TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Amma Usman]

I have a spring vacation scheme coming up, does anyone have advice on what I should be preparing in advance?

It seems like its heavily assessed, with group projects, a written task and another partner interview, but not sure what I should be focusing on in prep work!

You could prepare for soft things like boosting your commercial awareness as a lot of it may be relevant in the group exercise. For the partner interview, you should revisit your motivations for the firm. This may likely be asked as well as any changes/confirmations which flew following the scheme. If you are also told the topic of the written task, it’s worth reading on the area too. Lastly, a lot of it will be on the job so I’d say there’s not much to do in terms of prep, unless the firm has communicated some prior advance preparation materials beforehand.

Best of luck!

 

[Amma Usman]

Whats going on with WBD? Has anyone tried emailing? Its quite frustrating that they said we would hear back by the 7th of March and they still havent provided outcomes.

I totally get how frustrating this can be, especially when you're told to expect an update by a certain date. That said, try not to worry too much - it doesn’t necessarily mean a negative outcome. Just being in the process shows you're doing great, and sometimes these things take longer due to internal delays. In the meantime, it might help to focus on applying to other firms or just taking a well-earned break.

 

[Amma Usman]

Unpopular opinion, however, I genuinely prefer (and kinda enjoy) doing Amberjack. Every firm is different with their pillars & what they are looking for, however, I will try give some tips that help me.

One thing I think trips people up is inconsistency. I know you have probably read this a tonne of times but when you are answering the SJT type questions answer honestly with what you would do not what you think the firm is looking for. Adding to that though & it might contradict what I just said but look at what the firm’s values are. If they are super into teamwork then they will put more emphasis on those answers or if they are looking for you to work independently then they will be looking for more taking initiative based answers. It is about finding the balance.

A major thing though is if you say that you prioritise say attention to detail over time it takes you to get stuff done, there will be answers that might trip you up to look contradictory. Choose one & roll with it. I know you want to say you can do both, that’s what I tried to do at first but then your answers will look more like you are trying to answer what the firm wants rather than you as a person.

The main thing with the SJT parts is consistency basically.

Also, if a firm is super innovative they will be looking for people open to accept innovative ways of working - just something else to keep in mind.

Re the maths sections, my main advice would be have a pen & paper next to you. It sounds so simple but the maths q’s can be wordy so having a place you can really break it down will help.

Re the verbal sections, to me these seem to align a lot with WG style qs where you have a chunk of text & you need to read what it says without personal interpretation & external knowledge. When I’m doing these qs I put on my WG hat (which isn’t very good) & look at it from a more frank perspective. What exactly is the question & are those words/information provided?

I really hope this will help a little. I know these tests are a pain, however, once you have the right mindset & know what these tests are testing for then you will do well. I used to hate them & my scores this year haven’t been any lower then 7s in the pillars & high in numerical & verbal!!

Good luck!!

Loving the tips here!

 

[Overthinker123!]

I would still look to reschedule the interview over missing a day of the VS - firms are used to candidates rescheduling and if you explain to the interview firm you are rescheduling as you have a vacation scheme, they are likely to move you again.

Unless your vacation scheme is during the Easter holidays, I would wait at least a week until asking for when the formal documents would be sent, so I wouldn't chase up until Monday.

Okay, thank you! I will try to reschedule the interview again.

The vacation scheme is during the easter holidays, so would you still recommend waiting for Monday? For context, the starting date is the 14th of April.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Okay, thank you! I will try to reschedule the interview again.

The vacation scheme is during the easter holidays, so would you still recommend waiting for Monday? For context, the starting date is the 14th of April.

Given it is an Easter scheme, give it until tomorrow morning and then follow up as that will effectively be two weeks to get the documentation and do the necessary on-boarding.

 

[Overthinker123!]

Given it is an Easter scheme, give it until tomorrow morning and then follow up as that will effectively be two weeks to get the documentation and do the necessary on-boarding.

Thanks you, I’ll follow up in the afternoon if I haven’t received anything still.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks you, I’ll follow up in the afternoon if I haven’t received anything still.

I'd give them a call rather than email too.

 

[TheGeek12]

Hi everyone. I applied for PHirst (Paul Hastings) and SH. Has anyone heard back yet? I’m still waiting and I feel like this means that I may not have gotten them.

 

[Legalstudies]

Hi! Not heard anything yet but was wondering what the second stage was? the HireVue interview? Thank you in advance

Yh the interview I did it quite a while back and haven’t heard anything yet either

 

[g.cl.2020344]

SPB VAC SCHEME offer!!

 

[gazdgazd11]

SPB VAC SCHEME offer!!

Which office? Me too 🩷

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Which office? Me too 🩷

Huge congrats London! Hbu?

 

[gazdgazd11]

Huge congrats London! Hbu?

Me too! Hopefully ill see you!!! You can PM if you want, tbh maybe we met at the AC

 

[emma.d]

Anything from CRS CRED Academy?

 

[Chris Brown]

SPB VAC SCHEME offer!!

Which office? Me too 🩷

Huge congrats on getting SPB VS! That’s some GOATed stuff right there. 🐐​

 

[zonnonomo]

spb pfo post ac 🤑 can't believe i've managed to fail 8/8 ACs over two cycles

 

[Legallywhatever]

Hey. The amberjacks usually comprise of SJTs, so I’ve quoted some past posts to help.

Thanks for linking these, Amma!! Super helpful

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Does anyone have insights on DACB's AC, or the firm in general? They don't have that many exterior resources bar Legal Cheek, and although I'm going through their website I still feel like I'm missing some extra details...

Thank you!!

Hiya @AlegalA

I don't have any particular information on their assessment centre, but just had a look through The Lawyer and Chambers UK and wanted to mention some recent information about the firm in case it helps your preparation (you may already know some/all of this).

Financial performance
The Lawyer reported that DACB had a really strong 2023/24. Their profile on the firm mentioned that revenue passed £300m for the first time, and profit before tax jumped by 15%. Average profit per member was also close to £700k. They’ve been trying to bring down their debt levels too, and while we don’t have exact figures, the firm said it ended the year with more cash and less debt than it started with.

Main areas of work this year
I'm sure you're well aware that the firm is still heavily insurance-focused, but also continues to work on significant personal injury matters. Chambers UK clearly ranks them well in areas such as insurance, personal injury, and mid-market commercial litigation. The firm seems to have doubled down on the litigation work in particular(especially through its Claims Solutions Group, which I'd encourage you to look into). The Lawyer also reported that they were growing their focus outside of just litigation, focussing on commercial, health, and regulatory work too. However it doesn't mention any particular matters on which they've been advising on in those areas. To help focus your research on the firm's practice area specialities prior to your assessment centre, you may want to look into the firms growth in these areas.

Global footprint
They’ve been expanding internationally at pace. Last year alone they opened in Argentina, Hong Kong, and Peru and just recently announced new offices in New York and LA. I found the US news pretty impressive for a UK-based insurance firm. The US legal market is famously hard to break into, especially without a merger or local alliance, so the fact they’re building a presence there independently is definitely noteworthy. Given recent political changes in the US, it's also quite interesting that they've double down on their interest in the US legal market (the new Administration has actually led some UK firms to really rethink their US strategy).

How they’ve set themselves apart from competitors
I'm sure you're well aware that, given the firm's insurance/disputes/personal injury focus, they tend to be pitted against firms such as Irwin Mitchell, Kennedys and Slater and Gordon. Interestingly, while several of their competitors have created spin-off tech or consultancy businesses, DACB seems to have taken a slightly different track. They’ve tried to embed that innovation within the core business. For instance, their Claims Solutions Group already functions as a distinct, tech-savvy arm within their core business. In this way, it seems the firm is innovating without fractionalising its operations in the way that some firms currently seem to be doing.

Hope this all helps a bit!

 

[Amehta1]

my friend got a PFO from WBD London today after getting 9877 on the assessment. Especially because there were no application questions, with a score as high as that I can’t think of one reason for the rejection? What would they even have based it on?

 

[trainee4u]

my friend got a PFO from WBD London today after getting 9877 on the assessment. Especially because there were no application questions, with a score as high as that I can’t think of one reason for the rejection? What would they even have based it on?

but what about their verbal and numerical scores?

Mine were:

Verbal: Highest
Numerical: highest
4377

PFO