How to Prepare a Legal Writing Sample for Applications
Some applications, especially for chambers, research roles and certain firm and clerkship positions, ask for a writing sample, and it can throw students who have never prepared one. What counts? What do you pick? How do you make it strong,...
How to Ask for and Use References and Recommendation Letters
References and recommendations are quietly powerful because they are one of the few parts of an application where someone else vouches for you. A credible recommendation can carry more weight than simply telling an employer yourself that you are reliable,...
How to Prepare for a Public Policy Interview
A policy interview is a different creature from a law firm interview, so if you are moving toward think tanks, policy organisations or law-and-policy roles, preparing the same way you would for a firm will not fully serve you. Policy...
How to Prepare for an Investment Funds Interview
Investment funds is a more niche practice area, so if you have an interview for a funds team, you may feel you know less about it than about, say, general corporate work. That is completely normal and manageable. As with...
How to Prepare for a Capital Markets Interview
Capital markets is one of those practice areas that sounds impressive and slightly mysterious, and if you have an interview for one, you may be unsure what they will actually ask. The reassuring news is the same as for other...
How to Prepare for an Intellectual Property Interview
Intellectual property is a wonderfully varied area, covering things like trademarks, copyright, patents and technology, and often sitting where law meets creativity, innovation and business. If you have an IP interview coming up, the reassuring news is familiar: as a...
How to Prepare for an Arbitration Interview
Arbitration is one of the most sought-after dispute areas, blending the reasoning and advocacy of litigation with a distinct, often cross-border, framework for resolving disputes outside the regular courts. If you have an arbitration interview, you are probably wondering what...
How to Prepare for a Judicial Clerkship Interview
Interviewing for a judicial clerkship or a role assisting a judge is a special kind of interview, because the person assessing you is often the judge (or their office), and what they need is quite specific: someone who can research...
How to Explain a Career Switch in a Legal Interview
Whenever you are moving (switching practice areas, changing roles, or leaving a job), an interviewer will ask why, and how you answer matters enormously. Handled well, your switch sounds like a deliberate, positive step. Handled badly, it can raise red...
HR Rounds for Lawyers: How to Handle Them
The HR round sometimes gets underestimated by candidates who are strong on the legal side. “It is just HR,” they think, and then treat it casually, which is a mistake. The HR round assesses things that genuinely matter (your fit,...
