Philippa Shorthouse told Recruiter that the firm had exceeded its recruitment targets by removing cumbersome and unnecessary questions from its application forms for the firm’s graduate open days for its two-year graduate training contract.

One of the questions removed was ’Why do you want to be a solicitor with Browne Jacobson, and what contribution could you make to the firm’s success?’

“We felt that the first part of this question was more suited to an interview. The second part is hypothetical as many applicants have no real work experience, so the most we would ever get is a hypothetical answer.”

In addition to making the application process more straightforward, Shorthouse said that the involvement of the firm’s partners in the recruitment process was key.

“We let applicants meet our partners at the open days and at our assessment centre. This is important because they [the partners] are the people they are going to work with, and it’s better that the applicants make a decision having met them.”

Shorthouse said that as a result of these measures, applications for its graduate trainee contract had risen from 849 in 2005 to 1,087 in 2009, significantly exceeding its target of 900.

Similarly, the conversion rate (the ratio of acceptances to offers) at the end of the firm’s assessment days had increased from 59% in 2005 to 100% in 2009.

Shorthouse said that this year the firm expects to take eight graduates onto its training contract. The firm recently picked up the award for Best Graduate Recruitment Campaign from The Lawyer, Recruiter’s sister title.