Its probably not much compared to what other people have done but I submitted my 20th application this cycle 😭✨
I submitted my first app around this time last year and it took me four months to write that app. It took another three to write my second one lol. So while most of those 20 apps are already in the PFO pile, I am really proud I managed to get this far and become comfortable using phrases like 'sparked my interest' and 'intellectual complexities'.
and does anyone have advice for how to choose a topic for explain a current issue question? I read ft and can explain commercial topics but my mind just goes blank when I try to answer that question
Honestly I used to hate that question. In the past, I have always opted for something I think the firm would like to see I have knowledge of even if I had no interest in the matter itself - such as highly technical finance news stories.
As a result, my answer to the “how would this affect the firm” part of the question would always have to be “it’ll bring in more work” and I felt it consistently lacked commercial depth.
This cycle I opted to scratch all that and went for news stories that actually interested me, or that I was genuinely curious about. For example, discussions surrounding legalising cannabis, the new AI legislation, the controversy surrounding Disney contracts.
I found that when I went for topics that I was genuinely intrigued by, provided it sort of sat within the realm of any of the firms core practice areas, I found I had more to say on political, social, and economic levels.
It doesn’t have to be the biggest news story out there, it simply has to be something you genuinely would look into - and from that you will see a change in thinking and writing, which will translate further into the application.
I can’t say this is a definitive rule - it just simply worked best for me. I was tired of trying to sound like an economist when in truth I could not care less about what I was reading.
Step 1: Look at the practice areas the firm is strong in, what areas are bringing in the most money or what they do the most in. Firms will usually say the type of matters they work on within a certain practice area. For example,
Reed Smith work on Section 280 tax notices for cannabis within its cannabis industry (a US practice per se, but may have implications firm-wide when you consider investment opportunities).
Step 2: Do a general google search of those industries/practice areas and see what’s happening out there.
Step 3: Find an article that interests you, of which ever one you consider to have the most impact on the firm, given its work in that area.