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Top tips on writing an effective legal application...
Sarah Bohn, Employability Consultant within the Business & Law Faculty at Kingston University shares her top tips for application and interview success. Sarah spent several years as a Recruitment Consultant for legal and financial services organisations before joining the University.
1. Tailor your applications – You will be more successful if you take time to create a well-considered, personalised and targeted application that provides specific evidence of your suitability for the role using the job description provided. This will set your application apart from hundreds of generic, ill-considered applications. Write every application as if it is the only application you are going to write. Applications are not a ‘numbers game’ - writing well-researched, quality applications will pay off.
2. Position yourself as an asset and not a cost - An employer will want to know what you can bring to their organisation and team environment. Focus on how you can benefit their organisation using skills, knowledge and experiences you have acquired rather than focussing on how the opportunity will benefit you. For example, explain how your degree, work experience and extra-curricular activities have developed specific skills and expertise that will be useful to your future employer based on the job description, such as research skills, administrative skills, customer service etc. Give specific examples of the impact you have made during different experiences, using positive language such as: grew, improved, transformed, saved, generated….
3. Make your research count – Your legal application should reflect that you have researched the organisation to build a picture of what they do, and how they stand out in their sector. You can gather this information from their website, LinkedIn, trade press / news articles, by following them on Twitter or liking their Facebook page (as long as your privacy settings are secure!). You should also research their key competitors and wider news ‘hot topics’ that could be impacting them. There are a number of professional bodies who offer student membership, which will give you access to legal resources and events, for example the Law Society, the Institute of Paralegals and the UK Law Students’ Association to name a few. This research will boost your credibility by demonstrating commercial awareness in the legal sector. You can also use this research to answer application questions such as: ‘Why are you interested in our organisation?’ ‘Who are our main competitors?’ ‘What is your view of the legal climate?’ etc.
4. Use the STAR technique to answer competency based questions - The STAR approach can help you to structure application questions which ask you to provide an example of when you have demonstrated a specific skill or competency. For example, a competency based question may be… ‘Can you give me an example of when you have had to use your influencing skills to reach a desired outcome?’
When answering this question, you should:
• Describe the Situation / set the scene of the example you have chosen
• Describe the Task that required you to use your influencing skills
• Describe the Actions you took using your influencing skills effectively
• Summarise the Result / achievement of you using that skill.
When answering competency-based questions, review your CV and try to use the most relevant example, while also ensuring you don’t repeatedly use the same example i.e don’t answer every question with an example from your University studies. Try to draw upon examples from part-time jobs, voluntary work, club or society involvement, or your wider interests. This helps to show you as an ‘all-rounder’ which also demonstrates wider social and interpersonal skills.
5. Lawyers are obsessive about spelling and grammar
It is so easy to be sifted out of a recruitment process due to poor spelling, grammar and punctuation - careful proof-reading really will pay off. Having a clear and concise writing style is key. Make sure your application layout and structure is well-considered and easy to read and don’t expect a recruiter to search for evidence of how fantastic you are – let the evidence clearly stand out. Sub-headings can help structure your application and draw the readers’ attention to key points.
For help and advice with your legal job search, applications and interviews, please contact Sarah Bohn, KU Talent (Careers Team) Kingston University [email protected].