Online applications for traineeships in Scottish law firms
Online application systems are favoured by many solicitors' firms in Scotland for training contract applications: they make things easier for both applicants and recruitment teams.
Nevertheless, you still need to exercise caution. Outside of work the internet and e-mail are primarily reserved for keeping in touch with friends and family: many applicants forget to switch off the informality when it comes to professional correspondence and this hasn’t gone unnoticed. Legal recruiters have reported a drop in the quality of applications since the switch to online systems. The main crimes are poor grammar and spelling errors, incorrect employer details, lower case personal pronouns (‘i’), and, in severe lapses, faux pas have included smileys and text speak. These mistakes will immediately blow your chances of creating a good impression. The best way of ensuring this doesn’t happen is to take your time. Most online systems will allow you to save your work and come back to it at another time, so you don’t have to do it all in one sitting.
It’s advisable to print a version off and ask a careers adviser, friend or family member to read it through for spelling, grammatical sense and consistency – don’t just rely on your computer’s spellchecker program to pick up things.
Meeting law firms' criteria for trainees
Online systems are designed to filter out candidates who don’t meet the set criteria. Saying that, recruiters realise there may be reasons why you didn’t achieve better Scottish Higher grades, for example. If this is the case use the ‘Other information’ box on the form to explain your circumstances. It’s also advisable to contact recruiters directly after submitting your application to explain things in person.
Top tips for online applications
Successful applications require equal measures of time, effort and common sense so make sure you’ve covered the four key points below before hitting the ‘send’ button:
1. Preparation. Research is a key ingredient in producing successful applications so be sure to use all available resources (eg the internet, graduate recruitment literature, careers publications) to find out about an employer and the position.
2. Answering the question. Make sure your answers are tailored to the particular section of the application you’re completing and that you address the questions directly and succinctly.
3. Attention to detail. Read through your application a number of times to check for spelling mistakes. Ask a second person to check it as well.
4. Keep it professional. An online application form is a formal piece of written communication – whilst it is important to get your personality across in an application avoid using informal language and grammar and ‘quirky’ sentences. Avoid gimmicks at all cost.
