AJ

Legendary Member
Sep 11, 2018
184
259
Are you expected to do extensive research and address cover letters to a specific person?? Or is a generic address acceptable where no name is provided within the form.
 

Daniel Boden

Legendary Member
Trainee
Highest Rated Member
  • Sep 6, 2018
    1,537
    3,857
    I hope you don't mind taking the opportunity whilst I'm here - but I am aware Macfarlanes and some other firms (as mentioned above, White & Case etc) also use a covering letter. Is the approach different for these? Again, I am applying to first-year schemes!
    Hi Christy, I can't speak for White & Case, but I did the First Year Insight Scheme at Macfarlanes in March this year and my cover letter basically said 'why law' and then briefly 'why Macfarlanes'. Hope this helps!
     

    Charity Mafuba

    Standard Member
    Premium Member
    Jan 8, 2019
    6
    0
    Just a heads up on the Slaughters CV and cover letter. If you want to be really fussy, I was advised to use a font similar to Times New Roman when applying because they are a more traditional firm. I also went to a Slaughters recruitment event at my university and they said that the cover letter only needs to be one or two lines long. This is (literally) what my cover letter said and I interviewed in March 2018:

    Dear X,

    Please find attached my Curriculum Vitae for the Slaughter and May 2020 training contract.

    I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with you my application and suitability for the training contract.

    Yours sincerely,


    Y
    Hi Maddie
    I am currently in the midst of drafting my cover letter for the 2021 Training Contract. Are they any other tips you are happy to share? Example; Regards how you formatted your CV if your cover letter was just two lines.
    Thanks
     

    BWSM201

    Well-Known Member
    Jan 2, 2019
    24
    37
    Hey!

    Hope this helps across the board but for Slaughter and May in particular, a contact I have there said this about the cover letter.

    'For the cover letter, it’s a case of cherry-picking one or two key points in your CV and expanding on them, rather than trying to do everything. My advice would be: limit to one paragraph on why Slaughter and May appeals to you; one paragraph on recent work experience and one paragraph about yourself (i.e. you play football and rugby – why do you enjoy them? What positions do you play in? How long have you played them for? Why are they important to you? etc). The rest can speak for itself from the CV.'

    PS: also said it should never be longer than one side of A4!

    Good luck with your application(s)!
     

    Abstruser

    Legendary Member
    Trainee
    Jul 19, 2018
    337
    777
    Hi there! Yes, I was offered a TC with Slaughters and have written a longer post elsewhere on my interview experience.

    Regarding the initial application - as @BWSM201 mentioned, the Slaughters cover letter should not be more than one page with normal Word margins. As far as I know, Slaughters doesn’t place too much emphasis on the cover letter - I have friends who wrote half-page cover letters simply stating that their CVs were enclosed overleaf, and who were invited to interview. However, I wanted to err on the side of caution, so my personal approach was to cover why Law, why Slaughters, why a TC at Slaughters and why me.

    All the best.
     
    D

    Deleted member 69

    Guest
    Hi Maddie
    I am currently in the midst of drafting my cover letter for the 2021 Training Contract. Are they any other tips you are happy to share? Example; Regards how you formatted your CV if your cover letter was just two lines.
    Thanks

    Hey, I would say make sure your CV fits onto two pages, that the text is justified and both cover letter and CV font is the same (preferably times new roman). With regards to content, you can get rid of all contact details at the top and just have your name, but make sure you provide a full breakdown of all your modules at undergraduate level as the partners like to have this in front of them. My CV sub-headings went something along the lines of: Education, Relevant Legal Work Experience, Employment, Volunteering and Pro Bono, Achievements, Interests (you can get rid of references at the end to save room as they are included in online app). Hope this helps!
     
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    v123

    Valued Member
    Jan 16, 2019
    104
    55
    Firms like Slaughter May, Jones Day and White Case are amongst the few that an applicant is required to write a cover letter as part of their application.

    I am just confused - Do I need to introduce myself and say what stage I am at - (I just think all my information will be present in the application form so why waste precious words in introducing myself)

    But this is just my viewpoint - if anyone has written a cover letter for such firms - Please let me know how did you start it?

    Any advice that you can share will be heavily appreciated
    Hi Jai,

    I attended Jones Day's presentation at the end of last year. The cover letter is limited to 300 words for that one so I briefly introduced myself saying I was a final year law student etc. but mainly focused on why Jones Day and why me. They reeeeally emphasise their single partnership model/"one-firm" approach as well.
     
    Reactions: Jaysen

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