How to Let Your Personality Truly Shine in Law Firm Applications?
While many of you think CV and grades will impact whether or not you get past the application stage, your soft skills and personality actually matter a lot to help you land that final job offer.
Before we jump into my specific tips on how to incorporate your "personality" in law firm applications, here's some great news I want to share with you all first:
In this application cycle, over 7 graduates from our "BigLaw Academy" have secured a training contract / vacation scheme offer at top law firms in London, Dubai and Hong Kong so far!!
Some people have messaged me over the past weeks asking when they should join my coaching programme... the best timing is always today, and the second best timing is probably tomorrow. It takes time to master the entire application process so the earlier you start the better.
If you're so tired of getting rejected again, don't know what went wrong in your previous cycles, or simply want to land your dream training contract ASAP, apply for the BigLaw Academy todayand stop wasting any more time!
1) Focus not only on Legal Work Experience, but also on Non-Legal Work Experience.
If you are a law student or graduate, have you ever thought about the following questions?
"How come a lot of non-law students with almost no legal work experiences manage to secure a vacation scheme?"
"I'm a law student and did quite a few legal work experiences - how come I can't even get past the application stage?"
The truth is if you're applying for a vacation scheme, you'll realise that a lot of non-law students manage to reach the assessment centre stage or even secure an offer despite not having many legal internships on their CV.
I personally think when assessing an undergraduate candidate at the application stage, law firms don't necessarily expect those applicants to have amazing legal work experiences (but of course, if you do have such experiences that will be a bonus!).
Instead, law firms are trying to assess if those candidates have the potential of becoming an outstanding commercial lawyer. That doesn't have to be shown by law-related work, but can instead be evidenced by non-legal work experiences.
I must admit that reading a legal clinic experience on a law student's CV the 30th time isn't the most interesting thing for me. But when I suddenly came across a candidate who did an internship at an investment bank or start-up, that caught my attention for several reasons.
First of all, a commercial experience like this is not as commonly mentioned by applicants as a legal work experience. Secondly, some candidates manage to vividly explain how such non-legal experience shapes their personal journey or gain the relevant transferrable skills to make them a good lawyer. So don't ignore the power of non-legal work experiencing - mentioning them strategically can completely change how the Graduate Recruitment see your application!
2) Your Extracurriculars & Hobbies Do Matter
Believe it or not, I heard stories like these from my coachees or other future trainees I spoke before:
"An associate at a global law firm volunteered be the interviewer for a specific candidate at an assessment centre because he/she is intrigued by a super niche hobby of that candidate...."
"The interviewers spent 12-20 minutes at an interview asking a candidate about one of his very interesting hobbies they saw on his CV..."
You probably came across the "hobby" section in an application form before, and you probably didn't give it that much thought.
"Running," "Reading books" and "Baking" are probably some of the most common ones I've seen so far. I'm not saying these hobbies are bad at all, but I do think that if you want to mention something that is widely mentioned by other candidates, you should have the obligation to give the reader more specific details to make these hobbies sound more interesting or personal to you.
Sometimes an interesting hobby can indeed wow the interviewers and make them more curious about you. Talking about your hobby passionately is sometimes what it takes to transform a formal interview into a casual conversation that can make your entire interview experience much more enjoyable.
Take a pen, sit down and then think really carefully what do you want to put in the "hobby" section before you submit your next training contract application.
3) Sometimes Your Amazing Personality Can Even Help You Bypass Certain Application Stages...
I even heard crazy stories like these from future trainee solicitors and aspiring lawyers who take "networking" to the next level to fast-track their law career...
"The Graduate Recruitment liked me so much that after speaking to me at Open Day / Networking Event they even let me redo the Watson Glaser Test even though I failed it for a few times..."
"I know a friend working at an elite law firm and managed to arrange for an informal interview with one of its partners... I was then invited to do an informal internship there after the interview..."
Leaving a lasting impression on the Graduate Recruitment team or other legal professionals isn't easy, but if you manage to do that at an Open Day, that will definitely help you with your applications or job hunting process.
Honestly, this can be quite a discouraging news for most of the aspiring lawyers - because for many of us, networking is not second nature to us and we don't have a strong network to begin with.
That being said, we should still try our best to put ourselves out there and build our own connections, because the ability to ask for help is sometimes what distinguishes the successful candidates from the unsuccessful ones.
4) Interview is Not Entirely a Skill Assessment, But More of a Personality Assessment.
I once heard of this quote from an associate at big law firms:
Succeeding at an AC or interview is 90% soft skills..."
After years of advising and coaching aspiring lawyers, I think this is kinda true. Of course, law firms still want you to be commercially aware and technically strong. But many people are under the impression that they need to know the inside-out of M&A deals, private equity transactions or IPOs, and they always feel the need to say something to impress the interviewers at an AC.
In fact, sometimes those who have the most polished answers at interviews are not actually the ones who land training contract offers.
There are so many "mechanical" or "robotic" lawyers out there these days; global law firms are actually more interested in hiring more authentic and genuine candidates.
At partner interviews, law firms want to see if you are a personable, confident person; at group exercises, they're looking for someone who works well with others and has good communication skills; and at case study interviews, law firms are looking for someone who can think outside of the box and walks them through his/her thought process confidently - they aren't looking for the "right answers."
Remember, your soft skills matter so much more at ACs and interviews.
Do you want to land a BigLaw Offer that can completely change your life?
My coaching programmes have achieved amazing results for our 2025/26 students (see below):
For those who are struggling with the law firm application process, don't easily give up on your goal. Apply for the BigLaw Academy today to get a step closer to your dream law career.
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