As application season is slowly approaching, I've been asked to give my top tips on applying to solicitor apprenticeships. And it is as simple as 1, 2, 3.
You need ONE effective application. To do this, you need to make sure that any extended questions that ask why you want to be a commercial solicitor or why ‘X’ firm are really tailored to your personal experiences. Talk about your clubs or courses that you did, or is there anything that you did during school that was really outstanding? And link this to the values and also just the working practices of the firm you're applying to. This will help show off you know who you are, but also show off your knowledge of the firm you're applying to. This also makes it super specific. If you can substitute firm names and it still makes sense, it probably means it's not specific enough. Also, utilize your work experience descriptions. This means writing all of the descriptions of your work experience in a really engaging way. You didn't stack shelves, you coordinated stock in your supermarket. And also include all the virtual work experiences that you've done with firms as well. I included every single one.
You also need to practice TWO core styles of test. The first one is the dreaded Watson Glaser test. You can find practice papers online, and some firms also offer you their own practice papers for their Watson Glaser test. And the second test is a situational judgment test or a cognitive assessment. These tend to go hand in hand, and they assess your overall skills, so make sure you do some research into the difference because they do use very,
very different skills and firms will be looking for different things out of these, and these are very, very difficult. So, prepare to fail them a few times before you start nailing them.
And make sure you follow your favourite firms on THREE social media platforms,
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Spotify. A lot of law firms are using Instagram for their graduate recruitment marketing on here. They usually post a lot of updates about the firm or new things that are happening with the firm or who they're collaborating with. Solicitor apprenticeship applications, mimic training contracts, applications, so everything on Instagram will be completely valuable to you. LinkedIn is also really invaluable because they show you a lot of the professional updates. For example, you can learn about new mergers or branding or business development. Instagram will give you that informal insight to really make the firm personable, whereas LinkedIn will show you the more business/formal elements. And lastly, something that's super overlooked as Spotify firms usually have some sort of commercial awareness podcast. These are made to take clients and you through recent deals or recent developments in the market, and they're super, super helpful for developing your commercial awareness. And firms might even go out their way to make a graduate recruitment podcast, which could talk through the different practice areas or how to write a successful application.
So remember 1, 2, 3.
