Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

My firm will rescind my TC offer if I don’t get a commendation, and list it as a requirement on their website if you’ve done the GDL before applying. It varies from firm to firm of course, but I personally wouldn’t risk narrowing my choices by not scoring highly in the GDL.

That will be quite unique. Not a lot of firms have that requirement as a minimum criteria, although will still see strong academics in the GDL as a positive.

 

[TC fiend]

That will be quite unique. Not a lot of firms have that requirement as a minimum criteria, although will still see strong academics in the GDL as a positive.

If I've already got a first class civil law LLB, a 2:1RG LLM and 2 years of paralegal experience (alongside the full time GDL), do you think they might be a bit more lenient? Appreciate that's a very specific set of criteria but I'm now freaking out because I am stressed about my last set of GDL exams.... I did well on the first ones but then life and work got in the way.

 

[IRO]

That will be quite unique. Not a lot of firms have that requirement as a minimum criteria, although will still see strong academics in the GDL as a positive.

I didn’t realise my firm was so unusual in this regard. I have edited my earlier post to reflect this!

 

[Jessica Booker]

If I've already got a first class civil law LLB, a 2:1RG LLM and 2 years of paralegal experience (alongside the full time GDL), do you think they might be a bit more lenient? Appreciate that's a very specific set of criteria but I'm now freaking out because I am stressed about my last set of GDL exams.... I did well on the first ones but then life and work got in the way.

For any firm that doesn’t have a GDL grade requirement, undoubtedly. Especially if you have been working and doing the GDL at the same time.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello, @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. I have a few unique extra-curricular activities IMO - for example a year long-distance learning diploma in Commercial/Business Laws, a runners-up prize in a Legal Opinion Writing contest, Rank 12/140 in a Contract Drafting Competition and participation in a Client Counselling contest. My idea is to pitch these string of events as one and subsequently make a point about how I had gone out of my way to really understand the role of a commercial lawyer and their daily duties (basically my answer to "Why law"). Could you please tell me:

1: Is there a better way to pitch these experiences than the one that I have described?

2: If I pitch these string of experiences in my "Why law" answer, can I reuse them individually for any competency questions that I'm asked subsequently in the interview? Basically, would it be okay to reuse these experiences?

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello, @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. I have a few unique extra-curricular activities IMO - for example a year long-distance learning diploma in Commercial/Business Laws, a runners-up prize in a Legal Opinion Writing contest, Rank 12/140 in a Contract Drafting Competition and participation in a Client Counselling contest. My idea is to pitch these string of events as one and subsequently make a point about how I had gone out of my way to really understand the role of a commercial lawyer and their daily duties (basically my answer to "Why law"). Could you please tell me:

1: Is there a better way to pitch these experiences than the one that I have described?

2: If I pitch these string of experiences in my "Why law" answer, can I reuse them individually for any competency questions that I'm asked subsequently in the interview? Basically, would it be okay to reuse these experiences?

Thanks.

1) Your why law should not just be backward looking with what you have done, but forward looking as well. You can leverage these experiences to show you have been proactively pursuing opportunities, but just doing them doesn’t really show why you want to be a commercial lawyer.

2) yes

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

1) Your why law should not just be backward looking with what you have done, but forward looking as well. You can leverage these experiences to show you have been proactively pursuing opportunities, but just doing them doesn’t really show why you want to be a commercial lawyer.

2) yes

Please correct me if I'm wrong but what you mean is that if I say that I participated in the Legal Opinion writing contest, I can make the point that I find the act of simplifying, complex and jargon-heavy legal information, really fulfilling.

Similarly, if I say that I participated in the Contract Drafting Contest, I can make a point about how I liked the fact that I had to understand the underlying business thoroughly before I could draft the contract and how by doing this as a commercial lawyer day in and day out, this would improve my knowledge about a number of sectors and industries across the board which is important to me.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but what you mean is that if I say that I participated in the Legal Opinion writing contest, I can make the point that I find the act of simplifying, complex and jargon-heavy legal information, really fulfilling.

Similarly, if I say that I participated in the Contract Drafting Contest, I can make a point about how I liked the fact that I had to understand the underlying business thoroughly before I could draft the contract and how by doing this as a commercial lawyer day in and day out, this would improve my knowledge about a number of sectors and industries across the board which is important to me.

Yes. They are both relevant points to make. But you should understand that life in practice will be very different to these experiences too, and leverage those differences to explain what you are looking forward to, not just explain what you have done.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Yes. They are both relevant points to make. But you should understand that life in practice will be very different to these experiences too, and leverage those differences to explain what you are looking forward to, not just explain what you have done.

Thank you so much. Just one last follow up question, please. I completely understand that life in practice would be much different than these extracurriculars but other than legal research, there is not a lot of responsibility that interns are entrusted with, here in Indian law firms. So there was, quite honestly, no way that I could've experienced these things.

So, do you think I should caveat this string of experiences by saying that this was actually the closest that I could've gone to understanding the role of a commercial lawyer? I think this will clearly tell the interviewer that I'm quite aware of the fact that these contests do no truly depict the life of a lawyer. I don't want him/her to feel that I have a flawed idea of the role by doing a bunch of random contests so should I make this declaration upfront?

Thank you so much for being so patient with all my questions.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much. Just one last follow up question, please. I completely understand that life in practice would be much different than these extracurriculars but other than legal research, there is not a lot of responsibility that interns are entrusted with, here in Indian law firms. So there was, quite honestly, no way that I could've experienced these things.

So, do you think I should caveat this string of experiences by saying that this was actually the closest that I could've gone to understanding the role of a commercial lawyer? I think this will clearly tell the interviewer that I'm quite aware of the fact that these contests do no truly depict the life of a lawyer. I don't want him/her to feel that I have a flawed idea of the role by doing a bunch of random contests so should I make this declaration upfront?

Thank you so much for being so patient with all my questions.

You don’t have to experience something to understand why you might enjoy/not enjoy something.

Interns in the UK aren’t give a lot of responsibilities either, so I don’t think that is any different to what you have experienced.

It is just simply talking about what you are also looking forward to, not just what you have experienced.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker , hope you are doing well. Although Links haven't opened their TC apps yet but I know for a fact that they only ask you for 3 pieces of work ex if you're applying for the direct TC. My question is that, I really want to show them that I'm interested in the firm by mentioning that I had done their Forage program + their milkround sessions but do you think Forage+online sessions can form one entry out of those 3 pieces of work ex? I have a few legal and non legal work experiences that are stronger than a Forage program and attending online sessions but what should we do here? How else should we convey that we have attended their online sessions and their Forage internship without mentioning it as a separate work experience?

Thanks

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker , hope you are doing well. Although Links haven't opened their TC apps yet but I know for a fact that they only ask you for 3 pieces of work ex if you're applying for the direct TC. My question is that, I really want to show them that I'm interested in the firm by mentioning that I had done their Forage program + their milkround sessions but do you think Forage+online sessions can form one entry out of those 3 pieces of work ex? I have a few legal and non legal work experiences that are stronger than a Forage program and attending online sessions but what should we do here? How else should we convey that we have attended their online sessions and their Forage internship without mentioning it as a separate work experience?

Thanks

Personally, no. I would expect someone has more interesting work experience to include than this. I would try to include this elsewhere in the application if I could.

It is difficult to say where it could be included without knowing the structure of the application form. However, I see them regularly referenced in motivational questions or additional information sections.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. For the question "Why this firm?" , the way that I see it is that no matter how many diversity initiatives and cool things a firm might have, the practice area strengths and the training structure should be the most important things in this answer because 99.9% of your time is going to go into working as a trainee or learning how to be a better trainee.
For example, I was reading about Linklaters and they have "emotional intelligence" as one of their core competencies. Even when I know that I can link a personal experience to this competency, I'll still be a bit worried about mentioning it as one of the reasons why I want to join the firm.
Am I correct in thinking that practice areas and the training structure are quite honestly, prerequisites to answering "why this firm" or did I fail to approach this question correctly?

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 2707]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. For the question "Why this firm?" , the way that I see it is that no matter how many diversity initiatives and cool things a firm might have, the practice area strengths and the training structure should be the most important things in this answer because 99.9% of your time is going to go into working as a trainee or learning how to be a better trainee.
For example, I was reading about Linklaters and they have "emotional intelligence" as one of their core competencies. Even when I know that I can link a personal experience to this competency, I'll still be a bit worried about mentioning it as one of the reasons why I want to join the firm.
Am I correct in thinking that practice areas and the training structure are quite honestly, prerequisites to answering "why this firm" or did I fail to approach this question correctly?

Thanks.

Not Jessica here but something I've noticed from my own experience is that I've progressed much further in applications where I show a genuine interest in their work and/or style of training. The only firm in which I didn't focus on either was Baker McKenzie and in that case I spoke extensively about their international work and wanting to work at an international firm- something that they pride themselves on!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Not Jessica here but something I've noticed from my own experience is that I've progressed much further in applications where I show a genuine interest in their work and/or style of training. The only firm in which I didn't focus on either was Baker McKenzie and in that case I spoke extensively about their international work and wanting to work at an international firm- something that they pride themselves on!

Thank you for your response.

 

[Kubed]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. For the question "Why this firm?" , the way that I see it is that no matter how many diversity initiatives and cool things a firm might have, the practice area strengths and the training structure should be the most important things in this answer because 99.9% of your time is going to go into working as a trainee or learning how to be a better trainee.
For example, I was reading about Linklaters and they have "emotional intelligence" as one of their core competencies. Even when I know that I can link a personal experience to this competency, I'll still be a bit worried about mentioning it as one of the reasons why I want to join the firm.
Am I correct in thinking that practice areas and the training structure are quite honestly, prerequisites to answering "why this firm" or did I fail to approach this question correctly?

Thanks.

Not Jessica either but just to echo what @wildprincessx said above - at the end of the day you're applying for a job so you've got to demonstrate that you are actually interested in it. From everything I've been told before, the majority of the answer should be about the work, training etc. but you can mention the culture/D&I etc. as well - but have a clear reason why that aspect is important to you.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Not Jessica either but just to echo what @wildprincessx said above - at the end of the day you're applying for a job so you've got to demonstrate that you are actually interested in it. From everything I've been told before, the majority of the answer should be about the work, training etc. but you can mention the culture/D&I etc. as well - but have a clear reason why that aspect is important to you.

Thanks for the insight @Kubed

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. For the question "Why this firm?" , the way that I see it is that no matter how many diversity initiatives and cool things a firm might have, the practice area strengths and the training structure should be the most important things in this answer because 99.9% of your time is going to go into working as a trainee or learning how to be a better trainee.
For example, I was reading about Linklaters and they have "emotional intelligence" as one of their core competencies. Even when I know that I can link a personal experience to this competency, I'll still be a bit worried about mentioning it as one of the reasons why I want to join the firm.
Am I correct in thinking that practice areas and the training structure are quite honestly, prerequisites to answering "why this firm" or did I fail to approach this question correctly?

Thanks.

Not pre requisites as such but your answers needs to explain why you want to be a trainee solicitor at the firm, not just why you want to work at the firm, and so other references that are specific to trainees are important to include (that might not just be practice areas or training structure though).

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, if we are asked the differences between US and UK law firms in the interview, should we also add why we prefer one over the other, or would that be too much information?

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, if we are asked the differences between US and UK law firms in the interview, should we also add why we prefer one over the other, or would that be too much information?

Thanks.

I’d be surprised if you got asked this question. There is a huge amount of differences between UK firms, same for US. Some US firms will be more like UK firms than they will their US counterparts. I honestly don’t think there is an answer for this beyond one category originating from the US and another originating from the UK.

But if you were asked it, then I wouldn’t cover why you prefer one over the over for that same reason. You just are only going to say generalisations, some of which won’t necessarily be accurate. You could explain which US firms and which UK firms you were interested in and the similarities between them, but even that would make your answer quite long winded and won’t actually mean you are answering the original question posed.