[fredericmoreau]

Hi Jess,

To what extent do module grades determine the outcome of the selection process? I have a strong academic record at GCSE and A Level, and a First (BA Hons) and Distinction (MA) - but I have some weaker module grades in the first half of my degree, i.e. 2.2s, alongside some of the 78s and 80s I scored later on. By no means are they representative of me as an individual, as I would hope my overall grades and ECs would show. I put them down to immaturity and have definitely learnt a life lesson - I know I will not compromise or put in anything less than 100% ever again. I am worried that these stray marks will result in me being screened out of Freshfields' process too early on, and that I won't have the chance to show the firm what I can offer them, and prove that I am capable of succeeding consistently at the highest level. Do Freshfields look at applications holistically - considering responses to questions, marks and ECs equally - or is the weighting against me in this case?

Thank you,

Tom

[coffee?]

Hello,

Like someone else asked previously, how important are pre-university grades when it comes to selecting candidates? Are they actually used to distinguish between realistic candidates or are they in place just to auto-filter applicants and cut down the numbers? I am also curious about how A Level retakes are looked at, especially when there were extenuating circumstances involved.

Regards

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by rm22)
Hi Jess

I'm not a graduate but I will be completing my A-Levels this summer. I was just wondering, do you have any internships or work experience available for A-Level leavers? Paid and Unpaid are both fine, I just want to get some experience under my belt because working for a Law firm is what I want to do after I graduate.

Thank you
Rumel

Hi Rumel,

Unfortunately we do not have any formal work experience programmes for people who are still at school or college, so would be unable to help with this request.

We encourage those who have not started university yet to look out for work experience with smaller law firms or high street solicitors, as these will look great on your CV or application when you do get to the stage where you can apply for vacation schemes/training contracts.

Regards

Jess

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Firstly, I would like to ask how imporant GCSE grades are when applying for open days or vacation schemes; can relatively poor results be overlooked if an applicant has sufficiently strong A-levels and modular results at university?

Secondly, does the university of the applicant make any material difference to their likelihood of success?

Many thanks, and kudos to FBD for embracing social media.

Hi there,

We do not ask for GCSE results so they are not important to us. Other firms will ask you to detail them and probably assess them alongside other academics (although probably much less relevant than your modules results in your degree).

The university someone studied at will not make a material difference. We are looking for people who have done well in their academics, who have been involved in extra circular activities outside if their studies and have made the most of the time at school and university, wherever it may be.

Regards

Jess

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by fredericmoreau)
Hi Jess,

To what extent do module grades determine the outcome of the selection process? I have a strong academic record at GCSE and A Level, and a First (BA Hons) and Distinction (MA) - but I have some weaker module grades in the first half of my degree, i.e. 2.2s, alongside some of the 78s and 80s I scored later on. By no means are they representative of me as an individual, as I would hope my overall grades and ECs would show. I put them down to immaturity and have definitely learnt a life lesson - I know I will not compromise or put in anything less than 100% ever again. I am worried that these stray marks will result in me being screened out of Freshfields' process too early on, and that I won't have the chance to show the firm what I can offer them, and prove that I am capable of succeeding consistently at the highest level. Do Freshfields look at applications holistically - considering responses to questions, marks and ECs equally - or is the weighting against me in this case?

Thank you,

Tom

Hi Tom,

We assess not only academics but the whole application holistically. When we look at your academics, we will look at your module grades and online verbal reasoning test, as well as your A-levels or equivalent.

If you have strong academics elsewhere and do well in the online verbal reasoning test, these will balance out the 2.2 modules.

If you think you have the motivations and a range of skills from your academics, work experience and extra-curricular activities - go for it! Strong intellectual skills can be demonstrated outside of your academics and the structure and content of your personal statement could show other evidence of your analytical skills/intellect.

Kind Regards

Jess

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by coffee?)
Hello,

Like someone else asked previously, how important are pre-university grades when it comes to selecting candidates? Are they actually used to distinguish between realistic candidates or are they in place just to auto-filter applicants and cut down the numbers? I am also curious about how A Level retakes are looked at, especially when there were extenuating circumstances involved.

Regards

We do not have any automatic filtering tools so a candidate will not be filtered out by their UCAS points nor their degree result.

Every application is reviewed by someone in the Trainee Recruitment team. For us, we are looking for evidence of someone's intellectual ability and pre university grades are just another piece of supporting evidence against other academics and the online verbal reasoning test.

Retakes are not an issue, especially where there are mitigating circumstances. On your application forms you will need to explain that you did resit, and briefly explain why. Resits can potentially show real determination to do well and not stopping at the first hurdle, which are great characteristics to have if you want to be a commercial lawyer.

Kind Regards

Jess

[cej]

Hi Jess,

If I re-took A-Level modules, do I need to mention this in my personal statement? If so, how specific do I need to be?

Also, in terms of the section on "prizes, awards and scholarships" - I hold a bursary from a law firm in the Channel Islands. I was wondering how much detail do I need to go into in this section. Would it be more appropriate to write about it in detail in the box or just state that I hold the bursary and then explain it in more detail in my personal statement?

Many thanks,
Chloe

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by cej)
Hi Jess,

If I re-took A-Level modules, do I need to mention this in my personal statement? If so, how specific do I need to be?

Also, in terms of the section on "prizes, awards and scholarships" - I hold a bursary from a law firm in the Channel Islands. I was wondering how much detail do I need to go into in this section. Would it be more appropriate to write about it in detail in the box or just state that I hold the bursary and then explain it in more detail in my personal statement?

Many thanks,
Chloe

Hi Chloe,

You do not need to state re-sits for A-level modules (we understand that is common practice these days), it would only be if you re-took the whole course.

Please do put the bursary in the section you mentioned. Keep it short and to the point but you probably only want to include the name of it, what you get and very briefly how you got it. You then don't need to replicate that information in your personal statement, but could reference it depending on if it links in with other information (e.g. work experience).

Regards

Jess

[Rosey2]

Hi Jess, I was just wondering is it strictly only penultimate year law students you take on for vacation schemes? It's just on our university careers website the information section for the post states, "we normally take students on our vacation schemes who are in the summer before their final undergraduate year." As it said "normally" I wasn't so sure, thank you in advance.

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by Rosey2)
Hi Jess, I was just wondering is it strictly only penultimate year law students you take on for vacation schemes? It's just on our university careers website the information section for the post states, "we normally take students on our vacation schemes who are in the summer before their final undergraduate year." As it said "normally" I wasn't so sure, thank you in advance.

There are two exceptions.

The first is if you are on a four year course, with a year abroad. If you are on one of these courses you can apply in your second year but if you were successful we would look to defer the placement until the summer between the penultimate and final years.

The other is if you are on a postgraduate two year LLB course. We will consider applications from those on the course during their first year.

To anyone who is not a penultimate year undergraduate or is not one of the above, we would encourage you to apply to our workshops/open days instead. Applications are currently open for our non-law workshop and general open. Applications will close on 9 December and the events will take place in early January.

Kind Regards

Jess

[Larissa White]

Hi Jess,

I am considering in applying for a Workshop at Freshfields, I was just wondering whether there are any Academic Requirements (A-Levels/Degree) that we would have to satisfy in order to apply? and also, are there any selection procedures we would have to go through (like the ones for Summer Vacs and Training Contracts) or is it just a matter of getting through the CV and Coverring Letter stage?

thank you

Larissa

[robinhosantiago]

Hi Jessica,

My question is: at Freshfields, how much influence can a partner have over the application process for training contracts? I have spoken to partners at law firms before about this issue in private but I am interested to see what Freshfields' official line is. It's also been an issue of discussion legal news recently with David Cheyne's son winning a training contract at Linklaters. My impression is that law firms, particularly the top commercial ones, are generally very meritocratic in awarding training contracts compared to other City professions, although partners can still influence the early stages of the process. To what extent is that the case at Freshfields - can partners intervene on behalf of a candidate to guarantee an assessment day? A final interview? A vacation scheme? A training contract?

Thanks.

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by Larissa White)
Hi Jess,

I am considering in applying for a Workshop at Freshfields, I was just wondering whether there are any Academic Requirements (A-Levels/Degree) that we would have to satisfy in order to apply? and also, are there any selection procedures we would have to go through (like the ones for Summer Vacs and Training Contracts) or is it just a matter of getting through the CV and Coverring Letter stage?

thank you

Larissa

Hi Larissa,

We would expect people to be on track for a 2.1 in their degree or to have obtained a 2.1 if they have completed their degree (unless there are mitigating circumstances). We do not have any A-level requirements.

There are no interviews for the January workshops. You will need to apply by submitting your CV and a covering email to recruitmentevents@freshfields.co m by 9 December 2011.

I hope this is of help and we look forward to receiving an application from you in the near future.

Regards

Jess

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by robinhosantiago)
Hi Jessica,

My question is: at Freshfields, how much influence can a partner have over the application process for training contracts? I have spoken to partners at law firms before about this issue in private but I am interested to see what Freshfields' official line is. It's also been an issue of discussion legal news recently with David Cheyne's son winning a training contract at Linklaters. My impression is that law firms, particularly the top commercial ones, are generally very meritocratic in awarding training contracts compared to other City professions, although partners can still influence the early stages of the process. To what extent is that the case at Freshfields - can partners intervene on behalf of a candidate to guarantee an assessment day? A final interview? A vacation scheme? A training contract?

Thanks.

Hi there,

At Freshfields, applications are screened by the trainee recruitment team and the decisions to invite people for interview and offer them places on the workshops/vacation schemes/training contracts in London are made by those people within the team.

No one else will make those decisions and therefore cannot guarantee anything for the candidate, no matter what the opportunity is or what stage of the recruitment process the candidate is up to.

From a personal point of view, I wouldn't want to do my job if the selection processes for the programmes we run were not meritocratic!

Regards

Jess

[Sam o0o]

(Original post by uktrainees@freshfields)
Hi Larissa,

We would expect people to be on track for a 2.1 in their degree or to have obtained a 2.1 if they have completed their degree (unless there are mitigating circumstances). We do not have any A-level requirements.

There are no interviews for the January workshops. You will need to apply by submitting your CV and a covering email to recruitmentevents@freshfields.co m by 9 December 2011.

I hope this is of help and we look forward to receiving an application from you in the near future.

Regards

Jess

When can we expect to hear back on applications for the workshop? Thanks!

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by Sam o0o)
When can we expect to hear back on applications for the workshop? Thanks!

You should hear back about 2-3 weeks after you have submitted your application.

[Larissa White]

(Original post by uktrainees@freshfields)
Hi Larissa,

We would expect people to be on track for a 2.1 in their degree or to have obtained a 2.1 if they have completed their degree (unless there are mitigating circumstances). We do not have any A-level requirements.

There are no interviews for the January workshops. You will need to apply by submitting your CV and a covering email to recruitmentevents@freshfields.co m by 9 December 2011.

I hope this is of help and we look forward to receiving an application from you in the near future.

Regards

Jess

Thank you Jess

[slowdowngandhi]

Hi Jess,

I was wondering about the workshop applications. I notice that, unlike some other firms, it doesn't ask you explicitly to talk about your extracurricular achievements, positions of responsibility etc. Are you expecting these to be worked into the answers to the "Why commercial law?" and "Why Freshfields?" questions, or should they not be included as they'll come in at a later stage if we apply for a training contract?

Thanks!

[uktrainees@freshfields]

(Original post by slowdowngandhi)
Hi Jess,

I was wondering about the workshop applications. I notice that, unlike some other firms, it doesn't ask you explicitly to talk about your extracurricular achievements, positions of responsibility etc. Are you expecting these to be worked into the answers to the "Why commercial law?" and "Why Freshfields?" questions, or should they not be included as they'll come in at a later stage if we apply for a training contract?

Thanks!

Hi there,

The applications for our workshops/open days are a CV and covering email. I would make sure your achievements/positions of responsibility are in your CV, while the covering email focuses on why you want to come on the workshop/what your hoping to get out of it. These two areas on your covering email will undoubtedly link into why commercial law and why Freshfields.

Regards

Jess

[slowdowngandhi]

Thanks very much!