How to Get the Job You Want: Advice From a Recruiter at One of the World’s Biggest Firms

In normal times, getting a job is no easy task. Add two slices of a global pandemic, a squeeze of inflation and a hint of political uncertainty and everything gets a lot harder. All of this makes job hunting pretty stressful – especially for fresh-faced grads out of university. Knowing how to get your foot in the door is a skill. There’s an art to the process, one you’ll need to learn.

Lucky, then, that we got to sit down with Laura Yeates, Clifford Chance’s head of graduate talent. And Clifford Chance, for your benefit, is one of the world’s “pre-eminent” law firms, a sort of real-life Pearson Spector Litt, with a network of 34 offices in 23 countries. If there’s anyone capable of giving unfiltered advice into all things securing your dream job, it’s her. She’s spent 16 years at the firm, making her as experienced as they come. In the firm’s Canary Wharf office – equipped with a swimming pool, squash court, and an in-house gym – we spoke about all things job hunting, why LinkedIn should be your best friend –  and why resilience is a sine qua non for any candidate.

First: “tea or coffee?”, she asked. For good measure, they came in firm-branded cups, with what can only be described as some of the best cookies around. “I have the responsibility of looking after our early talent function in the UK, which means looking after everything to do with graduate development and graduate recruitment” is how she describes her role. It includes everything from very early outreach into picking which applicants are worthy for an interview for the firm’s graduate role.

So how do you impress someone like Laura – starting with first impressions? Face-to-face events are less frequent these days, meaning the bulk of your schmoozing will have to be done virtually. But for Laura, coming across well – whether in-person or virtually – requires the same things. She recalls a story of meeting one candidate at a law fair years ago: “He was relaxed. So we were able to have a genuine conversation for probably the best part of 25 minutes.” Few things are worse than a pretentious candidate, eager to impress with all their newly-learned facts. What gets the job done, you see, is a genuine interest in the firm or job you’re applying for. That, and that tried and tested method of being yourself, works wonders for good first impressions.

Making a good first impression is super important – it bodes you well for the next rounds. On a particular candidate who clearly left his mark, Yeates says: “I genuinely left thinking, ‘I hope he applies’ – and he did. I remembered him when he applied, I remembered him when he came through to the assessment day because he left that impact.” In a virtual setting, you’ve still got as much chance of making a good impression, even if it’s from the comfort of your own home…with a pair of joggers and sippers tucked neatly away from the screen. First, turn your camera on. Just do it. No one wants to talk to a blank screen. And whilst you’re at it, engage with the activities, ask questions, do something – especially if it’s an event with other people.

“I’m on LinkedIn most days, and I’ll be connecting with people”

After the event, or hell, even before it, LinkedIn can be your best friend: “you can follow up individually through LinkedIn. And a lot of candidates do that really, really well. In fact, I’m going to a school to run a session for year 12 students with a year 12 student I’ve never met – but has engaged with me on LinkedIn for about the last 12 months.”

But whatever you do, make the message specific. No one – literally no one – wants to read your generic message. For recruiters like Laura – who get 100s of messages – generic messages get ignored. If you have a question, ask it. Want to follow up on meeting someone at an event? Do it with a targeted sentence or two. Or, as Laura put it: “you’re not going in cold. You’re going in because you’ve done the research. And you’ve got a particular question to ask or might be following someone on LinkedIn, and you’re really engaged with their content.

As we spoke, it was clear Laura’s a really big fan of LinkedIn – and so are most recruiters. It’s useful for engaging with all kinds of people. And when it comes to building your own personal brand, few platforms – if any – are better. It all starts, though, as Laura pointed out, with that all-important profile. First, fix the profile picture. Choose a smart one. And no, smart doesn’t mean boring. Sure, bring out your personality, but do so in a way that’ll get you hired, not fired. Then, it’s all about the key pieces of information: “they need to be thinking about what they’re putting on that profile, their activity, etc, so that they’ve built their profile, and it’s detailed”, she said.

And whilst all of this advice will put you in good stead, you’ll still need to be prepared for rejections. Sometimes, a lot of it. What to do when they come your way? Be resilient and persistent: “persistence is good. But blind persistence is bad. You don’t want to be that person who…just sends the same application year on year. You’ve got to be really honest with yourself and reflect on your strengths to say, how far-off where I need to be am I? And do I have the strategies to enable me to get to where I need to be?”, Laura said.

Applications, especially for certain career fields, are notorious for being time-consuming. To increase your chances, get that all-important feedback before sending it. And if you’re the kind to submit them first-time, with little attention or care given to things like grammar and spelling, then you’re ruling yourself out, kid.

So, does the name of your university matter?

Certain universities have long had a reputation for having hiring privileges – especially when it comes to “City jobs.” Access to the same career opportunities for those at other, lesser-known universities can be hard. With changing times and societal demand for a fairer, more equitable world, companies and recruiters alike are beginning to change their attitudes. Some do it far better than others – and whilst she admits there’s still much more to be done, Laura’s keen to point out that at her firm, you’ve got as much chance to land a job as anyone, from any university.

“You’ve got to be really honest with yourself and reflect on your strengths to say, how far-off where I need to be am I? And do I have the strategies to enable me to get to where I need to be?“

“The fact of the matter is we still receive a lot of applications and make a lot of offers to Oxbridge”, she says, but that doesn’t mean students from other universities – whether Russel group or not – are left out. Far from it. Take Clifford Chance, for example, they recruit from between 40-50 different institutions each year. Proof, Yeates says, that you’ve got as much chance as anyone else.

And whilst her firm doesn’t deal with CVs, I was keen to get her thoughts – what do recruiters look for in them, generally?

When it comes to CVs, pay attention to content

Not all companies look at CVs, that is true. But for those eager to secure dream jobs, it never hurts to have one on stand-by. And when it comes to what goes in them, Laura has one piece of advice above all else: pay attention to content. First, find the best way to describe things in a way that hasn’t been done 100 times before. And please, for your own sake, avoid cliches. Think of your CV like a “shop window”, she says, it has to have “everything that is compelling, attractive and differentiated from all your competitors”, giving you the chance to stand out.

“I say this over and over again: if you’ve written a good example, you should never have to tell me what skill you developed.”

What does that mean exactly, you ask? For starters, avoid the predictable. Like seriously, stop it. Yes, we get it, you’re good at teamwork, have good attention to detail, and possess communication skills that’ll make Shakespeare proud. Instead, take Laura’s advice: “show, don’t tell.” Examples, she said, are the best way to go. You want whoever’s reading your CV to be able to pick up your skills without you stating them. And to do so, you’ll need the star method: situation, task, action, result. State the context, detail what you had to do, the actions you took, and the results that came from it. In a sentence or two, by the way – no one cares for an essay. 

When it comes to the design of the CV itself, her advice is to do what makes you comfortable (within reason). Keep the CV short (no longer than two pages, that is), write in plain English, and choose a sensible font.

On personal statements, she’s fairly candid: I always think it’s a complete waste of time because anyone can write anything in that…what’s important is the evidence to back that up. And the evidence would usually come out of the text that you’re writing underneath each of your work experiences”, she said.

When it comes to interviews, “you’ve got to be prepared.”

So you’re ready, you’ve nailed your LinkedIn and sorted out your applications. Interview day comes, and you’re keen to impress. For Laura, it’s all about the preparation: “you’ve got to be prepared. Because if you’re prepared, you’re going to be confident.” And confidence, you see, is the biggest superpower of all. When it comes to interviews, confident – not arrogant – candidates perform best, turning the ordeal into an enjoyable chat. To be well-prepared, do the basics: “You need to prep on your understanding of the firm, and how you’re going to articulate why you want to join, your motivations… and also what the firm does”, she said.

And once that’s done, once you’ve nailed your understanding of the firm or company you’re applying for, don’t forget to do the prep on yourself, she says. What exactly does that mean, you ask? Well, for starters, re-read your application. It’s important to know what you said, given it’s what got you the interview. And whislt you’re at it, practice articulation – how you’re going to ‘sell’ your skills and experience. The interview stage is all about selling yourself, and no one can do that better than you.

Oh, also, don’t forget to listen. It’s something she sees all the time, she states. And when she says listen, she means the active kind, not the nod your head every two seconds kind. To impress, pay attention, responding to what’s actually said – not what you think or hope was said.

To round off, of course, we spoke about style – and more specifically, what to wear to an interview: what you wear gives you confidence, so you need to wear what makes you feel like the boss”, said Laura. For her, it’s her glasses. That, and a combination of black clothes. For you, stick to something that makes you feel good. Within reason, obviously. And whilst we have your attention, you should check out some style lessons here.

If you’re looking for more interview style tips, here’s Laura’s interview with the Financial Times about the subject.

Above all else, there’s one piece of advice she really, really wants you to heed: “be yourself.” It works wonders, she says.

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