I thought it would be a good idea to gather a list of firms that recruit through the traditional CV and Cover Letter. The ones I know are Davis Polk, Milbank, and Goodwin. Why do you think some firms prefer this model? Is it more difficult to shine when you only have one cover letter rather than several questions to answer?
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CV/Cover Letter Firms
- Thread starter gricole
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Macfarlanes, Mayer brown, jones day, Kirkland Ellis, Cleary, SPB, slaughters, freshfields (personal statement), white case, ashurst
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Kirkland & Ellis do use an online application as well as a cover letter. The online application consists of 3 questions (greatest achievement, commercial awareness and why the firm) and then you also have to submit a cover letter and CV with your application!
If I remember rightly I just put dear sir/madam. A trainee at the firm read my cover letter and didn’t comment on it so hopefully that’s ok!
Nichola Rowe is the Director of Human Resources according to a quick LinkedIn search so I doubt you'd go wrong if you put her name down!
*EDIT: Just seen that Rory Uwins is the Recruitment and Development Coordinator who is responsible for Graduate Recruitment so maybe go with him instead!
Slaughter and May also use a CV & Cover letter for their application process. I applied to their Winter Workshop and got accepted, with the online process being the same as the TC one (no interview though).
However, the cover letter for the training contract structure I think is why law, why the firm and any mitigating circumstances. They repeatedly say they do not want a lengthy cover letter and should be around half a page. You also shouldn’t repeat experiences listed on your CV as they don’t want a regurgitation of it. Slaughter and May said they use the model because they want to get to know you in your own words and did not want candidates to be limited by answering questions created by the firm. They test the competencies they are looking for (e.g commercial awareness) rigurously in what sounds like a difficult but unique and exciting interview day.
Anybody else here interested in Slaughter and May?
However, the cover letter for the training contract structure I think is why law, why the firm and any mitigating circumstances. They repeatedly say they do not want a lengthy cover letter and should be around half a page. You also shouldn’t repeat experiences listed on your CV as they don’t want a regurgitation of it. Slaughter and May said they use the model because they want to get to know you in your own words and did not want candidates to be limited by answering questions created by the firm. They test the competencies they are looking for (e.g commercial awareness) rigurously in what sounds like a difficult but unique and exciting interview day.
Anybody else here interested in Slaughter and May?
Hey Jada! I'm interested in Slaughter and May and also got accepted on the Winter Workshop. What days did you get accepted for?
I heard about the short cover letter as well, but I think only Slaughter and May requires this. They also like more formal fonts like Times New Roman.
Hey Ifeoulwa
That's brilliant that you are also going to the workshop! I am going to the ones on the 17th and 18th of December. How about yourself?Yes definitely, it is only Slaughter and May that I have heard of that want a short cover letter, and like you I have read that they prefer traditional fonts. I have done Cover letters for firms with a word limit of 600 which is around about a page long, and I think most firms would want that length.
Hey Ifeoulwa
Yes definitely, it is only Slaughter and May that I have heard of that want a short cover letter, and like you I have read that they prefer traditional fonts. I have done Cover letters for firms with a word limit of 600 which is around about a page long, and I think most firms would want that length.
I am also going to the ones on the 17th and the 18th of December. It'll be nice to see you there! I agree with the cover letter length. At an event, we were told that a cover letter should be about a page to a page and a half.
Thanks Naomi! I've asked around and others who were offered interviews did the same, so it should be fine
Hey, do you guys put your own address and the firm's address in the top corners of your cover letters? For example, Cleary? I'm doing that right now and I've seen somebody go straight into 'Dear Grad rec...' without any addresses.
I'm asking this because whether or not I include them is important, since excluding the addresses will save a lot of space and enable me to write a lot more. Thoughts?
I'm asking this because whether or not I include them is important, since excluding the addresses will save a lot of space and enable me to write a lot more. Thoughts?
I wouldn't put your address as they have all those details in your application anyway. It will only eat into your word count and is unnecessary. If you have the name of the Grad Recruiter then you could address the letter to that person - that is the case for Freshfields, Mayer Brown for example.
To add to this, if you don't have the name, but want to put in the effort to find it, LawCareersNET and Chambers Student usually have it somewhere. For Chambers, it's under their True Picture insights, under the "Firm Profile" tab I believe.
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