Hi
@Jessica Booker @Amma Usman and anyone who can help ,
A current TC app for an international commercial firm has the question "why you want to become a solicitor?". Can I talk about commercial law or international matters at all? Should I only speak about "why solicitor" generally, referencing the traits of a solicitor and why solicitor rather than other legal roles?
My thinking so far is to begin speaking about law generally, then why solicitor, then why not barrister, then specialising into commercial law / international matters and the normal response to the question "why commercial law?". Is this correct?
It is 600 words, so I was not sure what exactly the firm is after.
Thanks!
Hey there,
In my view, this question can go any way you want, so far as you answer why solicitor throughout. Ideally, so far as you don’t go on any tangents, you will be fine.
Your suggestion in the second paragraph is good. I personally always liked showing a contrast when answering it. I believe it makes your answer stronger overall, when you show your journey. This could involve showing a contrast between trying X field and then trying the solicitors route, where you subsequently found that you like XYZ about it. However, I have seen candidates indirectly touching not so great on other professions whilst doing this, which you may want to avoid. Just touching on the key traits of each profession, what you took from each one when you explored it, and why you preferred the solicitors route, is fine. You could also bring out stuff from say, the bar, which you liked and which you can get as a solicitor too, but bring in more reasons as to why the latter is of greater preference to you as a person.
Another thing is that commercial law does not always necessarily involve international matters. If you are working at a national boutique firm specialising on solely national work, working with clients that operate mainly/only in these jurisdictions, then international work may not come in so much. If you are working for a global law firm which works with international clients, then yes - intl work will come in. Thus, you will want to keep this in mind as you structure your answers, and clearly specify it. Another thing to be careful of is how you phrase this - it could come off as generic as many fields offer intl work, like investment banking, consulting, etc.
You also do not need to meet the 600 word count, in my opinion. So far as you answer why commercial law, embedding all your ideas
with specific interest, you should be fine.
Best of luck! You’re on a great track!
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