TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[zoobla20]

I wouldn’t say any job has sway in an application form on its own, but it will be a good role to have on your application form/CV and will show a lot of transferable skills.

thank you!

 

[sapphireoreos]

Has anyone heard back from Mishcon's summer vacation scheme or Forsters's summer vacation scheme? (I got a holding email a week or so ago from the latter saying they will respond by today)

 

[jacksollaf]

Has anyone heard back from Mishcon's summer vacation scheme or Forsters's summer vacation scheme? (I got a holding email a week or so ago from the latter saying they will respond by today)

Still too early for Forsters to send it, they'll probably send it by like 2ish... Also, Baker is also supposed to send out the invites for the test

 

[AS24]

Hey @AS24, I hope you are well too and all the best for the new year !

For your first question, I think you should still aim to cover the same three basic 'Why commercial law', 'Why firm' and 'Why you' in the cover letter, though perhaps with an increased emphasis on the 'why you' part. To avoid repetition, I would consider doing a combination of the following:

• Use a more concise and to the point style in the application form answers and a more narrative style and structure in the cover letter. You can see the form as you needing to deliver on some very specific tasks, while the cover letter more as you telling your story and presenting your profile.
• Furthermore, it is generally thought you can use examples from personal experiences and hobbies a lot more in the cover letter than in the application form answers, where you should focus more on work/academic examples. The use of personal experiences might be particularly useful in the cover letter if you decide to also give a short description as to how your motivations have historically progressed and led you to this point.
• To the extent that you cannot avoid repeating some of the same examples, try to focus on different parts of the experiences. For instance, if this was some kind of work experience, you may describe one relevant task in the form answer and one in the cover letter.
• To the extent that you cannot avoid repeating some of the same substantive points (I expect you should be able to find a number of different why Orrick reasons, but you might have the same basic points for why commercial law), try to elaborate on them in a different manner. For instance, say one of your reasons for why Orrick is their expertise in the VC/tech space. In the application form answer you could focus on Chambers rankings, deal figures and client base, while in the cover letter you could discuss one of their transactions at length.

For your second question, I do not think this linking experiences with skills is a strict requirement, but I would advise you to do it nonetheless. It shows off your commercial awareness and makes the relevance of your achievements and interests evident. A recruiter should never have an issue with seeing this even if they weren't necessarily expecting it; but if they expected it and you did not include it, that could be a serious issue. However, I would keep it brief (one or maximum two sentences at the end of a paragraph) and have the experiences themselves as the main focus.

Thank you so much @Andrei Radu

 

[Gg2001]

Anyone done the NRF Arctic Shores? Same as Gowling's?
My feedback from Gowling was:

"How you understand others": 4/4 - I always do well on emotion recognition games
"How you respond to change" 1/4 - I'm sure this is from reacting too slowly or wrongly in the press x/y type games
"How you attend to tasks & decisions" 1/4 - I'm not sure what this relates to specifically
"How you approach challenges" 3/4 - I think this is spending too long on the game at the end.
"How you identify patterns & rules" 4/4 - I will have performed very well on the maths stuff

So my concern is that research proves that reaction times decline with age and I'm 40+.

NRF have asked "If you have require any reasonable adjustments please do let us know as soon as possible and we can look at what adjustments cant be made."

I'm slightly confused by this because they say on their form that "We’re positive about employing disabled people and are an accredited Disability Confident Employer. As a Disability Confident organisation we offer interviews to disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for our roles."

On that basis I therefore disclosed that I have ASD (although I don't have a formal diagnosis, I would likely get one), so I'm a bit confused now about this, in that I've already disclosed a disability so there's some second-guessing perhaps on whether I should request an adjustment. In addition, I don't think that the people at Arctic Shores have considered that their games are age discriminatory specifically, and it says on the Arctic Shores page only that any of the following may warrant an adjustment and/or additional time:

"▶ ADHD ▶ Autism ▶ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ▶ Dyscalculia ▶ Dysgraphia ▶ Dyslexia ▶ Dyspraxia ▶ Epilepsy ▶ Mental Health Issue ▶ Multiple Sclerosis ▶ Physical Disability"

but age is not listed there.

I'm very much in doubt that it would be a good idea to email NRF and say "hey, your testing discriminates on the basis of age, which is illegal", even though it's obvious that it does. So maybe I just email and say "I'd like more time for the split-second games on the basis of ASD meaning I have slower reactions" [even though this is probably scientifically much less certain than the age issue, lol]? Anyone with experience dealing with this?!

I would try and opt for firms with watson glaser and verbal reasoning tests instead. I found tests like arctic shores and ashurst test difficult even with the disability adjustments added. Also check out Amelia’s insta, she is a clifford chance trainee and she posts advice for disabled candidates. She also targeted firms without gamified assessments, Clifford chance has Watson glaser as their test. https://www.instagram.com/ndlawyerproject/. You can ask for extra time for gamified tests, try and practise brain teasers and job test prep has a test pack too

 

[NCTC2025]

Success pillars for Reed Smith were kinda bad:
6/9
6/9
4/9
4/9

Shame cuz the Video Interview questions went well

 

[marisachr]

Anyone heard back from DWF?

 

[aspiringsolicitor23]

I do not think there is a determinate meaning for 'law-related work experience', most likely it differs depending on how individual departments/recruiters choose to interpret it. Regardless of the interpretation however I believe it is quite unlikely any of them would take issue with you classifying the aforementioned experiences as law-related. I did the same thing in my applications for law society roles and it did not seem to impact me.

Thank you!

 

[aspiringsolicitor23]

I would not include society roles.

The law tutoring is a bit of a grey area, but I suspect they mean providing legal advice in any capacity rather than topic.

Thank you!

 

[nazk01]

Has anyone heard anything back from Dentons post-VI regarding AC? I only received an update email saying we are reviewing your VI now and that was a while ago.

 

[sooae]

Is Clyde & Co's video assessment automatic?

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Still too early for Forsters to send it, they'll probably send it by like 2ish... Also, Baker is also supposed to send out the invites for the test

I think bakers said we would get a test invite in Feb

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Weil PFO

 

[A worried graduate]

Anyone here heard from Macfarlanes post assessment?

 

[Cool pigeon]

Weil PFO

Is this post VI?

 

[AlegalA]

Also, if anyone's done the Kennedys VI would you mind sharing how long the questions were?
Thank you!!

Bumping this!

 

[g.cl.2020344]

lol everything happens on a friday I swear, 3 weeks ago I got a summer VS offer and today I get a rejection post intial app- sometimes I think its a game of luck

 

[ashwright]

I think bakers said we would get a test invite in Feb

i think their email said they'd send out invites and tests in January? Also jan 10th (today!) has been mentioned as a date we might hear back about tests so keeping my eyes extra peeled on my inbox today

 

[user9809]

Goodwin VI 😭 but the deadline is in 3 days wow

 

[ashwright]

Also - any movement from Linklaters recently?