So you've made it into law school, and you're all geared up for the academic year. You've got your textbooks, casebooks, lecture notes and Ginger Snail subscriptions for your modules. But for students who want to become lawyers after graduation, there is a little more you must prepare for – the vacation schemes and training contract applications. Typically, you'd start applying for these coveted positions in your second year of law school. So, how does one prepare for these applications?

In this article, we share one of the many strategies you could adopt when applying for vacation schemes and training contracts. Remember, this is only a guide, so feel free to adapt it to your study schedule and lifestyle.
The application preparation process can be split into three parts:

1. Commercial Awareness
2. Personal Awareness
3. Firm Awareness

Commercial Awareness

Before the period for applying for law firm vacation schemes and training contracts (the “Pre-Application Period”)

We recommend maintaining a habit of keeping in touch with current commercial affairs – small steps, over time, go a long way. We suggest:

• looking up the news every day for 10 minutes and skim-read headlines, with a particular focus on business news; and
• picking a business news publication (e.g., Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Economist) and spending at least an hour each week (more is better, but weekly is enough) reading up on current affairs. Save the articles that were particularly interesting to you.

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One might be inclined to cram commercial awareness readings into a short and intense period right before their vacation scheme or training contract interviews. However, we would advise against such an approach – many events that are relevant to your commercial awareness develop over long periods (e.g., the changing economic climate and how that affects the industries or practice areas you might be interested in) and therefore developing general commercial awareness over an extended period might be more beneficial than a massive binge of commercial developments covering only the week before your interviews.

During the vacation scheme and training contract application period (the "Application Period"):

We recommend doubling the amount of time spent on reading business news. Pay attention to, e.g.:

• Headline high-value transactions;
• Major regulatory changes;
• Significant economic and geopolitical events; and
• Major commercial disputes.

One thought that might cross your mind is, "There are so many things going on in the world; where do I even start?!" Before the application period begins, read as you please – try to get a general sense of business news based on the points mentioned above. During the application period, let your focus on commercial affairs be guided by the areas that interest you and the "Frontrunner Firms" (we define this term in the section "Firm Awareness" below). For example, if a Frontrunner Firm specialises in aviation transactions, and that is an area you are interested in, focus some of your commercial awareness reading on that area. Here is a true story of a short conversation one of us had during an open day:

Lawyer: So, what areas of law are you interested in?

Open Day Student: I'm quite interested in aviation and M&A.

Lawyer: I see! So, what do you think about Qatar Airways’ acquisition of a 10% stake in IAG?

Fortunately, this student was able to have an opinion on the issue and answer the question because he had chanced upon a news article discussing this very transaction the week before (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/30/qatar-airways-10-percent-stake-iag).

Two things can be said about the above exchange. First, if you want to express a particular interest in a particular field, be ready to defend that interest. The more specific you are about any topic, the greater your implied familiarity. That said, we think it might be particularly impressive if you can defend your position. Generally, after an open day, HR teams will send a firm-wide request for impressions on the participating students, and so it would help a student stand out if a lawyer says, "This student expressed an interest in one of our core practice areas and was able to discuss current developments in the area" – high risk, high reward. The other takeaway from the above exchange is that the student/interviewee can somewhat steer the conversation. For instance, the question about the aviation transaction would never have come up if a different interest was expressed.

Personal Awareness

The entire preparation and application journey requires students (law and non-law who also desire to become lawyers) to look outwards at the world (commercial awareness) and inwards with a degree of introspection. Firms are commercial entities concerned with profits per partner and billable hours, but you, as an individual, will work in teams where building rapport is essential. This is where one's consideration of firm culture comes to the fore. Therefore, you need to understand your culture "fit". Consider your answers to the following questions:

• What is the size of teams you prefer working with?
• What kind of social element do you prefer with your future colleagues?
• What degree of independence are you most comfortable with within the workplace?
• What kind of flexibility do you desire when it comes to working across practice areas? Note that some firms prefer you restrict yourself to one practice group, while others encourage you to work with lawyers in other practice groups when you have additional capacity.
• What kind and amount of pro bono work do you hope to undertake?
• What are your expectations of billable hours?
• How often does the firm hold firm-wide socials?
• How often does the firm hold training sessions?
• What are their remote working policies?
• To what extent are trainees given a choice on the practice areas they may train and eventually qualify into?
• What are the overseas secondment opportunities?

The answers to some of these questions may be found through online research. Some may have to be answered by lawyers you meet at open days or law fairs. The answers to these questions should inform how you rank the firms you will be applying for. This exercise is also helpful in other aspects of the application process. For instance, the application forms of some firms will ask you, "Why us"? It might be insufficient (and unconvincing) for an applicant to want to join a firm purely based on a practice area reputation because several firms can be "leaders" in a practice area at the same time. Further, students may be perceived as too distant from the legal profession to make a compelling case solely on that basis. Mentioning what you like about a firm's culture also shows that you care about finding a firm that is the right fit for you (and, likewise, you being a fit for them). It is essential that you end up at a firm that is (if not perfect) a good fit for your working style and personality – it will facilitate your learning, and it is a joy to work with people you have a good rapport with. Being a lawyer can often be a gruelling (but rewarding) endeavour, especially if your sights are set on the Big Law or Magic Circle firms. We speak from experience — even brutal hours can be enjoyable and somewhat positive experiences (usually with hindsight) with the right team.

Firm Awareness

Before the Application Period:

Create a list of firms (the "List") that you would like to join, keeping in mind three "criteria":

• Practice Area
• Culture
• Perks

Arrange the firms on the List with the firms that meet all three criteria at the top and those that meet the fewest criteria at the bottom.

While it is great to focus only on the firms that you want, the brutal truth is that there are far more applicants than spaces, and the system for selecting candidates will never be perfect. We believe the application process is a bit (though not solely) of a numbers game – not everyone gets their top choice. Sometimes, even applicants who may be a perfect fit for a firm might be overlooked among the hundreds of applications firms get each year. Another truth is that some legal experience is better than none, and any training contract can serve as a stepping stone to your dream firm. You might grow fond of the firm you train at, even if it was not your first choice. Having been through this process and spoken to many colleagues who have done likewise, most students (from our perspective) may have an idea of the practice area they want to go into, but these preferences may change as their exposure to other practice areas widen their horizons on the career trajectories available to them. The point is to make a list – not just a handful of firms, but a list of substantial length (think more than fifteen).

Let's call your top three firms the "Prime Firms", and let's call the following top 5 firms the "Bench Firms" (these numbers are just suggestions; feel free to adjust to a "Prime"-"Bench" breakdown you feel most comfortable with). Once you have populated the List, conduct in-depth research on the Prime and Bench firms. Pay attention to (and make notes) about:

1. Top practice areas of the firm;
2. The top practice areas of the firm that you are interested in (we recommend choosing two per firm). Note: this is different from point 1 above — know the area you are interested in, but you definitely should know the strong practice areas of the firm, even if that is not an area of law you are interested in;
3. Significant and recent transactions of the top practices area you are interested in;
4. Significant mentions of the firm in the news;
5. International presence and newly launched offices; and
6. Major pro bono activities of the firm.

I used to compile and print little information bundles for my top 10 firms.

The Application Process

In this phase, you will complete and fire out your applications. The vacation scheme/training contract application period runs for about two months. Once the application period opens, start filling in your application forms (some of these are pretty darn long).

A couple of suggestions:

• Do not submit applications on the day you fill them out (unless you have reached the deadline). You can save most applications and finalise them at a later time. Once you complete a form, save it and take a day off before returning to it to review it with fresh eyes. If you are making several applications simultaneously, there is a heightened risk of getting the law firm-specific details (e.g., names) wrong (and this would almost always ensure you lose the chance to apply at that firm).
• Submit your applications for the Bench Firms first — as you complete multiple application forms, you will inevitably refine your answers (or your approach to answering questions). This will give you some practice to put your best foot forward for your Prime Firm applications.

Some firms will reply within a couple of weeks, letting you know whether your application is being moved to the next stage. Some firms require you to take certain tests (e.g., a verbal reasoning test, Watson-Glaser test, personality test, numerical test, etc.). Further, some firms might follow up with a telephone interview. Fortunately, you can practice for these tests (there is an abundance of practice tests online), and for phone interviews, you can have your notes in front of you during the interview.

Here are a couple of tips for phone interviews:

• Have your notes in case you need to jog your memory about transactions or events you want to discuss. Sure, you should be familiar with the details of the firm by heart, but at this stage, you are applying for a few at once, so some assistance on remembering things like significant transactions in the practice area of your fancy would be good to have; and
• Have your notes spread out on your desk so that you do not need to "flip" through your notes. No one can see your notes during a phone interview, but they can tell if you are flipping through your paper notes or clicking through tabs.

These tips are, of course, far less helpful for video interviews.

The application period can be challenging for some because this is when the rejections stream in. Don't take them to heart – look back at those applications and consider how they could be improved. For each rejection, cross out the rejecting firm and begin an application for the next two firms on your List. Rinse, repeat and polish.

We've discussed preparing for applications and phone interviews. What do we do when we make it past those and are invited to a video or in-person interview? In-person interviews, at their core, are best approached as "conversations". In some ways, they are like "first dates" – you know a bit about the firm, and they know a bit about you, and the interview is the chance for you both to know each other better. If you've done the above preparation, we believe you will also be ready for your interviews. In our view, when you are asked about commercial or legal issues, the interviewer cares more about your thought process rather than you knowing the actual answer. For example, "Do you think arbitration is better for settling disputes than litigating in the courts?"

In the:

• Commercial Awareness section, we discussed how to steer your reading to arm yourself with awareness that is relevant to the firm you are interviewing with.
• Personal Awareness section, we considered factors that would guide you towards a firm culture that suits you.
• Firm Awareness section, we looked at some tips on familiarising yourself with the firm and its practice areas.

We'll leave you with one more suggestion. While you may have done a great deal of reflection about the practice area you are interested in and the firm culture that attracts you, always keep an open mind to new ideas and perspectives because there is only so much you can learn from research. Actual experience working in a law firm might deviate from your expectations in a good or not-so-good way, but in any case, it will bring you clarity and insight into life as a lawyer. We think applicants who reiterate their appreciation that there is a lot to learn about legal practice and expressly commit to keeping an open mind about learning from any practice area they may be assigned to will make a good impression.

We hope this article on how to approach the vacation scheme and training contract applications will be helpful to you, and we wish you all the best in your applications!

Go get em!

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Sincerely,

Ginger Snail