Has anyone heard back from norton rose? applied about a month ago but no news.... Have been rejected already from 6 out of 12 of the TC applications I made. Feeling hopeless. In all my tc/vac scheme/first year scheme applications I've only ever made it to the next stage once. While my TC applications this summer have been soooo much better than the applications I used to submit in the past I'm getting really worried that I am not going to get a training contract. I just completed second year of my LLB at LSE and my average is 63... is that a score thats low enough for an automatic rejection?
Hey, I'm really sorry this has happened to you - rejection always hurts no matter what stage it is at! 😔
I really don't think that 63 is a low enough score for an automatic rejection. For most firms this will meet the minimum threshold and they won't put you in the 'no' pile purely on this reason alone.
Grades only provide a small insight into who you are, and make up a fraction of the firm's internal assessment of you as a candidate. From your application a law firm wants to understand what your motivations are for this career, what transferrable skills you have picked up and what you can bring to them as a trainee.
It would be hard for me to say what might be going wrong with your applications, as I've not seen them (nor am I an expert) but it might be worth trying to do the following -
- think about your motivations for this career and try to be authentic with what they are (I have learnt that saying what you think people want to hear never works too well!);
- try to think introspectively about what you can bring and what you have learned from other experiences (whether this is a committee role, part time job, extracurricular...);
- try to be specific when expressing why you want to work for X firm. For example, don't just say "I want to work for you because you have a strong technology team" try to detail recent work they may have done, or developments they have made in the area; and
- get your family or a friend to read your applications, they'll be able to tell you how your tone sounds and spot any spelling/grammar mistakes - which is crucial.
You also mentioned that you've just finished your second year of studies, which would indicate that this is your first full cycle of vac/TC applications. Many people (including lots on this forum) don't secure a training contract until they've been through a number of cycles. Don't be hard on yourself if you don't make it this time. There is a substantial amount of luck involved in this process and, as I'm sure you know, this year has been particularly competitive.
Be kind to yourself and try to be confident in your own capabilities, you will make it - even if it's not this cycle! ✨
