Why International Candidates Need More Applications, Not Fewer
Every application cycle, I speak to international candidates who are paralysed by the "quality vs quantity" debate.
They have read the advice online or asked around. They have been told to focus on fewer, more tailored applications. They have been warned not to "spray and pray." And so they submit five, maybe seven applications — each one carefully researched, each one painstakingly drafted — and then they wait.
The results come back. Mostly silence. A few rejections. Perhaps one or two second-round video interview invitations.
And they conclude that their profile is simply not good enough.
Sometimes that is true. But more often, the problem is not necessarily the quality of what they submitted. The problem is that they did not submit enough.
1. The Numbers Are Not Equal
Here is something that most generic application advice fails to account for: the TC application process in the UK is not a level playing field for international candidates.
Every year, UK law firms receive tens of thousands of applications for a few thousand Training Contract places. The acceptance rate at elite firms is often below 2%. But that headline statistic does not capture the full picture for someone applying as an international candidate or from outside the UK.
Firstly, domestic candidates have structural advantages that international candidates simply do not have. Many of them have grown up in the UK and their motivation to work here is often automatically assumed. Compared to other International students coming to the UK for the first time for their LLM degree, local candidates have UK networks built over years of open days, law fairs, and university society events. They likely understand the firm culture and application process more thoroughly.
International candidates are often starting from zero. No network. No cultural familiarity. Non-native English speaker. No pre-existing understanding of the firms they are applying to. And in many cases, a visa situation that makes some recruiters hesitant before they have even read a single word of their application or CV.
This does not mean international candidates cannot succeed. There are many examples out there that show us they can. But it does mean that a more conservative, hyper-selective application strategy that might work for a domestic candidate will not necessarily work for them.
2. What I Learned from My Own Application Cycles
When I graduated from my LLM and started applying for Training Contracts in London as a foreigner, I made a mistake that I see other international candidates make constantly.
I applied to a large number of firms, but I applied without genuine knowledge of what I was doing. I didn't understand which firms were the right fit for my background. I didn't know how to position my international experience as an asset rather than an anomaly. I couldn't explain convincingly why I wanted to be in London rather than returning to Hong Kong. And when I got to interview, I found it incredibly hard to explain why I was even there.
I failed those interviews. And what I learned is this: if you can't convince yourself that you genuinely want to work for a particular firm in the UK, you will never convince the interviewer.
So I went back to basics. I spent my mornings researching different global law firms — their deals, their culture, their recent hires, their strategic directions and strategies. I spent my afternoons drafting and redrafting applications. I treated the job search like a full-time job, because that is exactly what it is.
The second cycle was different. After submitting around 5-6 applications, I already started getting some telephone interviews and assessment centres. Not because I submitted fewer applications, but because I submitted more informed ones. I understood the landscape. I had a narrative. I knew how to explain my background in a way that made sense to a UK recruiter.
3. Why Volume Still Matters for International Candidates
There is a version of the "quality over quantity" argument that is genuinely correct. If you are submitting applications that are generic, untailored, and clearly written for any firm rather than a specific one, then submitting more of them will not help you. You are just multiplying a flawed approach.
But once your applications are genuinely strong — once you have done the research, built the narrative, and understand what each firm is looking for — volume becomes your most powerful tool.
Here is why.
First, the learning curve is steeper for international candidates. The only way to understand how UK firms assess applications, what their online assessments look like, how different video interviews are structured, and what their Assessment Centres feel like is to go through the process. Every application you submit, every online test you sit, every video interview you record is a data point. You learn something from each one. If you only submit five applications, you are learning from five data points. If you submit twenty, you are learning from twenty.
Second, international candidates often have less options when it comes to firms and face a more urgent timeline. Domestic candidates might submit a few applications this cycle and then don't feel motivated to submit any more applications — they can simply wait again for the next cycle, and there is technically no time limit as to when they must secure an offer. They can even aim for national or smaller law firms, if they feel like working at a big law firm isn't for them.
In contrast, an international candidate with an equivalent profile might only have realistically 1 or 2 years left to secure a training contract after they graduate from their law degree/LLM. In addition, they can mostly aim for big international law firms given the sponsorship issue. While a few of them may be lucky enough to secure a sponsored paralegal role somewhere to extend this timeline, most International candidates will have no choice but to return to their home country after their visa expires. This is not speculation — it is a pattern I have observed consistently across the international candidates I have worked with. The pressure to succeed at every stage of the process is even greater for international candidates, for the structural reasons I described earlier. If you want the same number of Assessment Centre invitations, you may need to start with a larger pool of applications.
Third, the right opportunity is harder to predict. International candidates often have a unique combination of skills, languages, and jurisdictional experience that makes them a good fit for specific firms in ways that are not always obvious from the outside. I secured my first paralegal role because I spoke Chinese. I did not know that was going to be the deciding factor when I sent my CV. The more applications you submit, the more chances you have of landing in front of the one recruiter or partner who sees exactly what makes you different and values it. You will also start having a better idea of what type of law firms tends to find your profile more attractive.
4. The "Spray and Pray" Myth
When people warn against "spray and pray," what they are really warning against is submitting generic, untailored applications to every firm indiscriminately. That advice is actually correct.
But there is also a version of that warning that has been misapplied to international candidates in a way that can be unproductive. Some candidates interpret "quality over quantity" as a reason to submit fewer applications. They spend months perfecting only five applications instead of submitting fifteen well-researched ones.
The problem with this approach is that the legal application process is inherently unpredictable. Firms change their hiring priorities. Partners move. Practice groups expand or contract. A firm that seemed like a long shot might suddenly be looking for exactly your profile. A firm you thought was a certainty might have a hiring freeze. For example, more recently firms like Mishcon de Reya are planning to expand to Asia and, as a result, candidates with background or work experiences in Asia might suddenly fit into the firm's wider strategy.
You cannot control any of that. What you can control is the size of your pipeline.
5. What "More Applications" Actually Looks Like in Practice
At the end of the day, I'm not suggesting you to submit fifty identical applications and hope for the best. What I'm suggesting is a structured approach that combines genuine quality with meaningful volume.
Start by identifying a target list of firms that genuinely align with your background, your experiences, your practice area interests, and your long-term career goals. For most international candidates, this list should be larger than they initially think — typically over 15 or 20 firms across a mix of elite international firms, and firms with specific practice area strengths or a notable presence in your home jurisdiction.
For each firm on your list, do in-depth research. Understand their recent deals, their culture, their sector focus, their training programme, and what they are looking for in a candidate. Write an application that could only have been written by you, for that specific firm.
Then submit. All of them.
As the responses come in, treat every stage of the process as a learning opportunity. If you get an online test, note what type of questions troubled you the most and what you would do differently. If you get a video interview, record yourself and review it. If you get an Assessment Centre invitation, treat it as a live practice environment regardless of how much you want the offer.
The candidates who succeed are not always the ones with the strongest profiles. They are the ones who are willing to go through the process enough times to get good at it.
6. A Final Word
When I was sitting in the same coffee shop every day, applying for whatever I could find, I did not know how the story would end. I had a Cambridge degree and I could not get an entry-level legal job. I was dependent on my family. I was running out of time as an international student.
What I did not do was stop applying.
Eventually, a two-week Cantonese-speaking paralegal contract led to another four-week role, which led to an internship at an intergovernmental organisation in Italy, which led to a Training Contract at a global law firm in London.
I could not have predicted that chain of events. I could not have engineered it through careful, selective applications. It happened because I kept putting myself in front of opportunities, even when the odds felt impossibly long.
If you're an international candidate in the middle of a difficult cycle right now, I want you to hear this clearly: the answer is almost never to submit fewer applications. It is to submit better ones, and more of them.
The right opportunity is out there. But you have to be in enough pipelines to find it.
Do you want to land a BigLaw Offer that can completely change your life?
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help you secure your dream legal roles: 1. Take my Free Application Templates & Interview Master Sheet [Get it here]. 2. Book a Free 1:1 Call with Me [Have a chat today than to waste any more time].
I'm also pleased to announced that my BigLaw Academy Cohort — one of the most structured, end-to-end group coaching programmes built specifically for Vacation Scheme and Training Contract applications — is currently open for applications. It teaches the same framework that produced these results in our 1:1 coaching, helping my coachees secure offers and interviews at leading law firms across the UK, US, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore — including CMS, Watson Farley & Williams, Freshfields, Osborne Clarke, Faegre Drinker, Winston & Strawn, and Arnold & Porter. Details of this programme are as follows:
🗓️ Programme Duration: 13th September – 1st November 2026
👨🏫 Date & Time: Every Sunday, 1:30–2:30pm British Summer Time (BST)
⏳ Applications close 21st August 2026
⚠️ Only 8-12 spots available
If you want to go from struggling applications to a confirmed offer at your dream firm in 8 weeks, apply for the BigLaw Academy Cohort here.
Hope you're looking forward to the weekend!
Gordon Chung
