TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi @Andrei Radu @Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam !

Any advice on how to tackle the following question (and how I should divide the word count)?: "Please choose a recent (less than 12 months) development in UK/European news. How are such developments relevant for Skadden’s clients?"

I was thinking of writing 1-2 sentences outlining the recent development. Then, I am not sure about whether I should discuss why I find the development I chose interesting because usually the 'commercial' question like this in an app would explicitly state "a news story that interests you" in the question, but this is not the case in here. So, should I spend the rest of my word count simply outlining how the news/developments would affect Skadden's clients and how Skadden would get involved as a result?

Thank you!

Hiya @KBanana

Unsurprisingly, I'm in agreement with what Jess said here! You’re also absolutely right - you don’t need to explain why the story is interesting to you, since the question doesn’t ask for it. That said, I've generally always added a sentence or two about why a story caught my attention, as I think it often added some reflective depth to my answer.

I also think your plan/approach to the question sounds solid! Outlining the development in a couple of sentences, then briefly mentioning why it stands out to you, and finally using most of the word count to cover the commercial implications for Skadden’s clients is a good way to address the question. Best of luck, and feel free to reach out if any other questions come up. You’ve got this! 😊

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi @Amma Usman, @Ram Sabaratnam and @Andrei Radu

I trust you are all well.

I am applying to Katten and am trying to understand how to answer this question.

What experience and skills do you have that will make you an excellent solicitor at Katten?
I am struggling to understand how specific I should be. Would you suggest looking for keywords used by the firm's marketing team?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Hiya @AS24

I'd suggest that you don’t necessarily need to rely heavily on the firm’s marketing materials, but it could be helpful to review Katten’s values as a starting point. To be clear, you don’t have to centre your entire answer around these values, but they can provide some guidance on the traits and skills that the firm might prioritise.

In approaching this question, it might be useful think about the broader skills that would allow someone to thrive as a trainee at firm such as Katten. For instance, based on a quick google of the firm's training programme, it seems they have a relatively small trainee intake. This likely means trainees will have to shoulder substantial responsibility early on, working closely with partners, senior associates, and even clients. Reflecting on this, what skills or experiences do you think would help you thrive in this environment? Additionally, you could focus on their key practice areas and explain how your background or skills would enable you to excel in the types of matters where Katten is especially well-regarded. Best of luck with your application, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have more questions! 😊

 

[Deleted member 37508]

Any1 still waiting to hear about WVS from WC and Dechert

How many posts are you going to do about Dechert. You’ve posted at least 20 times in the past 5 days. I understand you’re waiting and it’s annoying to have to wait but it’s equally annoying to see “has anyone heard from dechert” 3/4 times a day. You stated they emailed you saying to hold tight so hold tight. At the end of the day you either get it or you don’t. The firm interviews every candidate in person they feel is suitable for the vacation scheme. Partners do this interview not graduate recruitment so finding time when partners are available is tricky. Having been to dechert their training principal is in their litigation team, this team is the highest earning team and has the biggest work load I know this because I spoke to him myself at an open day. Their graduate recruitment is only 2 people. Be patience, I’m sure they’ll get back to you in due course with good news.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey guys, what is the best way to approach asking a firm for accomodation support or suggest places to stay for the duration of the vac scheme? I do not have any family in LDN and not sure what to do as the VS is coming up fairly soon. Hotel prices are fairly steep also. Thanks!

I would try and get a call with Graduate recruitment rather than rely on email to discuss this with them. It will be a lot quicker than emails back and forth, especially if the scheme is soon.

I would also consider that they may not be able to offer any direct support but might be able to do things like give you a salary advance to help cover the costs upfront.

If it is a week long scheme have a look at Travelodges in zones 3-6 in London. You’ll be able to commute in easily and they can be less than £200 for a 5 night stay.

 

[LawyerUpPal]

Applying for Hogan Lovells direct TC and currently struggling with this one question: tell us about any open days and events that you have attended in the legal sector (250 words).

It's been 2 years since I've graduated from uni and since I've started working, I've never had the chance to attend any more recent events. The last law firm open day/event i've gone to was in my second year of uni.

What exactly is the firm looking from this question? Meaningful reflection of the events?But what exactly can I write about -- please may I get some pointers?

Also because my attendance at these events were so long ago, are they still considered relevant?

I agree with everything @Unknowncabbage said (especially the reason for the question- a way to demonstrate your interest and commitment to law), but I'd also add that crucially, the question does not stipulate any period such as "recent" or "within the last 12 months"; therefore, it is permissible to use the ones you attended while at University. I graduated this year, and in my application (I made it to AC last week), I spoke about events I attended in my first year at Uni, for example.

 

[TCLA0322]

Hi, does anyone know Akin has their summer vac scheme published? Since I could only see spring vs on their site.

 

[Tintin06]

Hiya @Amjaya

I would keep practicing if possible. Though it’s worth noting that the benchmark for each firm can vary, you want to get closer to about 35/40. Regular practice, reflecting on the answers you get wrong, and an understanding of the type of reasoning demanded by each section will help improve your score over the long run. Best of luck!

How do people get 35/40 in the Watson Glaser? The most I can get is 77% - I just find the test way too hard and actively avoid firms that use it.

 

[Apple]

How do people get 35/40 in the Watson Glaser? The most I can get is 77% - I just find the test way too hard and actively avoid firms that use it.

I was someone who kept failing firms WG tests and getting filtered out in my first cycle. This cycle I got 37/40 for Linklaters and passed DLA and CC, although idk my exact scores.

I think while practising tests definitely helps, to consistently score high, using resources or watching videos on the underlying reasoning as to why X is the correct answer is what will help you score high consistently. Going off intuition alone never worked well for me.

 

[cjwx]

Hey @cleojwilliams , subheadings may not be necessary, particularly because most application softwares won‘t allow you to put things in bold or underlined. The best approach easily applicable to allhires, vantage, and the likes is to have (1) an introductory paragraph of just a sentence or two stating the three things you‘ll cover. (2) three subsequent paragraphs, with each one covering a point.

Thank you!!

 

[RSK]

I was someone who kept failing firms WG tests and getting filtered out in my first cycle. This cycle I got 37/40 for Linklaters and passed DLA and CC, although idk my exact scores.

I think while practising tests definitely helps, to consistently score high using resources or watching videos on the underlying reasoning as to why X is the correct answer is what will help you score high consistently. Going off intuition alone never worked well for me.

I second this—I used to also score below the benchmarks but have passed a few by trying to understand the underlying logic for the correct answer. Most firms also tend to use similar/same questions, so once you pass one, I reckon it'll be easier to pass others.

 

[Deleted member 37508]

I was someone who kept failing firms WG tests and getting filtered out in my first cycle. This cycle I got 37/40 for Linklaters and passed DLA and CC, although idk my exact scores.

I think while practising tests definitely helps, to consistently score high, using resources or watching videos on the underlying reasoning as to why X is the correct answer is what will help you score high consistently. Going off intuition alone never worked well for me.

Agreed.

I also went to chatgpt and asked it to give examples of each assessed section. I wouldn’t advise using it for testing as that would be silly but for practice and gaining an understand of what is actually being asked of you is key. As someone who is neurodivergent I find reading between the lines of these tests awful. Scored 29/40 on Linklaters was rejected for their open day and passed DLA and CC.

 

[Zaraa.x]

Agreed.

I also went to chatgpt and asked it to give examples of each assessed section. I wouldn’t advise using it for testing as that would be silly but for practice and gaining an understand of what is actually being asked of you is key. As someone who is neurodivergent I find reading between the lines of these tests awful. Scored 29/40 on Linklaters was rejected for their open day and passed DLA and CC.

How long did Linklaters take to give you your Watson Glaser score?

 

[RSK]

How long did Linklaters take to give you your Watson Glaser score?

You have to request it; email them on: trainee.recruitment@Linklaters.com. They usually take about 3 days to respond. Hope that helps!

 

[avocadob]

They tell you in the email exactly what competencies they’ll be asking questions on so I was able to prep fully for 2/3 then only got thrown off by 1 Q, but only because I used all the good facts for the Q before. I’m a bit of a waffler though so not too sure how I did overall.

B&B has been so good with navigating applicants through each stage of the app process (unlike 99% of firms) so I wouldn’t worry too much if you get the invite. Good luck!

Does B&B gives out AC invites on rolling basis? or wait till the new year after the deadline?

 

[abhuzaifa]

'Describe the personal event or experience that, more than anything else, made you realise your desire to work in a law firm and specifically at Fieldfisher. (800 characters)'

@Andrei Radu @Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam

What do you guys think will be the best way too approach this question ? Is it best to split the question into two parts i.e., about half of the character limit on a personal event that motivated me to work in a law firm (or 'commercial' law firm specifically) and, the other half on why I want to work at Fieldfisher?

Would appreciate any insights. Thanks !

 

[Zaraa.x]

You have to request it; email them on: trainee.recruitment@Linklaters.com. They usually take about 3 days to respond. Hope that helps!

Thank you!

 

[safari3]

Does B&B gives out AC invites on rolling basis? or wait till the new year after the deadline?

Yes ACs are on a rolling basis. The forum last year showed that they started from end of Nov / early Dec.

 

[Deleted member 37508]

Do I have to complete the Linklaters Watson Glaser test again if even if I already did it for the open day? It bypass me for the Capp test but unsure if it’ll do the same for the Watson Glaser.

 

[Jessica Booker]

'Describe the personal event or experience that, more than anything else, made you realise your desire to work in a law firm and specifically at Fieldfisher. (800 characters)'

@Andrei Radu @Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam

What do you guys think will be the best way too approach this question ? Is it best to split the question into two parts i.e., about half of the character limit on a personal event that motivated me to work in a law firm (or 'commercial' law firm specifically) and, the other half on why I want to work at Fieldfisher?

Would appreciate any insights. Thanks !

I don't think there necessarily needs to be an even split, as its really going to depend on what the event/experience is and what it triggered more - for some experiences they maybe more about becoming a lawyer and then can be aligned with Fieldfisher, and then for someone else they may have gone to an Fieldfisher event which means its more about the firm.

I think the key is really explaining the "how! it made you realise your desires for the career or the firm - the event/experience itself is probably not that important, but explaining how its influenced your decisions will be.

 

[Aimanhussain004]

Holding myself accountable again (Covington rejection)

CC* ✅
HSF ✅📝❌
NRF ✅📝❌
Weil ✅
Akin ✅
Sidley ✅❌
Orrick ✅
Willkie ✅🎥❌
Cooley ✅
Latham ✅
Milbank ✅
Kirkland ✅
Dechert ✅❌
Skadden ✅
Goodwin ✅
Covington ✅❌
Linklaters* ✅📝❌
Paul, Weiss ✅
Slaughters* ✅❌
Gibson Dunn ✅
Macfarlanes* ✅📝
White & Case ✅
Morgan Lewis ✅
Hogan Lovells* ✅
Cleary Gottlieb ✅❌
A&O Shearman ✅📝❌
Vinson & Elkins ✅
Arnold & Porter ✅
King & Spalding* ✅
Winston & Strawn ✅
Morrison Foerster ✅
Sullivan & Cromwell ✅

Key: ✅ = application submitted; 📝 = test received; 🎥 = video interview; ❌ = rejection.

*Training Contract applications

is covington rolling ?