Identify your skills, preferences and areas of career interest
Ask yourself :

• what do you enjoy/dislike?
• what are you good at?
• what have you done before and what did you enjoy about it?
• do you enjoy teamwork or working on your own?
• do you want to embark upon further study?
• how important is work/life balance to you?
• do you want early responsibility?
• are you prepared to travel/be flexible?
• do you want to work for an organisation that other people have heard of?
• what sort of environment do you feel most comfortable in?
• what size of organisation do you want to work for?
• how much training and development support do you want from your employer?
• do you want a structured development programme?

Remember to be honest with yourself! Parents and friends often have a big impact on decisions, but this is not their future. Make sure you ask yourself WHY? Why do you want this job?

Obtain information on career paths and organisations
The more research you do, the more sound your career choice will be and the better prepared you will be to complete your applications form.

Sources of information include:

• internet (employers and graduate recruitment specialists)
• careers service
• company literature
• meeting employers
• career directories
• graduate publications
• work experience/shadowing/open days

What will we expect you to know the answer to?

• overview of the career choice – structure of scheme/training
• what skills you feel are needed – why do you feel that you have these skills/the potential to develop these skills?
• the nature of the work you might undertake – what do you expect to be doing on a day to day basis?
• awareness of further study (if applicable) and what impact that will have on you
• research undertaken to get you to your decision
• specific points that you like about the particular organisation and why

Complete application forms
So you’ve discovered the area and profession you want to work in, read up about it and thought about the skills and qualities needed for the job – you’re now faced with the application form! How do you communicate all these points in the spaces provided?

Look for the specified criteria – this is particularly true for academic requirements. If you do not meet them think about whether you are wasting your time in applying. Most employers will stick very rigidly to the criteria set, unless the candidate has specific mitigating circumstances. In our case we have a good reason to set high academic criteria as they are a good predictor of success in our professional exams. Unfortunately, if we considered everyone who does not meet our criteria, it would be extremely time consuming and there would be little point in setting a benchmark in the first place!

Identify what the employer is looking for and develop your own examples – Before even looking at the application form in any great detail, it is worth having a serious think about the skills that the employer is looking for and the ways in which you demonstrate those skills. You can do this by getting a blank sheet of paper, noting each competency (skill) on it and add your examples.

Use examples from academia, work and extracurricular activities – you should aim for a mix of academic, extra curricular and work experience examples. Your focus should be on recent examples, not those you experienced 10 years ago – you will have changed a lot in that time. Not only will this focus your application, it will also provide a basis for your interview preparation.

Follow the instructions – If the application form asks for a particular format, use it! Make sure that you have completely read all the basic instructions.

Answer the question – this may sound very obvious but a number of candidates seem to completely miss the point of a question. It may help to break down the question into sections so as to ensure you cover all elements. This should also provide some structure to your answer.

Tailor your answers to the job and organisation – Often, questions can be very similar on different company application forms and it is tempting to cut and paste answers from one form to another. There are two dangers to this. The first is that you do not answer the actual question asked. The second is that you run the danger of actually talking about a competitor, rather than the firm to which you have applied.

Online or paper application? – A number of employers, including us, give candidates the option of applying on-line or on a paper form - it does not matter which method you would prefer to use, the applications are treated in exactly the same way. Obviously with a paper application there are additional complications, such as ensuring that your handwriting is neat and that we can read it easily. There is nothing worse than feeling like you need a magnifying glass to read a form!

Check your form for spelling mistakes (or typos) – This seems like a very obvious point, but it is amazing how many spelling mistakes we see. In our view a typo is no different than a spelling mistake – a client would not expect to see a document sent to them littered with typos and attention to detail is a key attribute of any lawyer!

Keep it simple and specific – Whilst you want your application to stand out, use your achievements to do this, not by quoting a poet or philosopher. Also, by specific, we mean that you should use specific examples from your background for each area not just a list of your skills.

Be concise – Do not write ‘see attached’ in every box and then attach 6 additional pages. Being able to write in a concise manner is a desirable skill and we give you boxes of a certain size for a reason. However, if there is a specific aspect of your application that does require additional explanation then add a covering letter with your application.

Keep a copy of your form – if you are lucky enough to be invited to interview you need a good knowledge of the examples on your form as you may be questioned about it. Also make a note of any reference number, when and to whom you sent your application, just in case you have to follow it up later (this is especially important if you are not filling sending a form via the internet).

Never lie – again, this one sounds obvious, but each year we get a couple of people whose As at A level, suddenly become Cs when they are asked to produce their certificates. Sell yourself but not at the expense of honesty.

And finally...
Remember that the purpose of the application form is to highlight to the employer your breadth of skill and suitability for the position to which you are applying. Make sure that you make the most of every part of the form, the narrative sections are equally important as your academics. Herbert Smith are looking for well-rounded individuals.