How to write better clerkship applications

Clerkships are one of the most competitive stages of a legal career — often hundreds of applications for a handful of spots, and at many firms the clerkship is the main pathway to a graduate role. This guide adapts the principles from my How to write better job applications guide — prepared with James Keane, Graduate Recruitment Manager at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer — specifically for law students applying for clerkships.

What clerkship recruiters are actually looking for

There's a common misconception that there's a single 'perfect clerk' — top grades, law-firm work experience, and extracurriculars like mooting, negotiation and client interviewing. Those are baseline things recruiters consider, but they aren't hiring for one profile. They're matching candidates to different teams and their clients, who each value different things. The student with the highest WAM might suit a team where technical research is everything; a student with a strong customer-service background might be the better fit somewhere else.

A couple of things follow from this:

• They compare you on data points. If your application only speaks to your WAM and law-related experience, that's all there is to compare you on. Give context about your non-law experience, achievements and interests, and you're more likely to stand out.
• Guide them to your strengths. Like a good essay, lead with your best arguments. Template CVs highlight the standard things (grades, employers, education) — great if those are your strengths, but if you're stronger at communication or teamwork, make sure that comes through.

1. Tailor to your strengths — don't tick every box

Trying to address every selection criterion in a short application waters down what you're actually good at.

• List the criteria the firm says it values (from the clerkship ad, the careers page, and conversations at cocktail evenings and info sessions).
• Pick a few you can genuinely evidence, and build your pitch around them.

2. Show responsibilities and achievements, not just roles

Students often have less legal experience, so context and impact matter even more than the role title.

• Quantify — e.g. "at [Community Legal Centre], I interviewed 5+ clients a week and drafted advice letters reviewed by a supervising solicitor".
• Give context — e.g. "worked part-time as a paralegal while studying full-time and captaining the university [X] team".
• Hyperlink work you can share — a moot submission, a published article, a competition result.

3. Write your application like a storywriter

You control the narrative — most applicants give that power away to a resume template.

• Max out the prime real estate: your 3 best selling points at the top of your CV, and a cover letter that opens with why you and why this firm.
• Don't get locked into a template that leads with education and contact details.
• Show, don't tell — use experiences and achievements to demonstrate "strong communication skills" rather than just writing the words.
• Ask a friend — the people who know you can often name your strengths better than you can.

4. Think beyond the recruiter — to the team and its clients

Good candidates show they'd fit the firm; great candidates show they'd fit the firm's clients.

• Google what General Counsel and clients want from law firms.
• Reference the firm's clients, sectors and recent matters in your application.
• Be specific about the practice groups you're interested in — even for a generalist clerkship, it signals genuine interest.

5. Nail "why law, why commercial, and why us"

Clerkship applications almost always test your motivation, and generic answers ("I've always wanted to be a lawyer") don't land.

• Make your reasons specific and personal.
• Your "why us" should reference things that are only true of that firm — a practice strength, a pro bono program, a value that resonated, or someone you met at an event.

6. Address your shortcomings head-on

A weak semester, an employment gap, or limited legal experience won't necessarily count against you if you handle it well.

• List the things that might stop you getting an interview.
• Address them head-on: what happened, why, and what you did about it (or learned).

In interviews, you can ask at the end:

Demonstrating growth in a previous weakness is often viewed positively.

7. Use the whole process, not just the written application

Clerkship recruitment usually runs to a set timeline, with cocktail evenings, info sessions and interviews — treat these as part of your application, not separate to it. The people you meet often feed back into the process, and what you learn helps you tailor your written application and interview answers.

If you don't get an offer

Clerkships are competitive, and firms miss out on great candidates purely because of the numbers. But a 'no' is never the end of the road — firms re-hire through priority offers, graduate rounds and later intakes, often taking on candidates who were knocked back before but have since shown growth, fixed a concern, or reapplied for a role they were better suited to.