TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[JamesCCM]

McDermott PFO submitted mid october

 

[starfish345]

Anything from Forsters post VI?

 

[MR10]

anyone heard from spb, they said they will let us know by end of this week

 

[adrian_nlh]

Irwin PFO today

 

[Apple]

Did all the law firms come together and designate this the PFO day?

 

[legallyad]

Heya congrats! Out of interest when did you apply?

Thanks so much!! I applied on the 3rd of January

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Withers post test PFO

 

[YS391]

Withers post test PFO

Spring or summer?

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Spring or summer?

spring! tbh a blessing in disguise as it clashed w uni exams

 

[Chris Brown]

Did all the law firms come together and designate this the PFO day?

Hopefully they come together and designate an AC and VS offers day as well.

 

[VacSchemer]

Anyone got any updates from RPC? They have been awfully quiet 👀

 

[Hopefully2025]

Does anyone know if hogan lovells do another application round for direct TCs during the summer??

They do, but those who applied for their VS or TC in the winter can't apply once the TC apps open again in June-July. Their grad rec said that their application cycle runs from sep-aug, and we can only apply once within the entire cycle

 

[Chris Brown]

Hi all, if I haven't heard from the following firms whatsoever (either after test or nothing at all), should I assume PFO?:

Latham SVS (post test)
Weil (haven't gotten anything)
Goodwin (haven't gotten anything)
Milbank (haven't gotten anything)
Cooley (didn't get VI invite)
Katten (haven't gotten anything)
Farrer & Co (haven't gotten anything)
Jones Day (haven't gotten anything)
Akin (haven't gotten anything)
Sidley Austin (haven't gotten anything)

Also waiting on Withers post-test, didn't get V&E invite which I heard is auto-PFO

I have seen people doing VI for Weil and Goodwin and some people have made it to AC for Akin and Milbank. I saw some Jones Day VS offers but not seen anything for other firms.

I wouldn’t assume it’s a PFO esp for firms that haven’t gotten back to most candidates.

 

[legal18]

Anyone got in to the SH Virtual Open Day?

 

[James Wakefield]

Anyone got in to the SH Virtual Open Day?

It’s starting at 3 instead of 2:30

 

[lawaspirant!]

Does anyone know if HL send their PFOs in one batch? I've seen a few people receiving PFOs this morning but have yet to hear from them

 

[Alessio1642]

Anyone got any updates from RPC? They have been awfully quiet 👀

Sadly not

 

[LawJourney101]

I might be missing some info so apologies if this is a silly question but.. why do you think you are set to get a PFO? I haven’t seen any HL invites yet so surely there’s a good chance you get an invite?
wishing for some happy news for you shortly 🍀

Signed,
Eternal Optimist 😂

Just my luck honestly haha. But it was one of my weaker applications and I am an eternal pessimist. Some firms I did VIs with never even got back to me, so I have become very used to failure... especially when I don't hear back. Also there have been quite a few HL invites. They have run 2/3 ACs already I believe.

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi @Ram Sabaratnam, I hope you are well.

I do not know if you have specific experience with V&E VI, but could you offer any advice on how to best approach my preparation?
I am a bit desperate as I keep failing VIs.
Thank you in advance.

Hiya @AS24

Well done on getting to the VI stage! While the questions may have changed, when I did the V&E VI, we were given 1 minute to think of our answers and 1 minute and 30 seconds to respond. There was one motivational question, and the rest focused on personality and past experiences. Overall, I’d encourage you to really think about your interest in both V&E and commercial law, making sure your answer is specific and structured clearly. I'd also encourage you to have a think about your own skills and unique experiences to date.

More generally, I really think the key to a strong video interview is staying calm, directly answering the question asked, and structuring your response in a way that makes it easy for the viewer to follow. You definitely don't want to pack everything you know about the firm into your response; just the stuff that's most important, relevant, and compelling. I also firmly believe that practising out loud and even recording yourself will help you refine your delivery over time and sound more natural. Try to avoid sounding overly rehearsed (no reading from scripts!), and just have some bullet points ready during your 1 minute preparation time to help you sound slightly more natural.

Good luck!

 

[Chris Brown]

Does anyone know if HL send their PFOs in one batch? I've seen a few people receiving PFOs this morning but have yet to hear from them

It will probably be multiple batches because they do get over 4,000 applications (half of which is for the VS) and invite 200 to VS AC - the rest of the applicants will get a PFO. 😕

If you haven’t heard back yet assume you are still being considered for the AC/VS. Best of luck for HL! 🙂