2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[SamTam99]

Really interesting discussion!
Not sure where you heard this about Bristol, I’m a Bristol grad and definitely received a few exact 70s (and 69/71)

Were you Bristol non law? For Bristol Law, he’s right, they only give out grades ending in 2, 5 or 8 (62, 65 or 68 for example) ☺️

 

[Daniel Boden]

Can I put this on my cv?🤣

No objections from me 😂 @Jessica Booker what you reckon? Surely creative and humorous GIF selection is the key ingredient of what makes a good trainee?

 

[Jessica Booker]

My final thoughts before heading to bed are that I should remind people firms are not recruiting degree certificates.

They are recruiting people - and each one has their different experiences, skills, attitudes, challenges, strengths, development points from the next. It’s why conversations that are “is X better than Y” are often futile. We don’t know the context behind X or Y, and that is actually the more interesting and relevant information that should be considered.

And that’s what makes it often annoying because it’s difficult to understand each individual’s context, especially when you are trying to compare it in the hope you can work out the magic formula* of being hired

(*hint - there isn’t a magic formula, if there was, I’d be a very rich woman).

 

[OB]

Ngl Gordon Ramsey scares me

 

[Jessica Booker]

No objections from me 😂 @Jessica Booker what you reckon? Surely creative and humorous GIF selection is the key ingredient of what makes a good trainee?

You’ll need a good set of GIFs and the ability to use them correctly after a long day of document reviews only to find out the deal is no longer going ahead...

 

[Celestie]

I feel like he'd tell me off for breathing

 

[OB]

I feel like he'd tell me off for breathing

 

[Lily721]

I’ll drop this here

Texas lawyer, trapped by cat filter on Zoom call, informs judge he is not a cat

Lawyer Rod Ponton, unable to undo cat filter during court debate, says: ‘I don’t know how to remove it … I’m here live. I’m not a cat’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Celestie]

Question that I know will ruffle some snowflake feathers (judging by some people on here tonight), but I genuinely don’t know the answer and I’m not looking for a fight.
Disabilities - let’s say you get extra time for some reason or other. Why should law firms make exceptions for you on their WG or something like that when doing real work on a real transaction/case you’re not getting extra time? I’ve always confused by this going back to A Levels

Ok... I think this could be worded differently.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Question that I know will ruffle some snowflake feathers (judging by some people on here tonight), but I genuinely don’t know the answer and I’m not looking for a fight.
Disabilities - let’s say you get extra time for some reason or other. Why should law firms make exceptions for you on their WG or something like that when doing real work on a real transaction/case you’re not getting extra time? I’ve always confused by this going back to A Levels

I’m still awake to answer this.

It’s called a reasonable adjustment. In the workplace such an adjustment could be made, as the individual could allocate more of their time to do a task to ensure it is completed. That’s why it’s deemed reasonable. If your adjustment was that you needed to ride on the back of an elephant as a form of emotional support, that would be an adjustment that a firm couldn’t provide in the workplace, and therefore it would be deemed unreasonable, and therefore the firm doesn’t need to provide the adjustment to the recruitment process.

If you don’t provide reasonable adjustments you could find yourself on the end of an employment tribunal.

 

[Veep9]

Question that I know will ruffle some snowflake feathers (judging by some people on here tonight), but I genuinely don’t know the answer and I’m not looking for a fight.
Disabilities - let’s say you get extra time for some reason or other. Why should law firms make exceptions for you on their WG or something like that when doing real work on a real transaction/case you’re not getting extra time? I’ve always confused by this going back to A Levels

Because timed tests and exams don’t emulate real life. The truth is, once hired, not every trainee will do the exact same role. The firm and trainee will work together to find roles, seats and responsibilities that suit and benefit them both. Or, as Jessica says, the disabled trainee will develop coping strategies or use technology to their benefit. But if you are going to put me, a disabled applicant, in an artificial environment where there is no discretion available, then extra time is one way to level the playing field.

 

[sabma]

Invite to Gibson Dunn first stage interview! applied 3rd Dec

 

[Gracey94]

Anyone still waiting to hear from Mayer Brown post tests? I got my feedback report but nothing since and that was 17/01

 

[sabma]

white & case AC invite! any tips would be great

Completed VI 29th Jan for everyone asking!

 

[summer207]

For the Reed Smith questions, if I received them on Tuesday, what day is “within 5 days” please? My laptop’s current state means I have nothing to type on and no alternative laptop to use till I get a new one in (hopefully) 2 days :/

 

[Lilz]

Question that I know will ruffle some snowflake feathers (judging by some people on here tonight), but I genuinely don’t know the answer and I’m not looking for a fight.
Disabilities - let’s say you get extra time for some reason or other. Why should law firms make exceptions for you on their WG or something like that when doing real work on a real transaction/case you’re not getting extra time? I’ve always confused by this going back to A Levels

I am someone who needs extra time in exams and what you have just said I fear is sometimes what employers may think.

I do understand what you are trying to say, but just because someone takes longer on tasks, does not mean they are any less efficient.
For example, it takes me longer to complete tasks than most people, but my quality of work might be better than those other people (even if they had my amount of time).
Also, another point - I have slow processing speed, so actually reading and understanding the task will take me much slower to take in than most people. But the speed at which I actually start attempting the task to finishing the task may not be at a slower speed than others.

So my main point is that, just because someone needs extra time, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone who doesn’t need extra time is a more effective lawyer than them. The extra time candidate having 30 minutes to complete a task may get 60% accuracy, but when they have 45 minutes, they may get 90% accuracy.
-A candidate who doesn’t need extra time may get 75% accuracy with a 30 minute time limit, but 80% accuracy with a 45% time limit.

 

[Lilz]

Thanks, this is a great answer

No worries . I can acknowledge that sometimes it is difficult to understand this concept!

 

[JohanGRK]

@JohanGRK - we generally don’t appreciate the aggressive/chippy posts. But people are entitled to those opinions, their tone and also the ability to hide behind the anonymity.

If it gets personal or aggressive we may intervene, but fortunately that is very rare.

I wouldn't say that Quora is for the youths!

I was referring to the forum users, not the moderation. Specifically, I was thinking of the exchange between whisperingrock and LegalNim (link: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....lications-discussion.2732/page-488#post-59789). Both users were being very curt and abrasive in how they wrote out what they wanted to write out, and yet all the users piled on whisperingrock and gave LegalNim a bunch of upvotes and trophies. I'd have thought that being nice is expected of everyone.

My only explanation for these imbalances is that every forum has an in-group of favourites and regulars who other users like (even when the in-group deserves to be challenged/called out), and that TCLA happens to be especially bad when it comes to the circling of the wagons. Might be worth thinking about why.

Before anyone jumps in: No, I'm genuinely not trying to revive the argument about universities! This is a more general observation.

 

[Mxkry]

Were you Bristol non law? For Bristol Law, he’s right, they only give out grades ending in 2, 5 or 8 (62, 65 or 68 for example)- i’m a Bristol law grad! ☺️

correct. They round up usually as well. For example last year
i recieved 68 for a module I actually got 67 for.

 

[cmaj]

Wow I've just caught up with this and gone on a whole journey from university debates to Gordon Ramsay memes, I love this forum 🤩

Regarding the RG vs Non-RG universities debate, I was just wondering whether GR typically take subjects into account (beyond the law vs non-law level) as well? I ask because my particular course was so subjective that the highest mark lecturers gave out is 78. This was in a stepped marking system where you could only obtain marks such as 62, 65, 68, and so on. I remember being exasperated at university when seeing friends on courses like maths score consistent 80+ marks, due to the definite answers!

Secondly, again from a non-law perspective, my university did not allow non-law students to join the law society. This meant that, although it was a RG university and there were these opportunities on campus, they were much harder to access and be aware of if you were non-law. For me, that lack of access definitely delayed my decision to pursue law.