TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Amma Usman]

@Amma Usman @Jessica Booker @Andrei Radu

What is the best way of approaching answers to why law vs why commercial law? I did law undergrad and had debated changing careers until I decided to pursue masters degree in international commercial where I took a practical M&A module which made me realise i wanted to go into commercial law. This is what I have talked about in my applications/VIs and have given this answer regardless of whether I was asked why law or why commercial law. If asked in an interview to elaborate on the difference between the two, how would you suggest approaching an answer to this?

thank you so much in advance!

Hi there,

Thanks for the question.

As you can imagine, the difference in why law and why commercial law lies in the commerce part. This is a difficult distinction to employ, largely because you need to know your experiences in and out to effectively draw a distinction that shows specific interest In CL particularly. You not only need to know your experiences well , but your journey actually. For me, taking the journey approach in interviews enabled me to show my truth - tell my story. I was able to start off by saying okay I explored this area of law, didn’t like it. I explored this next area of law and liked this and that, but not that. Then I explored business law and liked it more combined than the other areas of law. For me, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer regardless of specialisation. Studying a law degree certainly helped, but it was not the deciding factor.

Your inclusion of the mergers module course is good, but you need to be more specific. What did you learn and how did that differ from your past legal experiences. Further, why is it that one that appealed more? You may have learnt about a certain type of law, say competition law, through learning about how the Commission or CMA in the context of the UK may stop mergers due to the potential to lead to the abuse of a dominant position. As competition law is a practice within a commercial law firm, you can certainly expand on this in interviews. This is just one of the many examples on how you can go further into what you learnt to distinguish the business side of law from say… immigration or family law.

 

[tisha.patel_]

Anyone still waiting on Latham? Or should I just assume PFO?

I'm still waiting! I know a few people who have been rejected so hopefully, no news is good news?

 

[desperateTCseeker1998]

I don't remember the questions from last year but you can absolutely be on other windows. It'll keep recording you.

I thought it might flag as suspicious activity or something lol

 

[lawyersum]

Is anyone else still in limbo for Addleshaws? Not received a PFO or a voice interview yet?

 

[Amma Usman]

Akin Telephone Interview!

Reed Smith AC (update: I was told I was fast tracked as I completed the insight scheme). There were two tests for that one but not sure it is similar to the VS on.

Literally shaking. Please anyone with tips on interviews and what questions to ask partners and GR, I will gladly appreciate @Amma Usman @Jessica Booker

Hey @Amakaa ,

Very well done on getting to both stages. My tips are more on soft skills.

For the telephone interview, I recommend knowing your competencies very well and avoid preparing too heavily on verbatim answers. This is because you want your answers to sound very natural. The best way to do this is to know your passions for commercial law and Akin well, such that any question you’re asked would not necessarily trip you off.

For the AC with RS, perhaps I’ll be able to provide more guidance on that once they inform you what the AC is comprised of.

My general few interview tips are as follows;

• Smile and be confident. At the end of the day, law firms are not just hiring for lawyers, they are hiring for people.
• Keep building your commercial awareness up until then. As you would have heard many times, this is a skill that needs constant developing. You do not need to spend hundreds of hours every week doing this as that would even be counter-effective. Take little strides every day to learn something knew. It would amaze you how those little industry trends or buzz words would be weaved into your interview by you, without you even knowing it. You want your commercial awareness journey to be a natural one, not a forced one as this is what would help out more through the process and beyond.
• With regards what you can ask GR, provided you have any questions on the specifics of the stage or are not clear about anything, GR would be the best to speak to. Don’t hesitate to reach out when in doubt.
• With regards what to ask Partners, don’t ask questions just for the sake of it as most times such questions tend to be those you can easily get by deep-diving into the firm‘s website. The best questions at the end of interviews are those which talk about a topic discussed in the interview itself, or an area of your interviewers specialisation you want to learn more about and why.

Hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Just did my NRF Artic Shores-
4/4 in Emotional Understanding
4/4 in Patterns and rules
3/4 in Responding to change
1/4 in Attending to tasks and decisions

Is that good enough to get through? I think I have a strong written application.

Hey mine was exactly the same! Fingers crossed🤞🏼

 

[g.cl.2020344]

I'm still waiting! I know a few people who have been rejected so hopefully, no news is good news?

I’m still waiting too! For spring vac

 

[tisha.patel_]

I’m still waiting too! For spring vac

me too!

 

[tisha.patel_]

If I haven't heard from Linklaters for Spring VS after WG, should I assume PFO?

 

[M123]

Hey guys, I did my W&C VI on the 2nd Jan (9 days ago). I've seen some people have heard back but no clue when they did their VIs. I'm going out of my mind having heard nothing (also didn't get a confirmation email to say I'd completed it but it says it's completed on their AllHires website). Is it normal to not hear back this quickly or should I expect a PFO by now?

is this for summer?

 

[cjwx]

I can’t find this information online do you think CRS looks for law experience if you are applying for the TC route? Both applications for the vs and TC are the same I don’t want to apply to the TC if I don’t have a chance because of lack of vs experience.

 

[CG_101]

If I haven't heard from Linklaters for Spring VS after WG, should I assume PFO?

they say they're running multiple assessment days through January and February, and I'm aware there is a precedent where they reconsider people who apply for Winter and spring for summer. Since they haven't sent out Summer invites yet, you could very well be getting considered for Summer.

I even know people who received PFOs for Winter and then were subsequently reconsidered [without being asked] for Spring.

 

[CG_101]

Hey mine was exactly the same! Fingers crossed🤞🏼

My gut is that this is good enough?

 

[andreilover01]

Is it normal to receive no form of confirmation from V&E post app?

 

[Amma Usman]

@Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam @Amma Usman
Any advice on how to answer these questions for? :
1. If you could invent a new product or technology that does not currently exist, what would it be and why? (250 max)
2. Please declare if you have used Artificial Intelligence in your application, and if so, how this has been employed? (100 max）(this is for Covington and I have used grammarly but I don't know if that counts)

Thank you!

Hey @KBanana and @chrisbrown ,

For the first question, I would say there’s no right or wrong answer. The firm seemingly wants to simply gauge your creativity and your thought process behind this and why. Now there is also no need to do the following, but I would personally focus on an invention in the legal field - not because this is what you need to focus on to get the question right, but because this is an area I am drawn to. Find an area that interests you as then you’d be able to talk about it in depth. It’s also not enough to just answer the question directly because despite it not specifying this, you will need to focus on why the invention is a good one. For example, how does it benefit the industry or a process that is not as easy given existing tech capabilities? This will take your answer to the next level in terms of specificity.

For the second question, I would say grammarly is a good one provided you go into detail on how it was employed specifically.

Also, I can’t keep calm Chris Brown is literally on our forum 😱🥰🔥🥹🚀

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam

Any thread you can direct to for AC prep? Particularly case study ones!

Thank you!

Hey @suhana ,

I have linked a couple of helpful resources by the team below;

A complete guide for competency interview preparation

This is a guide for the purposes of preparing for competency interviews, be they in a VI, another intermediary step or an AC/final stage interview. The advice here is based on my personal approach, as I received VS offers from top US/MC firms 4/4 times I implemented it. This will include: A...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

A Guide to Building a Winning Application Strategy

Introduction This post is meant to serve you as a definitive guide to crafting your optimal application strategy. As it is quite lengthy, I have divided it into five subsections for you to navigate according to your interests: Why do you need an application strategy? How many law firms should...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Mock M&A Case Study: Analysis

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a fantastic day. We’re entering the season of assessment centres (ACs) at law firms, and a hot topic for many of these ACs is Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)! So, in this thread, I’ll be guiding you through a short fictitious M&A case study and highlighting...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Private Equity Case Study - OPEN ENGAGEMENT ENCOURAGED ;)

Hey TCLA Community! We’re back again with the mock case studies ;) This time around, I decided to take a different approach. I’ve included the case study below, and will leave the floor open for a couple of days so you can all provide your thoughts and ideas on the commercial and legal issues...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Best of luck! You’ll do amazing!

 

[legaldruid]

Hey guys, does anyone know if RPC's vac scheme applications are rolling or not?

I mean the deadline is on Monday and I want to submit my app tonight but I'm considering whether it'll be worth it or not. I could focus on another app that has a non-rolling deadline on Monday.

 

[AlegalA]

Hey guys, does anyone know if RPC's vac scheme applications are rolling or not?

I mean the deadline is on Monday and I want to submit my app tonight but I'm considering whether it'll be worth it or not. I could focus on another app that has a non-rolling deadline on Monday.

Hi! I'm unsure whether they are fully rolling, that being said, myself and a few others have been invited to the AC (in 10 days) already. I will say, their turnaround was particularly quick- from app to AC invite was exactly 2 weeks, so it is possible they will hold another AC for people applying on/near the deadline.

If you have time, apply- if not, maybe focus on the other app. The other thing to note is they have a WG test, so have a think about whether you are good at those or not (and compare with the other stages of the other app obviously).

 

[g.cl.2020344]

My gut is that this is good enough?

I hope so because the 1/4 is in the least important section- tho this only my opinion hahaa

 

[AZ97]

Is it worth applying to W&Cs vac scheme today? As deadline is on the 12th. I'm in full-time work in a legal role so would saving it for direct TC be better?