Should you apply for a TC at Silver Circle Law Firms?

You should only apply to a Silver Circle law firm if two conditions are met:

1. It’s a firm that’s the best fit for you.
2. You haven’t selected the firm based on size and prestige.

Every year, I see many candidates apply to firms because of their supposed Silver Circle status and get rejected because they haven’t fully considered other critical factors.

In this post, I’m going to give you 3 tips on how to come to a considered decision on whether to apply to a Silver Circle firm. 

This will dramatically increase your chances of success in the recruitment process.

So, let’s dive in.

Tip #1 – You need a deeper understanding of the core fundamentals of a Silver Circle firm beyond its size and prestige

A mistake many candidates make is they choose to apply to a Silver Circle firm based on a surface-level understanding.

They will know it’s a large international firm that’s classed as a Silver Circle firm and does high-level corporate and finance work. But they don’t have a deeper understanding of what sets that firm apart from other Silver Circle firms and other large City firms. This is usually a key reason these candidates don’t progress through the firm’s recruitment process.

And it’s surprisingly common!

Related to this is the fact that a candidate’s understanding of the firm often doesn’t go much further than the firm’s name and prestige. 

It’s critical you avoid this ‘prestige bias’ and instead dig deeper to understand the firm’s core strengths and key differentiators. If a Silver Circle firm still seems the same to you to many other City firms, then you have work to do.

To get a deeper understanding you need to look beyond the firm’s website and its marketing materials. Use as many sources as you can and forensically analyse the information to pull together a detailed picture of the firm. In particular, you should understand how it differentiates itself in terms of its work, its training contract and its culture.

But there’s more to it than merely learning about the firm.

Tip #2 – You must get clear on your specific career interests and training contract preferences

Getting a deeper understanding of the firm is only one half of the equation.

The other half is focused on YOU.

You need to carefully consider and identify your specific career interests. Then narrow your interests down until you’ve got clarity over your main career preferences. In particular, around the important career pillars of work, training contract, culture and work-life balance.

To do this, you need to spend some concentrated time reflecting. 

And, in my experience, this is something candidates aren’t that used to. 

This is because academia is more about knowledge acquisition and less about reflecting on specific personal interests. Identifying your interests is also about making decisions, which can be a difficult process, especially if you only have a surface-level understanding of the firms.

The good news, then, is if you do this deeper thinking about your interests and preferences, it will set you apart from the crowd. 

Think about what you’re most interested in, what you value most and your preferred working environment and style.

It’s important you have a mind of your own around this. Way too many candidates choose to apply to firms either because friends and peers are doing so, or because they happened across the firm at an event or in some other way and decide they like them without any deeper consideration. 

This rarely leads to success.

Instead, the key is to find firms which best fit your interests and preferences.

Tip #3 – Carefully consider the match between your preferences and the core fundamentals of the Silver Circle firm to make an informed decision whether to apply

So many candidates apply to Silver Circle firms for superficial reasons, so you can gain a real competitive advantage if you take a more considered approach.

Firms want to see that you have clearly thought about your career interests and have adopted a firm selection strategy that’s interest-led. It will make you stand out from many other candidates.

So, get clear on your personal preferences for your training contract. 

Then, clearly identify two or three primary factors about the firm that match your specific preferences and make you a good fit for the firm.

The key is to stay honest with yourself when doing this. Ask yourself whether you would choose to apply for the firm if it wasn’t a Silver Circle firm, as it’s critical you avoid prestige bias when choosing firms. 

Those candidates I work with who have previously chosen a firm based on name, size or prestige have rarely progressed very far in their recruitment process.

Instead, ensure you have well-researched and well-thought-out reasons for why that firm’s a good fit for you and why you want to train there.

Make an informed decision

So, now you know what you need to do to make an informed decision about whether or not to apply to a Silver Circle law firm.

The key is putting the time in to gain a deeper understanding of the firm and considering whether it matches your main interests and preferences. By doing to you move beyond prestige-led firm selection to interest-led selection. In this way, you’re making well-informed, carefully considered and genuinely strategic choices.

Firms easily notice when this is present and when it’s not – and when it is, they’ll be way more likely to progress you through their recruitment process.