Part of working in the law, particularly a large commercial firm, is being in action outside standard working hours, which could mean being on the job all through the night or for a whole weekend, at short notice. Law firms want to know that you've done your research into working life in the sector and that you can explain why you're not put off.

You might think the attractive aspects of the job outweigh this downside, or you might even like the idea of the buzz that comes from working full-tilt on the kind of headline-grabbing big deals that demand this way of working.