When discussing your career motivation, consider explaining the path that has led you to deciding to pursue the career, going through your experiences chronologically. Telling the story of how your interest developed can help your answer to seem more genuine, personal and credible. After all, nobody will believe you if you simply say that you’ve wanted to be a lawyer since the age of 5! Below, I’ll focus on a career in law, but this structure/technique could apply to a broad range of careers.

Structuring your answer to "Why commercial law?"

What sparked your initial interest in law? 

Perhaps start your answer by identifying which experience initially sparked your general interest in law (as opposed to your specific interest in the area of law you’re applying to). Was it a conversation you had whilst at school? Your experiences debating? Taking part in jury service? A particular school or (for non-law students) university module? An insight you gained from a career fair? Witnessing a dispute that affected a family business? If changing careers, was it working alongside lawyers on a project? I wouldn’t start by saying that your interest in law stems from your law degree, or from undertaking legal work experience, as the fact that you choose to study a law degree or to accept an offer of work experience suggests that your interest in law pre-dates such experiences. Work backwards until you think of the very first thing that genuinely sparked your interest. 

How did you explore this initial interest in law? 

Once you have discussed how a particular experience sparked your interest in the career, highlight the next steps you actively took to continue exploring the career and developing your motivation. For example, did you decide to study law based on whatever it was that sparked your interest, or elect to study a law-related module as part of a non-law degree (for example a philosophy student choosing to study a jurisprudence module to explore their interest in a legal career)? Follow your own chronology. After all, the fact that you took these subsequent steps suggests you really did enjoy whatever it was you had previously experienced. Why else would you have continued to give up your free time to learn more about the career? The structure adds credibility! 

Then...

As your answer progresses, you should then start to focus more on the specific area of law you’re applying to, which will require discussion of experiences that are more relevant to your desired career path. For example, if you’re applying to a City law firm, you could start by explaining what sparked your general interest in law, then explaining how  this led to an interest in a career in commercial law, before finishing up with why you want to practice commercial law at an international City law firm.

What should you cover when discussing each experience? 

Taking a step back for a second, it’s worth considering what to focus on each time you mention one of your experiences. In general, for each experience that you mention, you ideally want to explain: 

1. How you learned about the career

Give context about each of the experiences that helped to further your motivation. How did you secure the experience, was it with a firm, what did it involve, how long did it last, and so on. For example, did you choose to study commercial law-related academic modules, attend career fairs and employer events, participate in exercises designed to simulate the work carried out by lawyers, join law-related societies, carry out legal volunteering roles, or apply for work experience (be that work shadowing, insight days, internships or part-time work)? Did you attend industry events, actively network with people who work in related roles, and read books or complete online courses designed to educate you about the career and industry? 

2. What you learned

Once you mention a relevant experience, you should then explain what you were told, were exposed to, witnessed, or got involved in during that experience. Show you were paying attention, and that you had the opportunity to pick up an understanding of what the career can involve. For example, your general interest in law might have centred upon the realisation that the law can impact almost every aspect of day-to-day life, or perhaps you had an experience that demonstrated the fundamental importance of the rule of law (this is something a student I mentored mentioned, having fled a war-torn country as a child). 

As your answer progresses and you start to focus on the specific area of law you’re applying to (e.g. commercial law at a City law firm), you should discuss what you’ve learned about that specific career. This could include things you’ve learned about the role (e.g. the focus on teamwork, the high pressure environment, the client-facing aspects etc.), and what the work in that area can involve (the variety, the intellectual challenge, the focus on language and detail, cross-border projects etc.). You might also reflect on how the career brings together your various professional interests.

3. Why you found this appealing

Next, explain why all the things you were exposed to furthered your motivation to pursue the career. This is key to ensuring your answer is credible, but it is often neglected. Simply saying that you learned about XYZ isn’t the same as saying you enjoyed/would enjoy XYZ. Similarly, saying “I am or would be good at XYZ” isn’t the same as saying “I want to do XYZ”. Loads of people learn about things that they don’t find interesting, or are good at things that they don’t enjoy doing! This question is about your motivation, not your ability. 

For example, why does the prospect of an intellectual challenge appeal? Why do you want to work in a client-facing role? Why does a high pressure environment appeal? Why are you attracted to the prospect of working in teams? Why do you want to focus on cross-border work? How can you evidence that you’re genuinely interested in what the career entails? To help with this, below we cover a number of examples of why certain aspects of the career might appeal, and how you could link this all back to you.

Note that Jake Schogger has provided written feedback on a (real) example application answer to "why commercial law?" in our Example successful applications and cover letters course.