Linklaters Winter Vacation Scheme

[Salma]

Recently finished my third year of university...another not so successful round.

Now working as a receptionist at a care home (flexible hours which will hopefully give me time to focus on apps!)

JESS! This is so weird that’s my exact job (receptionist @ care home) hahaha I had an interview at Links for a paralegal role last week and the partner interviewing me was like have you considered a career change since working in the care home and I’m like errmmmm NO

 

[jess889]

JESS! This is so weird that’s my exact job (receptionist @ care home) hahaha I had an interview at Links for a paralegal role last week and the partner interviewing me was like have you considered a career change since working in the care home and I’m like errmmmm NO

Hahahahhahaha no way. It has been my on off job for a while now. And I'm with you there!! I NEED a TC soon.

 

[SameerS]

Actually, I do not have high aspirations of applying to these magic circle firms. I am just looking at firms like Pinsent Masons, PWC and EY (although I am not too sure whether they are giving TC's out this year), as I think such firms are perhaps more suited to my personality

I only intend on applying to Freshfields and Herbert Smith that's only because I had a lovely interaction with their grad rec teams, and i found them to be extremely nice. (not really a good reason to apply haha but they convinced me)

 

[jess889]

Actually, I do not have high aspirations of applying to these magic circle firms. I am just looking at firms like Pinsent Masons, PWC and EY (although I am not too sure whether they are giving TC's out this year), as I think such firms are perhaps more suited to my personality

I only intend on applying to Freshfields and Herbert Smith that's only because I had a lovely interaction with their grad rec teams, and i found them to be extremely nice. (not really a good reason to apply haha but they convinced me)

I think that's fair enough! Are you applying for vacation schemes too?

 

[Salma]

Hahahahhahaha no way. It has been my on off job for a while now. And I'm with you there!! I NEED a TC soon.

Right with you

 

[S]

Thanks Jess for the tips (been a while since i've logged on here lol) Best of luck guys with this round of apps.

 

[Raphael Yan Bing Khoo]

Hi, the 2018-2019 application questions for the winter vac scheme are as follow:

1. Tell us about your experience of teamwork and the impact you have had on these teams, whether from your work, studies or other roles and responsibilities. Include how you have balanced your various commitments. (350 word limit)

2. The firm’s purpose is to steer our clients through great change. In your opinion, what are two of the major changes and industry disruptions that could impact Linklaters and our clients? (500 word limit)

3. One of Linklaters’ core values is that we strive for excellence. Tell us the ways in which you have sought to develop yourself personally and professionally to attain excellence. (350 word limit)

May I just ask, is question 1 asking about a specific instance where you showed teamwork or just instances where you have shown teamwork generally?

Also, what would be considered a good answer for question 2? (I'm assuming GDPR and AI would be overly-subscribed/cliche by now)

 

[Salma]

Hi, the 2018-2019 application questions for the winter vac scheme are as follow:

1. Tell us about your experience of teamwork and the impact you have had on these teams, whether from your work, studies or other roles and responsibilities. Include how you have balanced your various commitments. (350 word limit)

2. The firm’s purpose is to steer our clients through great change. In your opinion, what are two of the major changes and industry disruptions that could impact Linklaters and our clients? (500 word limit)

3. One of Linklaters’ core values is that we strive for excellence. Tell us the ways in which you have sought to develop yourself personally and professionally to attain excellence. (350 word limit)

May I just ask, is question 1 asking about a specific instance where you showed teamwork or just instances where you have shown teamwork generally?

Also, what would be considered a good answer for question 2? (I'm assuming GDPR and AI would be overly-subscribed/cliche by now)

Hi Raphael! Thanks for sharing the questions.

Q1. The question is asking you to show specific instances where you have shown teamwork, be as specific as possible. Use the word I as opposed to WE, follow the STAR structure but most importantly answer the question (relate your experience of teamwork to how you balanced your various commitments, show, don’t tell.)

Q2. Research!! I agree with your points, GDPR and AI would be very cliche, pick something niche and different. This will make you stand out from the thousands of applicants who are applying for the same role as you but also grab the readers attention.

I hope the above helps!

 

[Jaysen]

Vacation scheme questions are getting more difficult!

I agree with Selma. Some tips for Q2:

• Do some research into the big business/legal changes and disruptions. There are so many to choose from here, so narrow it down to a) topics you are interested in (because then your answers will be interesting), and b) topics that are more relevant to Linklaters (e.g. law firm IPOs and alternative business structures may be less relevant for a firm like Linklaters than cyber security issues.)
• Be opinionated/evaluative rather than descriptive -- what do you think about the impact on the industry.
• Use evidence to back up your opinions.
• Tailor the impact to Linklaters and not just law firms generically.
• Put as much effort into your writing as you do into your content -- write simply, use short sentences, check your grammar and punctuation etc.

To be honest, while a lot of candidates may do AI/GDPR, I don't think that's a huge issue. I'd much rather you wrote a well-written, tailored answer about the impact of GDPR on Linklaters than an unclear, technical piece on upcoming derivatives regulations.

 

[Yminh]

Just came across this! Didn't know Linklaters' questions changed for this cycle, they look harrrrd

I understand from Q1 that they are asking us to share more than 1 instances where we demonstrate teamwork - 'the impact you have had on THESE TEAMS', so must give minimum 2 examples?

Please correct me if I'm wrong guys! thx

 

[AJ]

Sorry, going to bring this thread back to life.

Any views on question 3?? Not sure what it’s getting at?

 

[Jaysen]

Sorry, going to bring this thread back to life.

Any views on question 3?? Not sure what it’s getting at?

Examples of how you've gone above and beyond to complete/do something to a very high standard. Ideally, you should cover at least one personal example and one professional example. Be sure to focus on the specific steps you took to achieve excellence -- quantify it if it's relevant e.g. how many days a week and for how long did you train?

 

[Jaxkw]

For the first Linklaters question the last part of the question says: "Include how you have balanced your various commitments." For anyone that has applied to Linklaters, do you guys think I should fit that inside my answer for the rest of question or include it as a separate paragraph?

 

[Demna87]

For the first Linklaters question the last part of the question says: "Include how you have balanced your various commitments." For anyone that has applied to Linklaters, do you guys think I should fit that inside my answer for the rest of question or include it as a separate paragraph?

I'm putting in down as a separate paragraph. But I don't suppose it would make too much of a difference if you didn't, maybe it depends on if it's linked to the content you have included in those other paragraphs?

 

[Daniel Boden]

For the first Linklaters question the last part of the question says: "Include how you have balanced your various commitments." For anyone that has applied to Linklaters, do you guys think I should fit that inside my answer for the rest of question or include it as a separate paragraph?

I included it as a separate paragraph just to show that I have clearly answered the question if that makes sense!

 

[datguyak]

Examples of how you've gone above and beyond to complete/do something to a very high standard. Ideally, you should cover at least one personal example and one professional example. Be sure to focus on the specific steps you took to achieve excellence -- quantify it if it's relevant e.g. how many days a week and for how long did you train?

Hi Jaysen, would you be able to expand slightly on what you mean here-when you say examples of going over and above to do something to a high standard, would you then link this back to the "skills" you developed as a result?

Also if I wanted to use an example such as learning another language would that be relevant do you think?

thanks!

 

[Jaysen]

Hi Jaysen, would you be able to expand slightly on what you mean here-when you say examples of going over and above to do something to a high standard, would you then link this back to the "skills" you developed as a result?

Also if I wanted to use an example such as learning another language would that be relevant do you think?

thanks!

I'm not actually sure I would completely agree with my previous description. It could also cover situations when the goal has been "excellence" in a particular area and you've just developed an aspect of yourself to help you move closer to that goal. You could link it back to the skills you developed although I wouldn't say it's necessary, especially if it's implicit from the example you talked about.

Yes, learning a language is great.