Summer work experience scheme

Cover letter

Your cover letter should tell us about you, why you are interested in a career in law and why you are applying to Slaughter and May. You may like to reference virtual internships you have completed or law firm events/university events you have attended to support this.

You should also include any other information which you think may be relevant to your application.

Please ensure that your cover letter is no longer than one side of A4 and address it to Janine Arnold, Head of Recruitment. You do not need to include your address or the address of the firm on the cover letter.

You can find more tips on preparing your cover letter in this video.

CV

We recommend that your CV is no more than 2 sides of A4. The information included should be factual – tell us what you have done, where and when.

You must demonstrate evidence of an interest in, and commitment to, a career in commercial law through, for example, open days, virtual internships, virtual or in-person law firm events/university events such as law fairs or firm presentations, or legal work experience.

You should include details of everything you have been involved with, whether or not these activities are related to a career in law. We want to understand your journey and how you spend your time outside of your studies.

You can find more tips on preparing your CV in this video.

Strong applications will be authentic and personal to you. The use of generative AI to help you prepare your application may result in inaccuracies and a lack of originality and creativity.

The interview will be conducted virtually by a partner and an associate and will last for approximately 45 minutes. They will engage you in a discussion about your CV and on a short current affairs article, which will be emailed to you 15 minutes before the interview. You will be able to take notes during this time and can refer to both the article and your notes during the interview.

This article will then form part of the discussion in the interview, along with questions relating to your CV, commercial awareness and your motivations for applying to us.

During the article discussion, the partners will be testing whether you can assimilate information quickly, identify the relevant issues and articulate and defend your point of view. They will be looking to you to summarise the main points of the article, to form an opinion on the subject matter and to have a sensible debate on the issues raised. This is not designed to be a comprehension test or a test to discover your political leanings or beliefs.

Points you may want to consider when reading the article include:

• Can you summarise the key issues raised in the article?
• What are the main themes, arguments and conclusion (if any)?
• Do you agree or disagree with the arguments put and the position taken in the article and why?
• What may be the counter arguments to your position?
• Are the arguments provided in the article coherent and logical?
• Are there relevant issues which are not touched on or developed in the article?

Although discussion will centre around the subject and themes of the article, the interviewers may pursue any line of discussion whatsoever.  As part of this discussion, you should expect to be presented with questions which you have not considered before and which will require you to ‘think on your feet’. 

Watch this Article Discussion video to find out more about what this part of the interview involves and what we are looking for from candidates during the discussion. The video also includes a mock article discussion with Tanyah, one of our trainee solicitors, and a feedback discussion at the end, where Tanyah and the partners discuss the interview (please note that the feedback discussion is not part of an actual interview).

Our work is intellectually demanding so we look for three good A levels (or equivalent) and a good 2:1 in your degree so far. If you are applying for any opportunities in your first year, we understand that you may not yet have any university grades to include in your application.

We are looking for you to have an interest in a career in commercial law, an understanding of what the firm does, and motivation and enthusiasm to find out more about working at Slaughter and May. You don’t need legal work experience to apply for our work experience opportunities, but you do need to demonstrate your interest in this career and what you have done so far to research this through, for example, open days, virtual internships or virtual or in-person law firm events/university events such as law fairs or firm presentations.

Our clients need us to be their trusted legal advisers, so you need to have an interest in the commercial world and how business works.

Good verbal and written communication skills are a key skill for all of our lawyers to have, so it’s something we look for in our application and interview process. Our collaborative culture also means that we look for candidates who can demonstrate that they can work successfully in teams.

Our multi-specialist approach means that our trainees work on the full range of transactions on which the group they are sitting in advises, which is hard work. The support is always there, but there will be times when you are stretched and need to work long hours in order to deliver the exceptional service that we provide for our clients. We are looking for candidates who can show us they are resilient when dealing with the unexpected and can remain focused under pressure.

We value diversity and individuality very highly – different perspectives are crucial when it comes to providing innovative advice – so through our interview process, we will look for your ability to articulate and defend your point of view.

We are also looking for candidates who have a range of interests outside of a career in law, so please include these on your CV. They can also be used to demonstrate how you may have developed some of qualities and skills above that we are looking for.