How to write an effective vacation scheme application

Writing Your Application

Here comes the trickiest stage, actually writing out the application. Attending firm events is one of the best ways to gain a better understanding of how to approach your applications, as it allows you to get to know the kind of candidates they are looking for and align your responses to reflect those values. That being said, it is not always easy to know exactly what to write when you encounter questions like ‘Why Commercial Law?’ and ‘Why this firm?’ Thus, I found it particularly useful to make use of internal resources provided by the University. Student Opportunity offers great services like CV and Application feedback, which I used numerous times. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t have been successful without having other people critique my work.

Aside from that, there are numerous external resources available that I found useful. For instance, companies like RareRecruitment and AspiringSolicitors often offer application reviews for candidates on their programs (for free). While companies like The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) and Commercial Law Academy (CLA) offer paid resources where you can not only get your CV and application reviewed but also look through a bank of successful applications for firms you are interested in to get a true picture of what it takes to be successful in the application stage. The owner of CLA, Jake Schogger, also runs monthly commercial awareness roundups with his membership. During the application season, he does CV and application reviews and provides constructive advice (something I found particularly valuable). They are paid memberships, but both sites often work in partnership with Warwick Law Society during the milk round, and you can get great discounts on their memberships!

Finally, other resources that helped me were listening to podcasts and the news, such as Peter Watson’s commercial awareness podcast, FT news briefings, Finimize, law firm podcasts, and Little Law. These were all instrumental in building my commercial awareness, a trait that is crucial when filling out applications, as you often encounter questions like ‘Tell me about a news story that interests you.’

Work Experience

Think about anything you have been involved with that would make you stand out. While it is a formal application, the recruitment team also wants to get to know you and your individual interests. When describing your work experience, never downplay your contributions. Instead, highlight the most important aspects of the work you performed. Don’t rely on someone else to decide how impressive your experience was—tell them yourself. Don’t just list your skills; explain specifically how you used them in your work experience. Describe your activities in detail, even if they were performed as part of a team. Include the applicable contributions that you made but leave out information that doesn’t apply. When deciding which experiences to include, always choose quality over quantity, regardless of whether the work performed was law-related or not.

Approaching Long Answer Questions

When writing out your applications, it’s helpful to try to answer this question: ‘Why am I the best person for this job?’ It will help you tailor your application and highlight the most important skills that show you are suited to work in a law firm.

Many people have similar achievements on their applications, but the candidates who stand out are not necessarily the ones with the highest achievements but rather the ones with the most relevant achievements. It helps to first note down all the things you want to include in the application, no matter how big or small the achievement, and then cross-check how they relate to the key skills that the firm is looking for. Your research documents for each firm will come in useful here. If you can, using the STAR method, link your skills together in line with the firm’s key competencies, then you will have shown that you have thought about why you want to work at that specific firm and will be off to a very good start!

Take your time in drafting your application. It is important to check your spelling and grammar before you submit. There is no rush! For the long answer questions, it might be beneficial to write down your immediate thoughts for your answers to brainstorm and review at another time. Create a logical structure for your answers and use the word counts provided as a guide for your submission. Always make sure you are addressing the questions in their entirety.

By following these tips, you’ll be well-prepared to tackle your applications this cycle. Writing out the first application can be challenging, but once you get through it, you’ll discover that completing applications becomes much easier and enjoyable!