I’m often asked how applicants can make their training contract applications stand out. While there’s no magic formula, in my four years of applications and subsequent years in the industry, I’ve picked up some great tips and tricks along the way. Here are my thoughts!
Think about what makes you, uniquely you.
This is always going to be your biggest advantage! Do some self reflection, and ask your friends how they would describe you. Make sure that you then work these attributes into your applications.
For example: I’m a massive extrovert and get my energy from other people; so, I love being a lawyer, as I get to chat to clients and colleagues all day. I therefore made sure to mention in my applications that I was excited to build close relationships with the firms’ pre-eminent clients (picking out examples) and achieve “trusted advisor status”.
Be ruthless – edit or delete any generic statements.
Platitudes have got to go! Print your answers and review them objectively line by line. If any aspect of your answers could be written by anyone else on this planet, delete and start again!
Mention your previous interactions with the firm, no matter how small.
Emphasise your interactions with the firm (there should be some and if not, remedy that first!) – whether it was a formal Open Day/event, or you just chatted to trainees over LinkedIn or at a law fair. Firms want to see that you can demonstrate your commitment to that firm, specifically.
Deploy all your hard work on building commercial awareness.
Don’t just do some specific research when application season rolls round; carry out day-to-day information gathering in general. Using resources like those I mention in my “My favourite top secret legal resources” post, consistently, means you’ll (hopefully) have a mine of material to draw on when making apps. Without even realising, you should be able to have subtly imbued your answers with this knowledge, without having to think up a clunky link between a current news topic and your firm of choice.
Concisely link together statements that eloquently speak to salient points.
Now this is the hard bit… Make sure your application is *actually* well written! Lawyers are, fundamentally, wordsmiths; so you need to demonstrate your writing skills. Sometimes, low word count limits can lead applicants to write short, staccato sentences. Instead, try to make sure that your answers are beautifully written while still being concise.
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I hope these tips are useful for your training contract applications! You can find some more detailed tips on how to answer “why commercial law?” and “why this firm?” here.