Hello guys,
I'm worried about my applications to first year schemes at law firms after my rejection from Clifford Chance and CMS. Of course these schemes will be very competitive but I found that I had very little to offer on the application form. I passed the Watson Glaser test, but I knew I wouldn't go any further as my application essentially amounted to 'I've done 1 week work experience at a high street solicitors'. I am planning to apply to multiple schemes, probably 10+ in the hope of securing anything I can. For context I am studying law at UCL and have A/A* at GCSE and A level. I'm aware this academic profile is acceptable, it's the rest of my application that falls short. I'm struggling to address this.
My main issue is I have no idea what to write on questions like 'what's the biggest challenge facing law firms today?', and, 'why do you want to be a commercial solicitor?'. For such questions I just completely fabricated answers as, with all due respect to the process, very few first year law students have a clue what being a commercial solicitor really involves, hence why they apply to these schemes. It all seems very backward to me. Most will have to lie to get on schemes to find out more about the content they lied about.
A lot of my friends have had work experience at top firms and I can see them doing well in these applications, but this was never really an option for me. The only experience I have is 1 week in a law firm and working in a Cafe. I am struggling to see how I can make my application stand out with such lackluster experience. Getting on these schemes is very important to me as I plan to apply to apply for vacation schemes next year, and I need relevant experience.