Making

effective job
applications
What do I do and how?

LAW: Skills Development – Year 2 (2021/22)

Aims of the session (in 4 parts):
1. Consider what you want from a job role, what you have to offer (and how to find out)
2. Critically analyse recruiting organisations and job descriptions to identify what
employers are looking for
3. Reflect on the importance of tailoring and targeting your application to the job role /
organisation and how to evidence this:
• Motivation – Why do you want this role?
• Fit – Why do you want to work with this organisation (values / ethos / purpose /
client group)?
• Ability – What do you bring to the role?
4. Critique example CVs and cover letters and helpful tips to identify techniques to apply
to your own applications

Signposting resources to support you in making your applications

Know yourself, know your audience, target your
application

What are your strengths – things What’s important to the Show how these two match and
that you are skilled at and that employer? target your application.
motivate and energise you? What is the purpose of the role / • Motivation
What skills and experience do you organisation? • Fit
have? What do they need (skills / • Ability
What type of job role are you experience)?
looking for?
1. What do I want and what do I have to
offer?
What do I want? What do I have to
• Large organisation / small organisation offer?
• Highly commercially focussed / working • My skills
towards social good • My experience
• Working directly with clients / behind • My knowledge
the scenes research • My strengths
• Routine work patterns / varied work
• What are the values / purpose of the
organisation?
• Location: geographical or hybrid

What makes you want to get up and go to work?

 On a scale of 1 – 10 how would you rate:
a) Your awareness of your own strengths?
b) Your confidence in articulating your strengths to others e.g. recruiters?

What would you need to do to help you move to the next point of the scale?
 What do you LOVE?
What comes
naturally to When do you
you? feel the most Discoverin
like the ‘real’
How would you? g your
strengths
people who
know you well
Strengths What did you
describe you? love doing as
a child? -
What role do Determining your stren
gths
you take in a
team? What gives - Strengths-spotting tips
you a buzz? - ‘How to…recognise
your strengths’ worksh
op
Know yourself: Resources to help you
• Can you answer the
questions in, ‘
What do you really want to
do
’? (2 min podcast)
• Do these questions help
your career reflections?
• What are your values?
• What type of personality are
you?
• Try writing a
[Link]/u/nlws1ale
Get inspired: Resources to help you

• How to…
Explore your options
workshop
• Get Insider Insights and
read about others
• Attend careers fairs and
employer events
• Book an appointment with a
Careers Adviser
[Link]/u/9qh994v5
Section 1: What do I want and what do I have to offer?
• What were the key messages for you?
• Is there anything you need to follow up on?
2. What are recruiters looking for?
[Link] search ‘Law’

• What is the purpose / focus of each employer?

• What are they looking for in successful candidates?
• How are the similar and how do they differ?

[Link]/en/about [Link] [Link]/about-us

arly-careers/your-application
[Link]
Whatare
arethey
recruiters
lookinglooking
for (jobfor?
criteria)?
Job description template

Job Title

Salary / Location Can you find the following information in this job ad?

[Link]
Purpose of the role

Main responsibilities
Essential qualifications, knowledge and
experience
Desirable qualifications, knowledge and
experience
Closing date
 How employers score applications
Give evidence, get shortlisted for interview
Criteria Experience / Experience / Working to Excellent Excellent Excellent IT Total
ability to ability to targets organisational written, oral skills
provide legal provide legal skills and
advice by advice on presentation Etc.
phone family / child skills
law
Essential
Criteria
(make sure Candidate1
your CV
and cover
letter show Candidate2 Highest
how you score gets
meet an interview
these). Candidate3

Candidate4
What are recruiters looking for (person/mindset)?

Can you think of

examples from your
experiences that would
show evidence of this
mindset?

[Link]
Researching employers: Resources to help you

• Why research employers?

• Researching employers
Fastclass and resources
• Follow the organisation on
social media e.g. LinkedIn and
Twitter
• Check Target and
All About Law
• More researching employers
• 5 steps to
addressing key selection criteri
[Link]/u/ikjyv8wz a
Section 2: What do I want and what do I have to offer?
• What were the key messages for you?
• Is there anything you need to follow up on?
3. Targeting and tailoring your application

The whole application and selection process is about showing:

Motivation: Showing that you want the job and why

Fit: Showing what appeals to you about the organisation – why do you want to
work for them and how you will fit into their organisation?

Ability: Giving evidence to show that you can do / have the potential to do the job
– skills, attributes and knowledge required (or the ability to learn).
Using CARL* technique to give evidence
Context
• What was the situation – briefly set the scene
Action
• What did you do? The action you took (take care
when talking about team work ‘we’ and ‘I’).
Result
• What was the outcome? What impact did it have?
Learning
• What did this experience teach you?
• What does this experience mean you can do for
the employer?

* Sometimes called STARR – Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection

Example using CARL technique
Giving evidence of how you’ve demonstrated leadership qualities:

Context
• Elected social secretary of XXXX society in 2019.
Action
• Organised and chaired meetings to decide on key fund-raising event. Initiated
rounds of voting so that everyone felt they had an equal say. Kept everyone
motivated and focussed on task through clear and regular communication.
Result
• 2019 end of year ball was best attended in X years and raised in excess of £xxx
for nominated charity.
Learning
• Developed confidence in myself and my ability to make decisions and work
well with others
Your turn to use CARL technique
Context
• What was the situation – briefly set the scene
Action
• What did you do? The action you took. Choose one of your
example experiences
Result from earlier.
• What was the outcome? What impact did it have?
Can you write about it
Learning using the CARL
• What did this experience teach you? framework?
• What does this experience mean you can do for
the employer?
The ‘So What?’ test

• Will this interest the employer?

• Is it relevant to the role, or role
requirements?
• Will the employer understand
why it is relevant?

Make it easy for the employer to understand why you

want the job and why you are suitable for it.
Targeting applications: Resources to help you

• Using CARL in CVs, cover lett

ers and applications
• Tailoring guide
• 5 steps to
addressing key selection criteri
a
, examples and short course
• How to write a
speculative application

[Link]/u/ikjyv8wz
Section 3: Tailoring and targeting applications
• What were the key messages for you?
• Is there anything you need to follow up on?
4. Now go to… [Link]/law_info

This is a link to Padlet – you can post anonymously, ask questions or make comments. The
Padlet will be available for you to refer back to later and add comments and useful resources.
Please respect each other on the Padlet and post appropriately.
Deciding who gets to interview

When writing your CV, you need to think about the person who will
read it. Your main intent is to get you to an interview.
Imagine…
You’re on the graduate recruitment team of a law firm / business
organisation
Your firm has recently opened up applications for vac schemes /
internships for the summer.
You have 200 CVs and 3 hours to select 20 CVs to take through to the
next stage.
How will you do it? What would make the difference to you
between a CV that went to the ‘yes’ pile and one that went to the
‘no’ pile…
First impressions

Usain Bolt’s winning time in the

100m final at the 2016 Rio
Olympics was a world beating…
9.81 seconds.
WR = 9.58 seconds (also Mr Bolt)
You’ll have less than 30 seconds (in some
instances a LOT less) to make a positive
first impression with your CV
Presentation and layout
Imagine you are an employer with 30 seconds to find six key pieces of information in a
CV. Which one do you think would be easier and quicker for the employer to access the
information they need?

Check your CV
with CV360 a
simulated
applicant
tracking
system (ATS)
Ask employers what makes a good application
Clear and Avoids cliches
Well written
well laid out and generic
and spelt Shows self-
correctly statements
awareness – who
am I, what am I
good at
Shows a clear Shows an
understanding of the understanding of
role and responsibilities the organisation Covers all the
and aligned values points in the job
description
Demonstrates
your suitability Backs up Follow these tips to
for the role statements with make your application
evidence
stand out
Go back to… [Link]/law_info

Analyse two anonymised CVs of recent law graduates.

Thoughts? Any links to helpful resources you have found you would like to add to the Padlet?
Some key thoughts - CVs:

• Tailoring – each and every time – use the job

description. What else?
• Most important information on page 1
• Logical section headings so you arrange your
experience for the reader.
• Reverse chronological order usually
• ‘Relevant Experience’ / ‘Relevant Skills’
Some quick yes and no’s

• 2 pages of A4 fine • No personal info – date of birth, health,

• Clean and easy to read gender
• Suggested font size minimum 11 • No photo
• Professional font (serif or sans • No need to say ‘CV’ at top
serif?) • No information about e.g. your paper
• Easy to find contact details round in year 11 (for example) or
anything else too long ago
• Include your LinkedIn if it is up to • Made up info. / lies
date
• Spelling and grammar check
Differences between Law and Non-Law CVs?

Experience section
Law Non-Law
• Focus on legal experiences – formal and • If you’ve got relevant work
informal experience create heading ‘Related
• Use heading ‘Legal Experiences’ Experience’. If not, then consider
• What if you don’t have any? ‘Relevant Skills’
• Provide enough information for the • Think about what the job description
reader to get a sense of what you / person specification is looking for
actually did and try to show you’ve got what they
• What did you learn from these want
experiences? Any specific achievements? • Provide enough information and talk
• Any virtual experiences e.g. about achievements.
Rate My Placement, Bright Network,
Forage, law firms’ webinars,
All About Law (sign up for newsletter)
Differences between Law and Non-Law CVs?

Education section
Law Non-Law
• For CVs being sent to law firms - • CVs for non-law roles education
Often looking for evidence of section possibly not quite as
academic ability and consistency of important, although this does
achievement. depend on role
• ALWAYS in reverse chronological • Not necessary to include module
order marks unless it’s a relevant
• Include year mark / module marks
• Include awards/scholarships
module for the role /organisation
• Include A levels and it’s a good mark
• Don’t worry about listing all GCSEs • Include awards/scholarships
• Include A levels
• Don’t worry about listing all GCSEs
What if your marks aren’t as good as you
had hoped?
Do you include a profile? Hobbies and interests?

A profile? Hobbies and interests?

• Not compulsory • Shows you are a ‘real’ person
• Done well, can be a bonus (examples • Somewhere to put additional
); done badly, can detract from the
rest of your CV potentially relevant skills e.g.
languages, IT skills
• What are you Unique Selling Points
(USPs) • Evidence your personality
• Use evidence based assertions • Can be interesting
• Avoid overused adjectives
A hardworking, conscientious
team player, also able to work
as an individual.
Critiquing cover letters… [Link]/law_info

Analyse two anonymised CVs of recent law graduates.

Thoughts? Any links to helpful resources you have found you would like to add to the Padlet?
Some key thoughts – Cover letters:

• Difference / similarities between cover letters and

CVs?
• Avoid jargon
• Write concisely
• Don’t undersell / oversell yourself
• Check for consistency in formatting and layout – do
the CV and cover letter look as if they go together?
Writing Applications: Resources to help you
• Remember:
o Motivation – why do you
want the role?
o Fit – why do you want to
work with this organisation?
o Ability – what do you bring
to the role?
• CV resources
• Example CVs
• Short online courses on cover
letters, application forms and
personal statements and CVs
[Link]/u/ukvlzr6e
Section 4: Writing a CV and cover letter
• What were the key messages for you?
• Is there anything you need to follow up on?
The ‘How To’ You have just attended the circled workshop. There are more.
Interviewing
Workshops See the full programme of ‘How to…’ workshops for Autumn 2021. and Working
and Online

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Presentation
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Prepare CVs
schemes
and online
and Grad
Getting Jobs
applications
started Applying for
Grad
Recognising Schemes
skills for your
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Recognise
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ability and Ad feedback & ulator ut CVs and ap
justments mock intervie plications
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Planning, goa UEA Award
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etbacks
Thank you

• Any questions? You’ll be able to access the padlet and this

presentation via Blackboard.
• If you have any further questions or would like to get
feedback on your CV then book an appointment with a
Careers Adviser, Sophie Reading
[Link]
• Or pop along to see Tim or Ellen in one of their ‘open door’
sessions
• Or come and see me, Selina in my drop ins (location tbc.)
 Making
effective job
applications
Over to you now…

LAW: Skills Development – Year 2 (2021/22)