Work Experience Section Query

[laby201]

Hey there,

Currently in the process of filling out the work experience section for a VS application and wanted to clarify the scope of “work experience”.

Other than of course paid employment and voluntary work, what else would I include here? I’ve been a part of my university’s pro bono clinic and have completed a few Forage programmes, but not sure if these would be relevant as work experience?

Also, how do you go about mentioning talks with firms, virtual law fairs or networking events you’ve been to if there is no dedicated extracurricular or other activities section on the form? I don’t imagine these would come under work experience, so do you just have to fit them in strategically in the application questions?

Thanks!

 

[BuddingLawyer]

Hi,
Based on the advice I got on this forum, I club all the open days/webinars/law firm touch points into one work ex and all forages under another. For firms that limit the number, I club both open days and forages into one.

 

[axelbeugre]

Hey there,

Currently in the process of filling out the work experience section for a VS application and wanted to clarify the scope of “work experience”.

Other than of course paid employment and voluntary work, what else would I include here? I’ve been a part of my university’s pro bono clinic and have completed a few Forage programmes, but not sure if these would be relevant as work experience?

Also, how do you go about mentioning talks with firms, virtual law fairs or networking events you’ve been to if there is no dedicated extracurricular or other activities section on the form? I don’t imagine these would come under work experience, so do you just have to fit them in strategically in the application questions?

Thanks!

Hey @laby201, I would definitely include your university's pro bono clinic in the work experience section as its own experience as that will absolutely be of interest to recruiters. As already said by someone in the thread, I would add all the open days/insight days etc into one section and all the forage programmes into another, however this is not necessary, especially if you do have a lot of professional experiences. I had many open days and insight days as well as forage experiences but I did not include any of them as I did have professional experiences that I thought would have been better to depict me as a good future lawyer so it depends on your level of experiences. You can mention the open days etc during interviews or in the WHY the firm questions/ section of the cover letter! I hope this helps!

 

[laby201]

Hey @laby201, I would definitely include your university's pro bono clinic in the work experience section as its own experience as that will absolutely be of interest to recruiters. As already said by someone in the thread, I would add all the open days/insight days etc into one section and all the forage programmes into another, however this is not necessary, especially if you do have a lot of professional experiences. I had many open days and insight days as well as forage experiences but I did not include any of them as I did have professional experiences that I thought would have been better to depict me as a good future lawyer so it depends on your level of experiences. You can mention the open days etc during interviews or in the WHY the firm questions/ section of the cover letter! I hope this helps!

Hi Axel, thanks so much for your help, it's very appreciated

As a separate question, I have drafted set answers for the work experience section, and most of these fall in around the 125-150 word count, with some shorter at around 75 words. However, I've noted that some firms give a max word count of 250 words. Should I edit my answers to try and get closer to this word count, or is it fine to be far off this? Conscious of not wanting to waffle and am trying to be concise, but also don't want to sell myself short. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi Axel, thanks so much for your help, it's very appreciated

As a separate question, I have drafted set answers for the work experience section, and most of these fall in around the 125-150 word count, with some shorter at around 75 words. However, I've noted that some firms give a max word count of 250 words. Should I edit my answers to try and get closer to this word count, or is it fine to be far off this? Conscious of not wanting to waffle and am trying to be concise, but also don't want to sell myself short. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I always stopped at the 125-150 myself last year so I would say that this limit works perfectly. Do not worry about filling out the whole word count. With the 75 words description, I would still try to make it to the 125-150 words just to be on the safe side but it should not be an issue especially if you have described the experience really well. I hope that helps! @laby201

 

[laby201]

I always stopped at the 125-150 myself last year so I would say that this limit works perfectly. Do not worry about filling out the whole word count. With the 75 words description, I would still try to make it to the 125-150 words just to be on the safe side but it should not be an issue especially if you have described the experience really well. I hope that helps! @laby201

That's great, thanks Axel

Just as another very quick query (sorry for the bombardment of questions!), I've attended around 15/20 open days/law fairs/talks over the past few years and know they demonstrate my commitment to law, but feel it's unrealistic and not particularly to mention them all, so how would you go about this? Would you just mention those that are relevant and put them more in the application question section when they can be dropped in?

 

[axelbeugre]

That's great, thanks Axel

Just as another very quick query (sorry for the bombardment of questions!), I've attended around 15/20 open days/law fairs/talks over the past few years and know they demonstrate my commitment to law, but feel it's unrealistic and not particularly to mention them all, so how would you go about this? Would you just mention those that are relevant and put them more in the application question section when they can be dropped in?

I would say that it really depends on your work experience. If you feel like you have enough work experience to talk about during a potential interview then I would not include any open days/insight days in the work experience section and just mention the specific open day you attended for a specific firm to shoe your commitment to THAT firm specifically. Over time that's what I have done, I made sure to utilise the open days as a testament on how the culture at the firm resonated with my personality, nothing more than that.

However, if you feel like you do not necessarily have enough experience, then I would mention maybe 6,7 just to show the commitment, but remember this is not necessary in the slightest. I was an international non-law student and although I attended a lot of open days I did not include any in the work experience section and I was only mentioning them to substantiate why I was applying to a specific firm.

I hope this is helpful and good luck again! @laby201

 

[laby201]

I would say that it really depends on your work experience. If you feel like you have enough work experience to talk about during a potential interview then I would not include any open days/insight days in the work experience section and just mention the specific open day you attended for a specific firm to shoe your commitment to THAT firm specifically. Over time that's what I have done, I made sure to utilise the open days as a testament on how the culture at the firm resonated with my personality, nothing more than that.

However, if you feel like you do not necessarily have enough experience, then I would mention maybe 6,7 just to show the commitment, but remember this is not necessary in the slightest. I was an international non-law student and although I attended a lot of open days I did not include any in the work experience section and I was only mentioning them to substantiate why I was applying to a specific firm.

I hope this is helpful and good luck again! @laby201

Thanks again Axel, it's really appreciated