No one can guarantee they’ll get what they want.
A lot of people will eventually get a TC somewhere provided their applications are worked on/reviewed/tailored according to the firm & the applicant’s strengths.
No matter how brilliant you are, applying only to the MC/SC/US is a bad idea. It might work it might not.
The problem is the number of applicants (and the number of GOOD applicants). Getting a TC feels a lot like a crapshoot. It’s a numbers game.
If you have the time, I’d apply to every single firm you’d fancy working at, and some you wouldn’t.
Let’s say you want to work in London, I wouldn’t apply regionally to begin with. I’d apply for every London firm I like the look of - meaning: MC, SC, mid-market, full-service, more niche, etc. And just see what happens.
Getting no luck with that? Review your applications. There’s tons of advice on line (take a look at the Corporate Law Academy). Or maybe your uni careers center can help review what might be lacking. Maybe you get interviews but don’t get further. Maybe your interview style/technique needs work.
Still not sure? Then I would start applying more broadly (Regional, etc.).
In terms of free-time, look at what might bolster an application. Maybe your work experience, volunteer stuff, academics are all great. But are you boring? Is there some kind of hobby you wanna pursue that could just add some colour to how you come across? Team sports are weirdly quite a smart thing to add. You don’t have to be winning awards here, but just something that says: “I am a person you might wanna hang out with all day, not a legal robot”. I see you’ve done a lot of sport already. So I dunno! But anything really could help and bonus points if you’re having fun anyway.
Otherwise, you can practice application writing. You can predict a lot of what you’ll be asked: “Why this firm?” “Why law?” “Why the solicitor profession?” “Tell us about a recent legal development…?“ “Tell us about a recent commercial development…” “Tell us about a time you worked as part of a team…?” And so on and so forth.
Re: the NFT thing. I actually think that’s quite interesting but you’d have to be careful on two fronts. Firstly, EVERYONE is writing about crypto on their applications to commercial firms. It’s the topic du jour (and subject of my LLM thesis, lmao).
I think the gambling comparison could be interesting. You have limited space on an application. But sometimes you’re asked about legal reform/legal developments. There’s been recent reform of gambling legislation (I think??). Could you tie the two in? Could you make a case that the tenets is this gambling legislation should be extended/applied to certain types of crypto trading? Or explore this idea?
You don’t have to specifically say that you’ve traded or made X amount of money doing it. Tbh, you wouldn’t have the word count to explain it that fully.