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📩 What a recruiter thinks when they read your application
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It's one thing to be told your application needs work. It's another to see exactly why.
On 26 June at 12:00, Mark Dubes is joining us to take a real application and break it down, explaining precisely what works and what doesn't.
Mark spent over 20 years in legal graduate recruitment and has interviewed more than 10,000 candidates, including at Mayer Brown. He'll show you how a recruiter actually reads an application, the specific signals that create a strong or weak impression within seconds, and what changes would have made the difference between rejection and progression.
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Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company serving 16 million households in the south, is getting closer to a creditor-led takeover. The company has been in severe financial distress for almost 3 years now, because previous private ownership of Thames Water took on a lot of unsustainable debt.
However, since Thames Water provides a necessity the company has not been declared bankrupt so that the lenders can recover their loans - if this was done then the lenders would basically be able to hold water supply hostage.
The current deal being proposed and scrutinised by Ofwat - the UK water regulator - involves senior lenders putting billions of pounds of new money into the company in exchange for equity/ownership. This is essentially a debt-for-equity swap.
Analysis
The issue is that approving this deal would cost Thames Water around £750 million before a single infrastructure improvement is made. ~£150 million in fees would go to the senior lenders, ~£250 million in fees would go to lawyers/bankers, ~£300 million to cover loan interest, and a further £50 million owed to other creditors.
Whilst the senior lenders frame this deal as a rescue of Thames Water, since over £9 billion in debt would be written off, this is still a politically sensitive matter since almost a billion pounds is being handed over in fees alone.
What does this mean for the sector?
How Ofwat handles this matter will determine how much regulatory authority it has over financially distressed companies of this sort in the future
Other water companies with large amounts of debt, like Southern Water, will be watching how successful creditor-led restructurings can be
There are prospects of a stock market listing by 2030 which signals a possible exit strategy for the senior lenders that are party to this deal
How to Use This In Applications
14 June 2017 — A fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, resulting in 72 deaths. It is alleged that justice was obstructed because the LASPO Act of 2012 excluded legal aid for housing issues.
15 June 1215 — King John agreed to put his Royal Seal on the Magna Carta.
16 June 1963 — Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space.
17 June 2013 — R v Hall [2013] EWCA Crim 140 is decided, with James Stuard Hall, aged 83, pleading guilty to 14 counts of indecent assault on children and teenage girls. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
18 June 1965 — The UK Government announced the introduction of a blood alcohol limit for drivers.
19 June 1809 — the Curwen Act was passed, preventing the sale of parliamentary seats, thus decreasing the number of seats which the British governement could manipulate for its regular supporters.
20 June 1214 — The University of Oxford received its charter. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world. Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna, Italy, is the oldest.
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It covers applications, interviews, assessment centres, and more. You’ll also get a certificate you can add to your CV and LinkedIn.
When you join, you will also gain access to the Watson Glaser Practise Hub where you can practise as much as you need to comfortably pass it!
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