So you have researched the internet, ploughed through the legal guides and identified that dream firm (or probably several hundred) who can’t manage without your commitment, time, enthusiasm, intellectual ability and perseverance. What next? You submit your well-crafted and considered application and wait for the rejections to come tumbling in.

I am the managing partner of a medium-sized 20-partner firm based in Covent Garden, London. The firm is well known for its entertainment, media and family work. I’ve spent the summer considering more than 2,000 applications for our two training contracts beginning in 2011.

What has struck me is how many applicants are not presenting their case in the best light. Given that most have good degrees from good universities this was surprising. Or was it?Too many applicants got the basics wrong. Here are some suggestions on how best to present a case for a training contract. While what follows is geared to my firm, applicants should be able to pick up on common themes.

• Any covering letter should be concise and limited to no more than three or four short paragraphs. Tell the reader who you are, the stage you have reached and any particular highlights in your career. This is not the place to recite how great the firm is by, in our case, reeling off the well-known personalities we have represented. We know about what we do. It may be your only chance to grab our attention so don’t waste it.

• Keep paragraphs short and run the spell checker.

• You may be writing hundreds of applications but there is no excuse for addressing your covering letter to the wrong firm.

• Have you considered and adhered to the application criteria? Have you applied in time? Is it really worth applying for that job that gives a deadline application of July 31 and is specifically geared towards candidates with a 2.1 degree or better from a top university if you have a 2.2 from a university that appears at the bottom end of the rankings and you post your application on July 31? Well, we received 500 applications on or about the deadline and others after. Consider carefully whether making an earlier application might be advantageous. In our case, given the volume of applications, those received earlier would have been considered more fully.

• Now for the application itself. We have a downloadable template application. Some applicants provide their own CV instead of or as well as this which is fine. Most applicants submit their application by e-mail with a short note attaching the covering letter and/or application. Again, this is totally acceptable but remember to identify the attachments so the reader knows what is being opened. I wanted to read the covering letter first but far too often this was not readily identifiable.

• Far too often applicants tell their life story, understandable but generally unhelpful. Aim for the right balance between academic detail, experience, personal interests and what attracts you to the firm you are applying for. Again, try to keep it brief, watch out for those killer long paragraphs and avoid telling the reader about his or her wonderful firm. What works is introducing something that is not readily apparent from the usual searches. For example, one applicant successfully introduced information only available from a theatre brochure where the firm advised on the legals and another picked up on a deal we had been involved in that was not widely known. These observations stand out and display a real interest in the firm.

• So what are we really looking for? For our firm, what you read at university is not of overriding importance. However, a 2.1 degree is a prerequisite and a good university attracts greater attention. Completion of the Legal Practice Course is an advantage but not a requirement. Because of the number of postgraduates with experience it is difficult to shortlist undergraduates. Applicants put too much emphasis on week-long vacation work. This uses up valuable CV space and has limited impact. Far more impressive is real work experience of several months or more in duration and not necessarily in the law. A well-presented personalised CV is vital. Make it easy to read. As a prospective solicitor, remember that it is harder but more effective to advise using fewer and not more words.

• Very few applicants drew the connection between being a solicitor in a medium-sized law firm and the running of a business for profit. Few set out what they could offer in addition to intellectual ability, endeavour and the wish to pursue a career at a leading entertainment firm. Most applicants that made the shortlist (17) displayed some understanding that solicitors need to attract and retain clients.

• At interview, applicants would be expected to have thoroughly researched the firm, its competitors and the interviewers. Given that only 7 per cent of how we communicate is by words, applicants at this stage need to appreciate fully the impact and importance of body language.

The author is the managing partner of Clintons, a Central London law firm

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