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Law Student Cover Letter

There comes a point in every law student’s life where they are going to have to consider how they are going to impart their knowledge on a third party. Specifically a law student will need to sell themselves as a prospective employee to law firms. Gaining a position as a junior lawyer within a firm is particularly competitive. In some of the top firms, there can be over 1000 applications for every position. Based on this the quality of a law student cover letter can mean the difference between success and failure.

Types of Law Student Cover letter

Law student cover letters vary in terms of what they hope to achieve and how they are written. In almost all cases, no letter should be over 2 pages long. Anything longer than this and the reader will lose interest. This goes for both law student cover letters for the purpose of securing employment and letter of advice that law students may be requested to write as part of their academic study. When it comes to a letter of advice it is possible that this will extend over the two pages, but careful consideration should be given to breaking down the text into separate sections so as to prevent the reader getting overwhelmed by text.

In reality, the most common type of law student cover letter is that used when applying for employment. This is a very specific type of letter and is essentially a sales letter allowing you to sell yourself and your skills to a prospective employer. The vast majority of law student cover letters will be supplemental to either the application form or the curriculum vitae.

Tips for Writing a law Student Cover Letter

Always consider the main point of your law student cover letter. If it is supplementing an already information packed application form there is no need to give the same contents all over again, this will simply annoy the reader and there is a huge danger that interest will be lost before the vital information can be imparted.

With every cover letter, the opening paragraph is the most important, this is the opportunity to tell the employer exactly what you can offer them. This is the opportunity to capture the interest of the reader so that they read onwards and find out more about your skills and why they should consider employing you.

Structuring a Law Student Cover Letter

The exact structure of a law student cover letter will depend on what the supplementary information is going to be contained in the application form or curriculum vitae. Most application forms are very structured and allow you to purely give information that is quantitative such as degree types and grades, with little room for verbal expansion. The cover letter is a particular opportunity to expand on matters as you feel necessary.

Go through the application form or curriculum vitae and make a note of the additional information that you want to expand upon or give extra weight to. Order these so that you deal with any positive expansions first, leaving any negative issues to the end.

Open your law student cover letter with the key point that you wish to make. This first paragraph is vital and is often the only part of your letter that will get read at all, so make it count! Tell the reader what they will gain by considering you as an employee. Remember this is, in effect a sales letter and you should be continuously looking for ways to tell the reader what you have to offer them.

Once you have opened the law student cover letter with your most important point, move on to drawing in points from your application form. Ensure that you expand on your application form by telling the reader about additional points that are not on the application form itself. For example it is all well and good that the reader knows you have a good degree class but do they know of the extra work such as debating team or student union roles that you undertook whilst achieving this degree?

In an increasingly competitive environment, the law student cover letter is the opportunity to tell the reader what you have that sets you apart from the crowd. There are numerous people getting good degrees and it is the law student cover letter that allows you to say what EXTRA you are able to offer.

Supplementing your Law Student Cover Letter

Having written the best possible law student cover letter, don’t overlook the importance of the supplementary information that you send alongside the letter. Try and ensure that the supplementary information ties in with the letter so that it reads as one inclusive piece.

Make sure that your law student cover letter makes it clear that you understand the firm that you are applying for a position with. If the law firm is global make sure that you show that you are internationally aware, if the firm is progressive and moving into new markets then show your willingness to adapt and change as necessary.

Once you have sent an appropriate law student cover letter to the law firm of your choice, follow up your application with a call to the relevant human resources department after an appropriate length of time. Make sure that you re-read your law student cover letter before having any contact with the law firm in question. It is important that you look as if you have individually selected the firm and that you haven’t simply sent out cover letters to hundreds of firms (even if this is in fact the case)!

Never underestimate the importance of the law student cover letter. It is your one opportunity to sell yourself to the law firm in a matter of a few moments. Be positive and direct in your approach. If you capture the imagination of the reader, they will read onwards.

A law student cover letter can make the difference between success and failure; do not underestimate the importance of this part of your legal studies. Give your law student cover letter the time and energy it deserves and you will reap the rewards for years to come.

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