Clifford Chance Work Experience Section

[Crystal86]

Hi,

For anyone who applied to Clifford Chance or is planning to, would you recommend writing in prose to discuss what you learnt during your work experience and do we need to link these skills to Clifford Chance? Or is it better to write in bullet points and have around 3 or 4 points for each experience?

 

[PirateShip]

I think general advice is to write in prose unless specified otherwise.

FWIW, when I attended Clifford Chance's applications skill sessions talk, they mentioned that they are looking for applicants to talk about what impact they made, not just list duties.

 

[Crystal86]

Thanks! Did Clifford Chance mention anything about linking skills back to them?

 

[kat_]

I attended the Impactful Application workshop and they said that prose is preferred, no need to talk about skills as they will infer them but make sure you are really highlighting your impact on the place/job. (quantifying it, etc)

 

[Crystal86]

I attended the Impactful Application workshop and they said that prose is preferred, no need to talk about skills as they will infer them but make sure you are really highlighting your impact on the place/job. (quantifying it, etc)

Great, thanks! Did they mention any tips for the 600 word question regarding achievements and extra-curriculars?

 

[PirateShip]

Great, thanks! Did they mention any tips for the 600 word question regarding achievements and extra-curriculars?

The trainee at the talk mentioned she passed by doing 200/200/200 position of responsibility/extra-curricular/achievement.

Also be sure to follow STAR as they are specifically looking for that.

 

[Crystal86]

The trainee at the talk mentioned she passed by doing 200/200/200 position of responsibility/extra-curricular/achievement.

Also be sure to follow STAR as they are specifically looking for that.

Thanks this is very useful!

 

[syw]

Does anyone know whether you have to submit/attach your CV to the application?

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Does anyone know whether you have to submit/attach your CV to the application?

I think it's not a requirement since they clearly mention that it will not be reviewed.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Could anyone please confirm that there is actually no word limit for the work experience entries? I've heard that the general norm is 250 words but CC's app doesn't mention it at all.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kat_]

Could anyone please confirm that there is actually no word limit for the work experience entries? I've heard that the general norm is 250 words but CC's app doesn't mention it at all.

Thanks in advance.

I don't think there is a limit tbh

 

[IT7]

Is there also any recommendation on whether all work experiences need to be added, or only the top 5-10? Since they recommend putting both actual work experience and positions of responsibility within the university, it may end up becoming a lot of entries. So can someone please provide some insight into this?

 

[IT7]

Is there also any recommendation on whether all work experiences need to be added, or only the top 5-10? Since they recommend putting both actual work experience and positions of responsibility within the university, it may end up becoming a lot of entries. So can someone please provide some insight into this?

Actually I'm not entirely sure if positions within the university need to be put into the work experience too. Most firms seem to not prefer that. If someone could clarify this too, that'd be great!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Actually I'm not entirely sure if positions within the university need to be put into the work experience too. Most firms seem to not prefer that. If someone could clarify this too, that'd be great!

If you have just one position of responsibility, then you can use it for the 600-word question instead of the work ex section I guess.

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Is there also any recommendation on whether all work experiences need to be added, or only the top 5-10? Since they recommend putting both actual work experience and positions of responsibility within the university, it may end up becoming a lot of entries. So can someone please provide some insight into this?

CC (and other firms) have stressed to include all work experience e.g. volunteering, casual/informal, formal, etc. So be sure to put all of them down.

But, as stated by @kat_ above, be sure to put down not only your duties/responsibilities but how you made an impact, what you achieved, etc. Although this probably won't be the case for all jobs - for some jobs, you may not have had the opportunity to make much of an impact (i.e. working in retail for a large clothing company) so don't worry too much about writing about impacts/achievements for all your entries.

Also, firms do like grouping certain experiences together e.g. if you've attended many open days, skills sessions, workshops with a variety of employers, you could put them down in one entry.

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Could anyone please confirm that there is actually no word limit for the work experience entries? I've heard that the general norm is 250 words but CC's app doesn't mention it at all.

Thanks in advance.

Hey!

There definitely is a limit as I wrote loads for one work experience entry and I had to reduce the characters. It's easily 600 words + though so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Nor are they looking for you to fill the entire word count (hence why they've not provided you with one) so I wouldn't worry.

Good luck!

 

[IT7]

CC (and other firms) have stressed to include all work experience e.g. volunteering, casual/informal, formal, etc. So be sure to put all of them down.

But, as stated by @kat_ above, be sure to put down not only your duties/responsibilities but how you made an impact, what you achieved, etc. Although this probably won't be the case for all jobs - for some jobs, you may not have had the opportunity to make much of an impact (i.e. working in retail for a large clothing company) so don't worry too much about writing about impacts/achievements for all your entries.

Also, firms do like grouping certain experiences together e.g. if you've attended many open days, skills sessions, workshops with a variety of employers, you could put them down in one entry.

Thank you so much for your response, really appreciate it. Just to clarify, do university leadership positions/society positions also fall within work experience? Or are they considered as extra-curriculars?

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Thank you so much for your response, really appreciate it. Just to clarify, do university leadership positions/society positions also fall within work experience? Or are they considered as extra-curriculars?

Nws!

If there’s no space in an app to write about societies and uni/academic stuff, then just add them in the work experience section like you would for any other job.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much for your response, really appreciate it. Just to clarify, do university leadership positions/society positions also fall within work experience? Or are they considered as extra-curriculars?

My view is that they will be much better suited to the 600-word answer in the CC app and this is where the majority of candidates put them. Given they explicitly state that in the question below, it seems far more logical for them to be included in this section.

You have told us about your academic achievements and work experience and now, in no more than 600 words, we are keen to hear more about you. This should include your extra-curricular activities, positions of responsibility and an achievement of importance which you are most proud of (600 words max)

However, it seems from various posts on TCLA that the firm have advised that you CAN put leadership/society in your work experience section. That is slightly bizarre to me if they then have a specific question to cover this, but just shows you this is an art not a science and that different firms will have different views on it. Many firms will really not want you to put such roles in your work experience though, so just because CC say its ok, it isn't necessarily the case for other firms.

Whatever you do though, ensure there is no repetition between sections. This is the biggest risk when boundaries are blurred like this.

 

[Romiras]

I personally take the same view as Jessica in this case. This is based on my interactions with Graduate Recruitment, being involved with the process (going through the vacation scheme and TC), etc.

I would focus on using the words in the Work Experience section to illustrate "Why Law" and/or "Why CC" if appropriate. Naturally any CC-related work experience (open days, virtual schemes, etc) will be a perfect platform to write some prose towards your motivations as to Why CC.