structure my answers given that my interview answer would probably be 2 minutes or so.

Would it be appropriate to go straight to how the commercial story would affect the firm and the opportunities/challenges it presents, or should I give several facts of the story first? Thank you

no - you only need to answer the question. This is where many candidates go wrong, they go on a long rambling answer thinking they should cover other questions. The interviewer is there and is capable - they can ask you a follow up question like “how would this affect the firm” if they think it’s suitable.

 

[Shalli]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I appreciate only so much you can probably help with this, but I have a TC interview tomorrow and still haven't been sent passwords across for the virtual platforms (I was told I would receive this today), I have tried to contact GR but had no luck! I'm slightly worried about what to do in this instance, do you know if there is anything else I can do ??

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I appreciate only so much you can probably help with this, but I have a TC interview tomorrow and still haven't been sent passwords across for the virtual platforms (I was told I would receive this today), I have tried to contact GR but had no luck! I'm slightly worried about what to do in this instance, do you know if there is anything else I can do ??

what time is it due to start tomorrow?

it’s only 6.00pm - some grad rec teams will still be working so it might be the case it is sent later this evening.

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I was wondering would it be okay to resubmit a successful cover letter that was only rejected after the online test? I was thinking about making a few minor alterations (i.e updating some work experience) but to keep most of the cover letter the same. Thank you so much.