Applications for vacation schemes and training contracts can seem daunting. At the very least, they are enormously time-consuming, with all manner of hurdles for you to overcome before you finally get the offer you were hoping for. Many application forms for training contracts and vacation schemes are very similar, as many firms see vacation schemes as the route many of their prospective trainees will take. To tackle either of them, we recommend you do two things: prepare and persevere.
Preparation
You need to know which firms you should target your applications for. There is little point in taking a scattergun approach. It’s a huge waste of your time, as firm’s will see a generic application coming a mile off. So do your research!
Put together a shortlist of firms, and make a note of the dates on which their applications close. Make use of the firms’ graduate recruitment websites and other useful sources such as The Lawyer, Lex 100 and RollonFriday. RollonFriday and Chambers Student Guides are particularly useful at giving you the inside track on what a law firm is really like to work for. They conduct anonymous interviews every year with lawyers, so this is a great way to choose firms that you like the sound of.
Once you’ve selected firms that do work that you’re interested in and which could be a good cultural fit for you, dig into them. Find out about any networking events, open days or law fairs that you can attend to meet representatives from the firm and to ask any questions you may have. It provides a good basis for your application if you can justify why you have chosen to apply to the firm. Make a note of the competencies each firm look for in potential candidates too and try to reference this when giving your answers on the application form.
It’s tough to get through to a telephone interview or assessment centre. Top law firms will receive more than hundred applications for each position so remember the competition. Make sure you really tailor each application to the firm in question and really demonstrate that you understand their clients, the work they carry out and the type of trainees they are looking for. But don’t just suck up to them! Remember that you need to talk about yourself, your skills and ultimately demonstrate that you are trainee material. In short, you are selling yourself and why you would be a good fit for that particular firm.
Perseverance
For all that can be said about the quality of tailored applications, there is also some truth in the saying that applications are a numbers game. So once you have submitted tailored applications to your shortlist of firms (say five to ten applications), move on to the next rung of firms on your list. These are the firms that you would be happy to work for, though not perhaps as enthusiastic as those on your shortlist.
Make sure that you’ve saved your application answers as you go along. Many forms have very similar questions on your strengths and skills (“examples of leadership” and so on), so you can use your perfect answers from before to start firing off applications to more firms. If you have time, it is worth applying to as many firms as you can on your second list as well. Just remember that this will still take you some time – remember to proof read each application and never make the cardinal sin of having copied-and-pasted the wrong firm’s name in your answer!
And if you aren’t successful, don’t stress! There will be another round of vacation schemes, and another round of training contract applications. See your applications and any failed interviews or assessment centres as good practice. Most people will not shine at their first interview – it can take a couple of attempts to get it right. So look on every attempt as a learning experience, take a positive attitude, and keep going – you’ll get there eventually!