Regarding the Forster’s feedback, what is meant when they say they like a legal element to be discussed? Is this like a specific case?
Hey
@tarty23 ,
I’ve just seen the post and quoted the section below for more context;
“ Options picked considered too safe: many candidates avoided talking about clients, cases, lawyers and departments. In summary, they avoided talking about anything legal. We want to know which areas are of interest to you, and be able to see you have researched them thoroughly. We would advise you aim for a legal element, as well as talking about the easier elements to talk about, such as values, culture, D&I and CSR (which required less research) “
From what I have gathered, may candidates did not talk about the legal side of the profession. In other words, what drives you about business law? The reasons must be highly specific. Law firms want to see that candidates are
generally and
genuinely interested in their work. You could touch on this in a variety of ways, and the points the firm has mentioned show the most specific interest, when backed up by your own life and professional experiences. Overall, the legal element encompasses factors such as practice area awareness and interests. Which practices appeal to you and why? Are they core focuses at the firm to even begin with? Have you spoken to any lawyers at the firm who have given you more insight into the work and values of the firm? Why did you find that enlightening and which aspect of your past experiences can you link to back up that interest? The latter part on linking is very important because when someone tells one about the values or work of a firm, one shouldn’t immediately use that as a rationale for wanting to train there - indeed, any candidate can do this. The connection needs to be made to you personally, to show individuality. I appreciate this is a difficult connection to make at first, and it certainly was for me. I took some time to understand my drivers, motivations, and areas of interest. This enabled me to seamlessly make such connections on practices/values to my own self.
On your second question, a case can be added to highlight and further emphasise your passion for a specific practice. However, ensure to not just drop it since many firms work on similar deals. Was there anything landmark about that particular deal? Did it change or introduce something new in the industry? Are there specific factors about it that seamlessly link to an interest or experience of yours, that may not necessarily be seen among other firms?
In summary, I would personally interpret the firm’s inclusion of the word
safe, as
lacking specificity on practices of interest. To help me develop this skill during my cycle, I had literally gotten a big cardboard and written out all my interests/experiences that I could think of. I then researched on firms based off all the info on the cardboard, frequently referring to it during applications and interviews.
Best of luck! Hope this helps.
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