TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Chris Brown]

Out of Kirkland, Milbank, Vinson, and Slaughters, Weil

Which is considered the most prestigious have offers/ACs for all of them.
Which would offer the best training and chance to reach partnership.

Chances of partnership will be very small at all of those firms and in any case depend on so many factors (many of which will be out of your control).

I’d pick based on the practice areas you’re interested in. If private capital, K&E; pretty much everything else, Slaughters

I would also factor in whether you want to work in a firm with a larger trainee cohort of 90-100 (e.g., Slaughter and May) or a firm with a smaller trainee cohort size of 6-8 (e.g., Vinson & Elkins and Milbank respectively).

Kirkland and Weil sit in the middle with a mid-sized intake of around 15 trainees. If you want the perks of working in a US firm (lean team structure and greater responsibility), but don’t want to be in a really small intake, maybe Kirkland and Weil are good choices. If you prefer the smaller intake then go for Vinson & Elkins or Milbank. If you don’t mind the large cohort size go for Slaughter and May.

Having said that, I think it’s hard to know at this point which firm would be the best. I say this because at the moment you either have AC’s or VS offers. I am assuming you haven’t got any experience yet of what life would look like working in these firms. I would say it’s best to go through the AC’s for all of them. Whichever firms offer you a VS, try and do the VS for them (this depends on dates). Once you have received all of your TC offers, you can then begin to think about which firm is ultimately the right one for you.

I imagine after doing VS for these firms, you would probably know which one fits what you are looking for. Perhaps you can ask the associates and partners at these firms during the VS about the path to partnership for trainees at the firm. Any questions you have about these firms can be asked during the VS and that will inform your overall decision.​

 

[elsx]

I think it was not too bad to be honest, happy to share marks and categories they look at if that would be helpful for you! Best of luck

Hi yes that would be great ! and Thank you again!

 

[User5678]

Hi yes that would be great ! and Thank you again!

No problem at all, it’s also an amberjack test

So ofc there’s that bar marking for applied numerical and verbal intellect (I was placed at the middle of the bar for both)

The main categories are (all marked out of 10)
1. Clients (I got a 7/10)
2. Firm (6/10)
3. People (7/10)

It’s the same type of ques which were there for wbd and Paul Weiss if it helps!

 

[Wannabe_Lawyer]

No problem at all, it’s also an amberjack test

So ofc there’s that bar marking for applied numerical and verbal intellect (I was placed at the middle of the bar for both)

The main categories are (all marked out of 10)
1. Clients (I got a 7/10)
2. Firm (6/10)
3. People (7/10)

It’s the same type of ques which were there for wbd and Paul Weiss if it helps!

Can I also ask, do you get your results before doing the 2 written questions? If I end up doing poorly on the SJT part, I wouldn't want to waste another couple of hours doing the written responses.

 

[User5678]

Can I also ask, do you get your results before doing the 2 written questions? If I end up doing poorly on the SJT part, I wouldn't want to waste another couple of hours doing the written responses.

Nope, so once you finish the sjt part, there is a video in which there is this person saying that you won’t receive your feedback report and your assessment won’t be submitted until you finish the written assessment on the next page. In order to receive the report you need to finish the whole assessment including the written assessment.

That was annoying, I went into the assessment not knowing there were two 500 words ques and it really caught me off guard😭 I should’ve checked if someone posted about this on the forum first but luckily I had some extra spare time in hand when I did the assessment!

Hope this helps!

 

[Wannabe_Lawyer]

Nope, so once you finish the sjt part, there is a video in which there is this person saying that you won’t receive your feedback report and your assessment won’t be submitted until you finish the written assessment on the next page. In order to receive the report you need to finish the whole assessment including the written assessment.

That was annoying, I went into the assessment not knowing there were two 500 words ques and it really caught me off guard😭 I should’ve checked if someone posted about this on the forum first but luckily I had some extra spare time in hand when I did the assessment!

Hope this helps!

Ugh that is so annoying, although, I imagine loads of applicants would just abort the process half-way if they knew their SJT score. Thank you so much for letting us know and I'm sorry it caught you off-guard!

 

[applicationzzzzz]

How bad is it to not mention a deal that a firm did in an interview? I wasn't asked about one explicitly and could only have mentioned it insofar as they asked why the firm? But I spoke about the culture and training. I mentioned a bunch of deals in my written application but realised I didn't speak about any directly in the interview?

 

[Jessica Booker]

How bad is it to not mention a deal that a firm did in an interview? I wasn't asked about one explicitly and could only have mentioned it insofar as they asked why the firm? But I spoke about the culture and training. I mentioned a bunch of deals in my written application but realised I didn't speak about any directly in the interview?

This is really not an issue. Sometimes throwing a matter/deal/case in for the matter for the sake of it doesn’t work very well. It’s only if it is suitable for the question that you should include one, and it sounds like in this instance you weren’t asked something that would constitute using one.

 

[bsh]

Hey, just wondering if anyone uses Watson’s Daily? What are your thoughts? I’ve read reviews that the app is really bad - logs people out and doesn’t let users log back in. Considering subscribing but don’t want to waste my money! Advice appreciated. Thank you!

 

[AnAnonymousDuck]

@Jessica Booker

Do law firms tend to see it as bad if a candidate asks to be moved to the direct tc process after an interview for a vac scheme? I have accepted an offer for a vac scheme at another firm and have moved to the interview stage at another firm that I really like. The vac scheme dates overlap so I wouldn't be able to attend both (neither firm runs a spring scheme either). If I was progressed to an AC with the second firm, would it be likely for them to be okay with moving me to the TC process or would they see it as proof that I was not interested in them enough if I didn't cancel my first offer to attend the second firm's (in the very hopeful event, of course, that I was offered one for the vac scheme)?

 

[vschemer]

Does anyone have any insight into the difference between Weil and Sidley Austin? Training, reputation, likelihood of making equity partner, areas of expertise etc.

Thank you in advance if so!

 

[NJS]

Has anyone heard from Sidley post app? I applied close to the deadline

 

[yellowponytwin]

for which office? and what did it say?

not the person youre replying to but I applied for TC at the CRS Cheltenham office and got an email on Friday at 3pm saying:

"We are working through our applications as fast as we can and are still finalising our decisions.

As we are a small team and do not recruit on a rolling basis, we are working through spring placement schemes first and will aim to get back to Cheltenham applicants within the next month.

Blah blah"

slightly worrying that they say "within the next month" as the assessment days are mid-March for the TC I applied for...

fingers crossed for you too.

 

[u64928428]

Any updates regarding White & Case post-assessment centre? It’s been nearly a month since I completed it, and I have yet to receive any feedback.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker

Do law firms tend to see it as bad if a candidate asks to be moved to the direct tc process after an interview for a vac scheme? I have accepted an offer for a vac scheme at another firm and have moved to the interview stage at another firm that I really like. The vac scheme dates overlap so I wouldn't be able to attend both (neither firm runs a spring scheme either). If I was progressed to an AC with the second firm, would it be likely for them to be okay with moving me to the TC process or would they see it as proof that I was not interested in them enough if I didn't cancel my first offer to attend the second firm's (in the very hopeful event, of course, that I was offered one for the vac scheme)?

They won’t see it as bad as such. It’s really just going to depend on how the firm deals with such requests.

Some may not be generous in offering a direct TC process because you are choosing another firm over them. Reality is they know they have a much slimmer chance of you accepting a TC with them if you do a vacation scheme with another firm. Other firms will take the view that you are a competitive candidate and it’s probably worthwhile taking a chance just in case you decide the other firm isn’t for you.

Many firms will encourage you to contact them again later in the summer when both you and their vacation schemes are complete, and that they will consider the request at that point. From experience, so many candidates then don’t even contact the firm because they secure a TC they are happy with elsewhere.

 

[AnAnonymousDuck]

They won’t see it as bad as such. It’s really just going to depend on how the firm deals with such requests.

Some may not be generous in offering a direct TC process because you are choosing another firm over them. Reality is they know they have a much slimmer chance of you accepting a TC with them if you do a vacation scheme with another firm. Other firms will take the view that you are a competitive candidate and it’s probably worthwhile taking a chance just in case you decide the other firm isn’t for you.

Many firms will encourage you to contact them again later in the summer when both you and their vacation schemes are complete, and that they will consider the request at that point. From experience, so many candidates then don’t even contact the firm because they secure a TC they are happy with elsewhere.

Would the firm consider it more acceptable if i informed that I had accepted the offer over a month before the interview invite (and that I only had a week to accept it), and that I didn't want to be disrespectful by cancelling that offer? This firm is just one of my dream firms, and I'm scared that if I didn't get a TC from the first firm and reapplied next cycle, they would see me as undesirable because I couldn't get a TC and am going with the "second-best" option by reapplying instead?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Would the firm consider it more acceptable if i informed that I had accepted the offer over a month before the interview invite (and that I only had a week to accept it), and that I didn't want to be disrespectful by cancelling that offer? This firm is just one of my dream firms, and I'm scared that if I didn't get a TC from the first firm and reapplied next cycle, they would see me as undesirable because I couldn't get a TC and am going with the "second-best" option by reapplying instead?

I think it is fine to say that if you are having the conversation with them before you interview with the second firm. My concern would be if you do this after the interview, as you are effectively wasting their time with the interview if there is no chance of you accepting their offer.

 

[elsx]

No problem at all, it’s also an amberjack test

So ofc there’s that bar marking for applied numerical and verbal intellect (I was placed at the middle of the bar for both)

The main categories are (all marked out of 10)
1. Clients (I got a 7/10)
2. Firm (6/10)
3. People (7/10)

It’s the same type of ques which were there for wbd and Paul Weiss if it helps

Nope, so once you finish the sjt part, there is a video in which there is this person saying that you won’t receive your feedback report and your assessment won’t be submitted until you finish the written assessment on the next page. In order to receive the report you need to finish the whole assessment including the written assessment.

That was annoying, I went into the assessment not knowing there were two 500 words ques and it really caught me off guard😭 I should’ve checked if someone posted about this on the forum first but luckily I had some extra spare time in hand when I did the assessment!

Hope this helps!

Thank you for all these details and for sharing the categories! I feel like your marks are good ! I guess I'll see how it goes this week.

 

[Ash4202]

Any updates regarding White & Case post-assessment centre? It’s been nearly a month since I completed it, and I have yet to receive any feedback.

grad rec said they’d get back to us before the end of the month

 

[lolololol]

this is random but how does a feedback call work?