Job applications: a foot in the door

Poor spelling and grammar, text speak: no wonder firms reject most would-be trainees, our King’s College London survey finds
Most applications are rejected because students fail to get the basics right
Most applications are rejected because students fail to get the basics right
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How well-equipped are students at hunting for a job? Everyone knows that securing a training contract with a law firm is increasingly difficult with firms under pressure to cut costs. But students are not helping themselves either in making the shift from carefree campus to City office.

Three in four appplicants for top City law firms never get within shouting distance of a first interview — far less engage face-to-face with a recruitment partner.

These startling figures come from an exclusive survey carried out on behalf of The Times and the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London by Bondy Consulting. Discussions with 20 global firms in the City, both UK and US-based, reveal that the casualty rate at “the first sift” is enormous