Iffat Hussain (she/her/hers) is the early careers advisor at DWF Group Limited. She’s based at the Manchester office.
Does your firm run a vacation scheme? Will it be in person or virtual?
At DWF, we hold an in-person summer vacation scheme, running for two weeks in June across our various locations, including Birmingham, London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
This year a Belfast summer scheme also took place!
How important is your vacation scheme as part of the recruitment process?
The vacation scheme is an integral part of the recruitment process at DWF. Although this year we’re also accepting applications for the direct training contract, the vacation scheme remains a key process by which we recruit trainees.
It’s as much about candidates choosing us as it is about us choosing the candidates, and the two weeks helps us get to know one another better.
What kind of work can candidates expect to experience during the vacation scheme?
The two-week programme provides candidates with invaluable work experience, allowing them to develop an understanding of what work trainee solicitors are involved in. There are also excellent opportunities to work with partners, associates and trainees throughout the scheme.
On the scheme candidates will experience predominantly live legal work and will work on a solo presentation – it's also not uncommon for vacation scheme students to attend court! Those on the scheme will be under the supervision of a qualified member of staff throughout their two weeks.
Students also have plenty of opportunities to network and attend social events.
What key skills does your firm look for in candidates when they apply?
We aim to recruit passionate and forward-thinking people who are also eager to learn and keen to develop themselves professionally.
Candidates should remember the importance of having transferable skills and a growth mindset. Showcasing these in a well-structured and comprehensive manner within their application and throughout the recruitment process is key to proving that you're motivated and understand what it takes to qualify as a solicitor.
Any existing work experience, whether it be legal or non-legal, is highly valued at DWF and therefore candidates should draw upon their skill set – just because you’re applying for a role in the legal profession doesn’t mean you need to have had an abundance of legal experience to be successful at this stage.
How important is diversity and inclusion to your firm?
At DWF, we’re dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive environment.
There’s a plethora of initiatives that demonstrate this, most notably our Ethnic Minority Programme, launched in 2022. This programme is designed to empower individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds by offering tailored mentoring, skills sessions, ahead of two weeks of paid work experience, providing them with the tools and insights needed to thrive in the legal field.
Building on this success and recognising the importance of intersectionality, we also introduced our Social Mobility Programme last year, extending these opportunities to individuals from a wider range of diverse backgrounds.
Both programmes form part of our training contract recruitment and really does exemplify the work we’re doing to increase diversity in the legal industry.
What is the most common way that candidates let themselves down in their applications?
One of the most common pitfalls candidates face when applying for trainee solicitor positions isn’t tailoring their answers to the specific firm they’re applying to. Generalising answers to questions within their application and not showing any knowledge on the firm's unique culture, values and areas of expertise can have a detrimental impact on candidates’ applications. We’re looking for applicants who’ve done their homework and can articulate this.
Another frequent mistake is that candidates often just list their skills without context. What sets successful candidates apart is an ability to connect the dots – explaining how the skills they've honed in previous roles directly translate to the responsibilities and challenges they’d face as a trainee solicitor. Providing specific examples that demonstrate how these skills have been applied in real-world scenarios can make a significant difference.
How important is it for candidates to show they have researched the firm? What key things about your firm should any good candidate be able to talk about?
We market ourselves as a legal and business services provider specialising in eight core sectors and, as such, DWF is quite unique since we don’t resemble a traditional law firm. Candidates are encouraged to break down our structure into the different elements during their research because it’s always alluded to throughout the recruitment process.
To support their research, I’d suggest candidates attend one of the firm’s insight days taking place in November in advance of writing their application (whether for the training contract, solicitor apprenticeship or the vacation scheme).
By attending the insight day, they’ll also have the opportunity to connect with partners, solicitors and current trainees or apprentices at DWF. Candidates can also benefit from receiving useful tips for application forms, video interviews, assessment centres, information on types of early careers opportunities we offer and be exposed to many different areas of the business, so they can build awareness into what we do.
It’s opportunities like this that’ll help candidates to write successful applications to make them stand out from the more generic applications.
Does your firm run an assessment centre?
Yes. The assessment centre is part of the application process and it's made up of three exercises a:
- panel interview with a member of the early careers team and a client-facing member of staff;
- written exercise whereby candidates are required to undertake a task that we deem to be reflective of what could be expected of a trainee solicitor; and
- group exercise where the candidates work in small groups to carry out a task and present the outcomes to the assessors.
Does your firm attend university law fairs in the autumn term? What is your main objective when you go to a law fair?
We have various events taking place in autumn such as law fairs, as well as insight days as mentioned earlier; these events are my favourite part of the recruitment cycle as it's an excellent opportunity to meet aspiring legal professionals and potential applicants who want to learn more about the different routes DWF offers through our early career opportunities, as well as answering any questions or queries regarding our application process.
Our current trainee solicitors are also involved in these events, offering a chance for applicants to learn first-hand about the processes, experience and knowledge gained on our vacation schemes and training programmes.
What book are you currently reading?
This is my second time reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, one of the most hard-hitting books out there – 10/10 would recommend!
