TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Chris Brown]

I can’t really talk on the employment side of taking a break between SQE & your TC, however, I have been on a gap year for the past 2 years travelling and something I will say is if you have enough money to even spend a small amount of time travelling do it.

The experiences I have gained whilst being away honestly cannot compare to what I would have in an office - not just fun travel stuff but also cultural awareness which if you’re going into an international firm or have international clients would be so important.

From a financial perspective, we have worked at the same time so we don’t really have savings per se that we are dipping into, however, I’ve been back in the UK for a fortnight so far and the prices are insane. We were literally booking beachfront accommodation in Sri Lanka for £15 per night.

So basically, from a career perspective I don’t think it’s hindered me in anyway, if anything I think it has gave me invaluable insights into different cultures & working life around the world that you can bring to your new role.

£15 a night for beachfront accommodation in Sri Lanka is crazy good! In the UK, £15 would barely get someone a Nando’s these days lmao. 😂​

 

[Jessica Booker]

I have seen so many former classmates/friends go from having strong preferences for transactional/litigation work and completely flipping their preferences on qualification. I'm also anticipating it in myself (if I ever get a TC that is). 😆

I have seen this many 100s of times over. Sometimes people with the strongest preferences can be those to change their mind to something they really thought they would hate.

 

[TC129129]

Hi everyone,

I have an AC coming up with Fladgate, and this will be my first ever AC.

If anyone previously did the AC with Fladgate, I would be grateful for any and every advice!

congrats, when did you hear from them?

 

[simplyfaith]

Thanks. Not too pricey! I looked at a video yesterday and they were saying entry-level webcam is Insta360 2C (£130!)

Honestly I'm partly wondering about doing it on my phone; only problem is my phone also sucks, so maybe I need to buy a new phone (had it for almost 3 years now, Redmi)!!!

You're right, that is on the expensive side! Generally speaking, most Logitech USB webcams and mics should be miles better than integrated laptop parts. Things like the C920 or Yeti Orb. I'd definitely check raw footage on youtube to make sure you'd be happy with the product, though. Either way, I'm pretty sure law firms are used to questionable hardware.

Speaking of phones, if you happen to have a good one, there are apps which let you use your phone as a webcam/mic over WiFi/USB! I tried DroidCam just now, which seemed to be okay as someone with a Samsung Galaxy S23, but results may vary. Doing VIs on the phone itself can't be a fun experience 😭

 

[TCpleasex]

£15 a night for beachfront accommodation in Sri Lanka is crazy good! In the UK, £15 would barely get someone a Nando’s these days lmao. 😂​

No literally, Sri Lanka was so cheap that we ended up staying for a month. Now we’re in the UK we are literally counting pennies it’s mad!!!

 

[TCpleasex]

Just received a TLT PFO… 😂😂 tbh I thought I’d at least get through the first stage, since I attended their first-year insight scheme…

Is this post-AC?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I guess I was looking at it from the perspective of international arbitration specifically. If there were 100 Freshfields trainees who were all seeking to qualify into international arbitration only, it would be more competitive than 5-10 trainees at Debevoise & Plimpton looking to qualify into the same practice area in their firm (since there is less people to begin with). I think it could also depend on business needs as well. If a firm like Freshfields only needed 1-2 international arbitration NQ’s from a pool of almost 100 that expressed interest, then I imagine it would be tougher competition.

I think it also depends on whether a firm is full service or specialist. Freshfields offers almost every practice area imaginable, so I think it’s likely they’d want an even spread of NQ’s across their transactional and contentious practices (I don’t know this for sure I’ve never been to or worked at Freshfields). To my understanding, I think Debevoise & Plimpton is more focused on certain practice areas, one of them being their international arbitration practice. I imagine they have a few NQ positions for this area as it’s one of their main practices (alongside public international law). To be fair though, I don’t know an awful amount about Debevoise & Plimpton. 🥲🥲​

There wouldn't be 100 trainees at Freshfields wanting to qualify into IA - the firm wouldn't recruit that way.

Plus trainees would most likely have had to sit in an IA seat/secondment to be in with a realistic chance to qualify there. That could easily mean its limited to less than 12 trainees (not sure how many IA seats they have these days) being considered for one role. And the benefit of Freshfields is they have two qualification rounds per year, so it would never be 100 trainees - more like 40-45 qualifying at one time.

The issue with a smaller trainee intake but with a larger practice area is that 1) they tend to only have one qualification round per year where they only have one intake, and the ratios can spike much more easily than at a firm like Freshfields. If every trainee at Debevoise rotated into IA, they could all be interested in qualifying there and all have the right experience to do so. That would not happen at a firm like Freshfields.

But even if we said there were 12 viable trainees at Freshfields and 10 at Debevoise to go into an IA NQ role, all it could take is for none of those to be interested, for some to be hired elsewhere and who you have actually got vying for the roles could be very different.

The key data we aren't really considering though is how many seats there are and how many NQ roles there are. That is likely to influence qualification chances than anything else. Graduate Recruitment/HR try to make this manageable - they would try to stop departments taking on 5 trainees per rotation if they had no NQ hiring plans, but ultimately sometime business demand (e.g. one big high-profile case) could lead to additional trainees being taken on for one rotation but with the view that it is unlikely going to lead to a NQ opportunity at the end of the TC. Plans also change - whether its partners leaving, unexpected paternity/maternity/sabbatical leaves, significant increases/decreases in client work, NQ hiring numbers fluctuate a lot and often unexpectedly.

This is why there is a lot of luck in the process - there are too many variables for anyone to plan or control this.

 

[Kodak123]

Has anyone who’s deadline was 10th Jan for the Goodwin VI heard back yet?

 

[eirake]

PW interview this morning!

 

[jacksollaf]

Is this post-AC?

No no, post-App 🙈

 

[ausinldn]

PW interview this morning!

Massive congrats! Did you apply to spring or summer?

 

[Miss Chocolate]

anyone heard back from RPC for their summer VS after test?

 

[a1024]

Any insights on Taylor Wessing AC?

 

[Miss Chocolate]

Also any insights into Mishcon VI would be appreciated !! xx How long do you get to prepare for a question and how much time are you given to record your response?

 

[helenaskelton]

anyone heard back from RPC for their summer VS after test?

Yes got PFO

 

[EA95]

PW interview this morning!

Congatulations 🎉🎉

 

[Miss Chocolate]

Yes got PFO

sorry to hear that!! do you mind me asking when you heard back? do you know if they have any upcoming ACs?

 

[g.cl.2020344]

anyone heard back from RPC for their summer VS after test?

I havent' heard back either, on their website they say that ac invites should go out in jan and offers made in Feb, but I havent heard of any1 being progressed

 

[Miss Chocolate]

I havent' heard back either, on their website they say that ac invites should go out in jan and offers made in Feb, but I havent heard of any1 being progressed

Damn AC invites already sent out in Jan? tbf I did my WG on 22/01 so maybe I should sit tight for a couple more days. I think someone's already had a SVS offer so I am going to assume they are doing this in batches. I wonder if they have anymore ACs coming up

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Hoping OC and ML will get back to us soon!!