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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
Filling a Job Application Form
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 — not just because firms are inundated with applicants — but because cutting them down to size ruthlessly is so easy.

Elementary failures in how candidates present themselves mean most are guaranteed instant rejection. Errors in basic spelling and grammar, getting the name of a firm wrong [Slaughter & May or Slaughter and May?], or talking about practice areas the firm does not do are all surefire ways of going into the “no” pile.

So if you hope to be given the benefit of the doubt or to charm selectors at the interview stage, forget it. The person who wins the offer of a contract is the one who shines at each stage, from initial application to final interview. As Daniel P. Cooper, partner at Covington & Burling, puts it: “You start by screening out those that contain simple errors. If a candidate cannot get the basics right, that doesn’t reflect well on the overall attractiveness of his or her application.”

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Sarah Cockburn, graduate recruitment manager at Allen & Overy, says that the initial application is “the hardest hurdle to cross”, yet candidates often spend more time preparing for any interview. Effective writing and accuracy are vital. “Presentation is critical as a lawyer, whether that be written or verbal,” adds Caroline Walsh, head of legal trainee recruitment at Clyde & Co. “Candidates need to recognise a need for formality and polish, and should not use text-speak or be over-familiar as when using social media.”

But striking the right note is not easy. Covering letters and CVs are often criticised as bland; firms say that they want to know about a candidate’s “personality”. So playing safe will get you nowhere. But how confident can you be that your personality is what the firm wants? “The cover letter, and the CV in particular should make us want to find out more,” says Sarah Lee, a partner at Slaughter and May. The more that you can demonstrate inside experience of working in law, the better. But any kind of wider experience is worth registering — including hamburger flipping or bar work. Ideally, though, candidates should have transferable skills and knowledge relevant to the work of the firm. Commercial awareness and an interest in business are also increasingly important for City careers.

Many key factors — notably academic results — are in place by the time applications are made. That is why, says Ben Perry, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, academic consistency is important, including first-year grades. If spotless GCSE and A-level results are also required, then it’s no surprise that firms focus on the premier league universities — Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Durham, Manchester, Nottingham, Warwick and the London trio of King’s College, University College and the London School of Economics.

At a time of diversity and inclusiveness, recruiters cannot be seen to operate purely within that enclave but they seem unwilling to break the traditional mould, when the attributes sought are the same as ever. Halina Kasprowiak, recruitment manager at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (Europe), said: “The quality of applications has improved, but the pool of great candidates has not grown.”

Above all, candidates must be realistic. If quality has improved, law firms also note some changes for the worse in attitude. These includes a sense of entitlement: some do not want to do the “grunt work” while others do not know how to cope with disappointment “as they have never experienced it before”.

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Professor David Caron, Dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law, said that the research gave insight into what firms really wanted: they clearly valued both a global and commercial perspective in graduates and a wish to see them express their personalities. And it provided “genuinely helpful guidance on what students and universities can do to enhance applicants’ immediate and long term professional futures.”

Do’s and don’ts for job hunters

The initial application stage

DON’T

• Make spelling or grammar mistakes
• Copy and paste between application forms or from the firm’s website
• Fail to follow instructions or to answer the question asked
• Fail to do research — and particularly mention the wrong name for the firm or practice areas that the firm does not offer
• Speak ill of other firms
• Try to side-step minimum requirements, especially on grades

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DO

• Create a structured and well-written application
• Give concise answers
• Link experiences and skills to what the firm wants
• Write in standard English; don’t swallow a dictionary
• Show personality, enthusiasm, drive
• Show a good range of extra-curricular activities
• Show development and learning; add a level of analysis to responses

The interview stage

DON’T

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• Overprepare or neglect to prepare
• Fail to think about why you want to work at the firm
• Hide your personality
• Forget basic social skills and how to work in a team
• Fail to engage with the interviewer
• Fail to show an interest in the business world
• Fail to give an opinion if asked
• Reel off deals or other data from the firm’s marketing material

DO

• Be engaging and have energy
• Do your homework and think about the questions that you want to ask
• Be open and show your personality
• Have the courage to give non-standard answers
• Be confident but not arrogant Be calm and collected — relaxed formality
• Sell yourself and your skills
Do’s and Don’ts video at thetimes.co.uk/law

Can we share an office with this person?

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Law firms take recruitment seriously; it is, after all, a long-term investment. They use a variety of recruitment methods, from a classic CV, cover letter and interview, through to detailed online applications, online tests and assessment centres — or a mix of all these. And what do they find?

As well as poor attention to detail, law firms taking part in the research remarked on a general inability to write well, with candidates failing to use correct English, structure answers and be concise. Some struggle to perform simple tasks such as topping and tailing a business e-mail/letter.

When it comes to interview, the acid test that many firms mentioned was whether they could work all night with the person, share a flight or introduce a client to them.

The twin sins are being under or overprepared. Simon Branigan, a partner with Linklaters, says that sometimes candidates prepare set answers that they trot out without listening to the question. “Candidates can prepare by thinking broadly about topic areas and the kind of things that they want to say about themselves, rather than rehearsing answers — lawyers need to think on their feet.”

Specifically, partners are looking for confident candidates who can use their commercial knowledge and curiosity to add a lawyer of analysis to discussions. They want candidates who have the courage of their own convictions.

James Snape, a partner with Nabarro, says: “Personality is so important: we need to know we could share an office with this person.”

Or, as Barry Fishley, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, says: “We do not want people to tell us what they think, we want to hear. They need to have the confidence to give refreshing and/or unorthodox answers.”

What law firms want
• Accuracy and a strong writing ability are fundamental to get past the first “sift”
• Candidates are expected to have a “global mindset”; understand what it means to work in a global firm/workplace but also commit to working in the UK, at least for the short-term ~
• Firms expect universities to develop intellectual rigour; they will provide commercial and international awareness
• Candidates must not be overprepared, but must show their personality and articulate why they chose to be a lawyer
• Vacation schemes can be an advantage; some firms are now recruiting solely from these.

City firms are open to applications from all universities but the ten most popular in the survey were (alphabetically): Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, King’s College London, London School of Economics, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, University College London, Warwick

Case studies

Bhavisha Mistry

Age: 25

Graduated: 2010 — Law LLB, King’s College London

Started training contract: 2012 — Weil, Gotshal & Manges, London (Currently in second seat – Private Funds)

“When applying for a training contract, applicants need to think hard about their motivations for wanting to be a lawyer. For me it was about choosing a client-facing career that would challenge me and offer opportunities to keep learning.

“Finding the right firm is a process — it takes much more than just reading a firm’s website to get to know whether it is a good fit for you. I attended the Law Fair, which was run by the Careers Service, on two consecutive years while at King’s and undertook several work experience placements to get to know the different firms and their respective cultures. I met Weil at the Law Fair and was struck by its friendly nature, areas of expertise and its relatively small London office also appealed to me, as I wanted to train somewhere I could quickly get to know everyone and become involved in some really high-quality work.

“My work on the committee of the King’s Pro Bono Society taught me a lot about responsibility and commitment, and this, together with my work experience, proved very useful when applying. Not only did it mean that I already had a good idea of what it was like to work in law, it has also helped me to quickly acclimatise to working in a professional environment, something my supervisors have commented on.

“I now go back to King’s to share my experiences with prospective applicants, offering them an important insight into what it means to be a trainee with Weil.”

Kristin Bong

Final-year undergraduate – Law LLB, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Training contract with Allen & Overy starting in 2014

“My interest in the law started when volunteering in charities before university — initially I was drawn to human rights law, and then to commercial law while at university.

“I still maintain an active interest in human rights as the president of King’s Human Rights Project. To start with I downplayed this in my applications to commercial firms but quickly realised a need to personalise to get to interview stage. I found success after I focused on my pro bono work — next year I will be joining Allen & Overy.

“It is important to be focused in what you include in your application and far better to have a few quality applications than a multitude of similar cut-and-paste answers. I also carefully chose the firms I applied to based on their strong, all-round practices and international reach.

“I started out by scouring legal sites on the internet, looking for personal advice on the ‘character’ of the firms, and also took any opportunity to meet with current trainees and graduate recruiters — at events and at the Law Fair run by King’s Careers Service, presentations and open days. My work with the societies has also allowed me access to people in both the legal industry and NGOs.

“My personal tutor at King’s gave me some good advice when applying — instead of trying to be someone I thought firms would want to hire, I needed to think about what I could offer to a firm based on my genuine experiences and background. My vacation scheme at Allen & Overy also helped me to understand what it would be like to be a trainee there, in what is a very nurturing and constructive environment.

“Demonstrating commercial and international awareness is hugely important and I had to learn to look at the law firm as a business, asking myself questions such as “What challenges does the firm face in the current legal market, and how does it position itself in comparison to other firms?”

“Reading up on materials on the City and keeping abreast of publications such as the Financial Times and Legal Week, helps to develop understanding of how a deal is done and where lawyers come into the picture. I also found that keeping an eye on both emerging and slower markets helped create interesting conversation in the interview.”

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