Hi Shandy,I add people from firms that I'm interested in well in advance which obviously looks better and will most likely yield results than just randomly doing both. Put yourself in the situation. You're a lawyer at a major international firm. You have long hours and barely have time for friends and family. How would you like some random just messaging you or adding then immediately messaging you? It's better if they are already in your contacts. Look out for all the future trainees that complete schemes just before the one you are interviewing for. They have the best, freshest information and they cannot help bragging about their new future trainee status on Linkin so they aren't hard to find. Re questions; keep in mind the objective: there are thousands of applicants saying the same things. You want to stand out so maybe ask questions that would elicit information that is likely to help you achieve that goal- that can be culture, work or pro bono initiatives.
Would be interested to know, given your success at application stage- how many work experience entries do you have- I have just generic retail and volunteering and open days. Nothing fancy like interning at a PE firm like some others