Hard-won lessons from someone who’s been through the process – so you don’t make the same mistakes.

Clerkship applications are intense, mysterious, and often feel like the most high-stakes thing you’ve ever done. When you’re in the thick of it – refreshing application portals, obsessing over cover letter wording, watching your friends get interview invites while you wait – it’s easy to overthink every decision, second-guess yourself, and assume everyone else knows some secret that you don’t.

Looking back from the other side of the process, there are things I wish someone had told me before I started. Not the basic stuff you’ll find in recruitment guides (our even our Clerkship Guide) – the real lessons that only come from actually doing it, making mistakes, and seeing how it all plays out.

This post shares those lessons to help you apply smarter, stress less, and remember that this process, however intense it feels right now, is just one part of your legal career.

Table of Contents

• 1. You Don’t Need to Be a ‘Perfect’ Candidate
• 2. You Don’t Have to Apply Everywhere
• 3. Everyone Feels Like They’re Behind
• 4. Cover Letters Aren’t That Deep – But They Do Matter
• 5. Interviews Are About Vibe and Fit, Not Just Competence
• 6. Rejection Is the Norm – and Not a Judgment on Your Future
• 7. Your Legal Career Isn’t Decided in This One Moment
• Keep Your Head Up

1. You Don’t Need to Be a ‘Perfect’ Candidate

Here’s the reality that no one tells you: most people who get clerkships aren’t university medalists, didn’t work at top tier firms as paralegals, and don’t have parents who are KCs. The majority of successful candidates are just normal law students who happen to be good at a few things and interesting to talk to.

Firms want trainable, well-rounded people with potential. Yes, grades matter (aim for at least 70+ for top-tiers). But beyond meeting the academic bar, what really matters is whether you seem like someone they’d want to work with every day for two years.

Soft skills count for a lot. Can you communicate clearly? Do you seem coachable? Are you the kind of person who stays calm under pressure and gets along with the team? Can you think on your feet? These things matter more than whether you got an HD in Contract Law.

Self-awareness is huge too. Firms would rather hire someone who knows their weaknesses and is working on them than someone who thinks they’re already perfect. If you’re a bit scatty but you know it and have systems to manage it, that’s better than being scatty and having no idea.

2. You Don’t Have to Apply Everywhere

Quality beats quantity every time. It’s better to write 6 genuinely tailored applications than to shotgun 20 generic ones that all sound the same. The firms can tell the difference, and generic applications are the easiest ones to reject.

Focus on firms where your interests actually align – their culture, their practice areas, their values. Do your research. Listen to podcasts with their lawyers. Read about the deals they’ve worked on. Find something genuine to say about why you want to work there specifically, not just “I want to work in commercial law and you’re a commercial law firm.”

That said, don’t rule yourself out based on prestige anxiety. If you’re interested in a top-tier firm but worried you’re “not good enough,” apply anyway. The worst they can do is say no, and you might surprise yourself. I’ve seen plenty of people get interviews at firms they thought were “out of their league.”

Be strategic about your mix. Maybe 6 top-tiers, 2 upper mid-tiers, 2 internationals, and 2 mid-tiers. Whatever works for your goals and interests, but make sure you’re applying to places you’d actually want to work.

3. Everyone Feels Like They’re Behind

It’s completely normal to feel underprepared or like you’re the only one not “in the know.” You’re not. Everyone’s playing a bit of a guessing game here.

Don’t compare yourself to the loudest voices in your cohort – you know, the ones who have theories about what different firms are “really looking for.” They’re probably just as anxious as you are; they’re just channeling it into research and speculation instead of self-doubt.

The truth is that firms don’t really have a “type.” Yes, some are more corporate, some are more relaxed, but there’s no secret formula that guarantees success. The best thing you can do is be genuinely yourself and let the chips fall where they may.

Everyone’s making their best guess about what firms want to hear. Some people guess right, some don’t. It doesn’t mean they know something you don’t.

4. Cover Letters Aren’t That Deep – But They Do Matter

No one is expecting Shakespeare. Your cover letter doesn’t need to be a masterpiece of legal writing that revolutionises the genre. It just needs to be clear, well-written, and show genuine effort.

What they want to see is:

• That you can write clearly and professionally
• That you’ve done some basic research about them specifically
• A genuine reason why you’re applying to them, not just any law firm
• Some evidence that you’d be good to work with

Avoid the clichés everyone uses (“I am passionate about commercial law”). Just be genuine, especially in your “why us” section. Instead of “I’m drawn to your innovative approach to legal services,” try “I read about your work on [specific deal/case] and was interested in how you approached [specific aspect].”

One page. Three or four paragraphs. Clear structure. Spell-check it twice. Job done.

5. Interviews Are About Vibe and Fit, Not Just Competence

By the time you’re sitting in that interview room, you’ve already proven you can do the work. Your grades got you through the door. Now the big question is: Would I want to work with this person every day?

This isn’t about being fake or performing a character. It’s about showing them the best, most genuine version of yourself. Be interested in your interviewers. Ask them questions. If they mention they went to New Zealand recently and you have too, talk about it! These conversations are often more memorable than perfect answers to behavioural questions.

Come in with curiosity, not a script. Yes, prepare some stories and think about common questions, but don’t over-rehearse to the point where you sound robotic. If they want to go off on a tangent about your hobbies or something interesting in your background, lean into it. That’s often where the real connection happens.

Remember that nerves are normal and expected. They know you’re nervous. What they’re looking for is whether you can still communicate effectively and seem like someone they’d enjoy having around the office.

6. Rejection Is the Norm – and Not a Judgment on Your Future

Most people get more rejections than offers. That’s just the math – there are more good candidates than positions. Getting rejected from firms doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for commercial law, or that you’ll never work at a top-tier firm, or that you should reconsider your career path.

I had interviews where I felt I’d nailed every question and got rejected, and others where I stumbled through answers but got offers. The process isn’t as meritocratic as we’d like to believe.

Many successful graduates and senior lawyers didn’t clerk at the firms where they now work. Some got in later as graduates or lateral hires. Some went to different firms first and moved later. Some took completely different paths into commercial law.

The recruitment process involves a lot of luck. Sometimes you just don’t click with the interviewers. Sometimes they already have a preference for candidates with a particular background. Sometimes they get 500 applications for 20 spots and yours just didn’t make the cut for reasons that have nothing to do with your potential as a lawyer.

Take the rejection, feel disappointed (it’s normal), then move on. Don’t spend weeks analysing what you could have done differently in a 30-minute interview. There’s usually no way to know, and it’s not a productive use of your mental energy.

7. Your Legal Career Isn’t Decided in This One Moment

Clerkships are great – they give you experience, connections, and often graduate offers. But they’re not the only path into commercial law, and they certainly don’t determine the trajectory of your entire career.

You can lateral in later. You can take a different route through mid-tier or boutique firms. You can work in-house and move to private practice. You can pivot to other areas of law entirely, or even different industries.

I know this is hard to remember when clerkships feel like the most important thing in the world, but your career is going to span 30-40 years. This is just the first step. Focus on building skills, developing relationships, and figuring out what kind of lawyer you want to be. The prestige will sort itself out.

The partners interviewing you today didn’t all start at top-tier firms. The successful lawyers you admire took all kinds of different paths. There’s no single “right” way to build a legal career.

Keep Your Head Up

Clerkship season is stressful, but you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed by it. Everyone’s figuring it out as they go, making their best guesses, and hoping for the best. Take a breath, back yourself, and apply in a way that reflects who you actually are – not who you think they want you to be.

The firms that offer you clerkships are the ones where you’re most likely to thrive anyway. Trust the process, even when it feels random and frustrating.

If this post helped, you might also like How to Turn Your Clerkship into a Graduate Offer for those lucky enough to have landed a clerkship and wanting to maximise their chances of getting that graduate offer at the end.

Further questions about the clerkship process? Want me to write on something else? Feel free to reach out through the comments section below or contact page. Having been on both sides of this process, I’m happy to help where I can.