APPLICATION MASTER CLASS
Come training contract application season, do you want to be drowning in a sea of ill-judged, clumsily worded applications? Or would you rather be creating and submitting carefully planned and credible training contract applications? Read on for detailed advice on how to approach the process and edge ever closer to success. Thinking of applying to Allen & Overy? You and 2,500 others are chasing around 90 places. Charles Russell Speechlys? You are competing with 1,200 others for just 24 openings. Irwin Mitchell? You are vying for one of around 45 positions against some 2,200 would-be trainees. It’s a similar story everywhere. Using a blunt-edged calculation, you have a one in 28 chance of success with A&O, a one in 49 chance at Irwin Mitchell and a one in 50 chance at Charles Russell Speechlys. The only way to succeed is to submit flawless, well-targeted applications. These are immensely time consuming and tricky to create, and only those who master the art will succeed. This master class is designed to give you the edge. Step 1: understand yourself Only by understanding yourself will you know what to emphasise in your applications. This in turn will help you to select your shortlist of firms. The MySelf tool on LawCareers. Net (LCN) is designed to help you unpack and assess your achievements so that you can then use the right examples to demonstrate your suitability for the positions you are applying for. Application forms typically ask competency-based questions: you demonstrate your competency by citing examples of your past behaviour. What you don’t do is come up with a list of great- sounding traits and then claim to
have them. Demonstrate through your achievements and your long- term commitments. If you have no achievements or fail to identify them at the right place on the application form, you won’t stand out. Remember: work experience in any type of firm/organisation will be useful when applying for a training contract, even if it was within a different type of legal or business environment. The important thing is to have developed an understanding of what lawyers do and then to use this understanding to answer questions such as ‘Why law?’ or ‘Why do you want to be a commercial solicitor?’ It is no longer sufficient to say that you want a stimulating and challenging career that allows you to use your legal knowledge. What is it that excites you about the law? What appeals about becoming a (business) adviser? You might want to consider concepts such as detail, analysis, argument, word craft, risk management, practical thinking, business facilitation and client relationship building. What experience or understanding do you have in relation to these facets of legal practice? Step 2: create your shortlist of firms Only by recognising which firms you realistically have a shot at can you prioritise the most suitable ones and allocate your precious time appropriately. Filling in application forms is a time-consuming activity that will weigh heavily on your mind, even when you are doing other things. Spend your time wisely: pick 10 firms and then choose your five top targets from this list. With your top targets, you will need to spend more than a day on each form – maybe three days if you do extensive research. Think that’s OTT? The candidates who succeed can convince recruiters that they are the ideal match for that particular firm and have something valuable and interesting to offer it. None of this can be achieved
unless you know what a firm does, who it does this for, where it is doing it and what its general tone and ethos are. If you want a sponsored law school experience, you are looking at roughly 200 or so firms. Pick the 5% that represent the best match for you and then halve that for your top-five list. There are plenty of resources available, but the firms’ own websites and recruitment materials are key. Look at the work areas they emphasise; their press releases, press mentions and client publications/ newsletters; the physical footprint of the firm and its size/demographics; the style of language it uses and the messages it has chosen to send about its culture. Away from the firm’s own materials and events, there are independent resources such as The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook and LCN. Don’t forget Facebook and Twitter – as well as finding firms on these networks, you will also be able to follow or like your university careers service, legal bloggers, LCN, CityLawLIVE and NationalLawLIVE. Sometimes you need a momentary distraction during an application form session and following legal social media can feel like a break, even though you’re still learning. To shortlist, ask yourself: • Where do I want to work? Use the LCN website search function to identify your long list of potential firms. • What manner of lawyer do I want to be (eg, international, corporate or niche)? Use the LCN search function to make your long list a bit shorter. commercial (legal) experience or academic interests? Use the LCN search function to identify firms with practice groups in your preferred fields. • Do I have any specialist
• Do I have an interest in a
particular area of commercial activity (eg, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals/biotech or
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