2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Daniel Boden]

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 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.

Why on earth were you not allowed to join the law society?!?!? Given that 50% of training contracts are given to non-law students (give or take) that seems an incredibly backward way of thinking and literally makes 0 sense to me...

Equally, it dramatically reduces the potential for the law society to grow/attract new members! How did the university/law society justify this out of interest? Seems absurd to me as someone who was on the law society committee as the non-law representative at my RG uni

 

[cmaj]

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.

Can I just say I love everyone on this forum equally and I think it's one of the best things about it! I just vote comments based on how I feel when reading them before even seeing the username and I feel most people do too...

 

[cmaj]

Why on earth were you not allowed to join the law society?!?!? Given that 50% of training contracts are given to non-law students (give or take) that seems an incredibly backward way of thinking and literally makes 0 sense to me...

Equally, it dramatically reduces the potential for the law society to grow/attract new members! How did the university/law society justify this out of interest? Seems absurd to me as someone who was on the law society committee as the non-law representative at my RG uni

Lol I know right, it was ABSURD! We had a 'Law for Non-Law' society for us, but they did not offer much other than court visits and the occasional ULaw event. The aforementioned law society (who also now partners with TCLA) actually had an incredibly divisive referendum last year. I think after voting something like 45/55, they do actually allow non-law students into the club now. However, I remember seeing this happen and there were some incredibly hateful comments on Facebook opposing it. It made me feel like, even if I was still at the university, I wouldn't have been welcomed in or made to feel comfortable? The club was always oversubscribed anyway and those that opposed allowing non-law students in were concerned about who would receive priority for events like the law ball. They also felt that the club was more of a network for law students, instead of being primarily about the career opportunities it offered. Their argument was that the non-law society existed for career opportunities so non-law students were equally serviced (which was, of course, not the case). It sucked while I was there but I am happy to see they have made the change at last!

 

[pbyrne]

Leaving this here in case anyone missed the Texas cat lawyer zoom debacle 😂

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1359209202292428800

 

[Dheepa]

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.

Everyone is expected to be nice and cordial, and I don't think it's fun for anyone when discussions get heated and people get progressively more blunt/rude. However, I don't think the forum necessarily has an in group. This is especially true considering even the most regular users jump between periods of activity and inactivity depending on the flow of the app cycle itself.

Just like any other discussion/debate on any platform, there will always be a majority and minority view and people just up vote and down vote according to the view they resonate with the most. I also think people can agree with the content of what's being said without necessarily agreeing with the tone. I really wouldn't read too much into it.

 

[tkhkat]

Hello everyone! I've just been invited to an AC with Ashurst, but for some strange reason, I am unable to book a slot for an interview, let alone view the timeslots on their cvMail portal. I've tried searching all over the portal but I can't find them. For those of you who have received the AC invite or have experience using Ashurst's portal - have you been able to book your interviews? I would greatly appreciate any guidance on this, thank you in advance!

 

[LEL]

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 :/

Hii, so I'm not sure if they count Tuesday but I would say send them off by Friday, just to be safe. If your laptop situation is really dire you could always email them and see if they'd be generous to issue you an extension, or use your phone? Hope it works out!

 

[Jessica Booker]

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.

I don’t even know what Quora is, so clearly showing my age on something....

Everyone in entitled to how they view the posts. No one can ever be sure how their posts are going to be taken or perceived.

I personally didn’t find LegalNim’s curt nor abrasive. I actually found it quite the opposite. To me it was trying to respond with a member’s want that their post was given more attention.

Getting a consistent voting system where everyone’s posts are treated equally sounds like some amazing utopia. But that’s not how anything works whether in the digital world, let alone the real one.

I agree with Dheepa - I don’t think it’s about an “in crowd”. In addition to what Dheepa said, there are also more regular and more vocal users on here who have a reputation for what they put out into the forums, myself included.

Although we can never guarantee how it will be perceived, at the same time we all have ownership and responsibility for our content (sometimes that gets forgotten when some people are anonymous). Every member of the community should understand their posts will have consequences, even if they are as minor as being upvoted/downvoted.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Why on earth were you not allowed to join the law society?!?!? Given that 50% of training contracts are given to non-law students (give or take) that seems an incredibly backward way of thinking and literally makes 0 sense to me...

Equally, it dramatically reduces the potential for the law society to grow/attract new members! How did the university/law society justify this out of interest? Seems absurd to me as someone who was on the law society committee as the non-law representative at my RG uni

Several unis have done this for years. It’s where the society is closely tied to the faculty (and often gets funding from them) and so the faculty states you can’t involve people from outside of the faculty. Crazy really.

 

[Jaysen]

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.

We can definitely take this on as feedback.

Our active users are great at spotting those who start something quite hostile, especially if it’s something they’ve done in the past. It can often derail otherwise genuine debate, which is why many are keen to shut those kind of comments down. I appreciate the comments in response may be equally blunt, and it’s something we can take into account.

I think a lot of what is happening here is the challenges of a growing forum with differences of opinion, strong personalities, and the odd person jumping into a conversation with an agenda. That said, this happens maybe 1% of the time, if that (and often when I’m about to go to bed for some reason 😅).

 

[Jessica Booker]

Leaving this here in case anyone missed the Texas cat lawyer zoom debacle 😂

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1359209202292428800

It’s how the cat looks down or to the side. For some reason that gets me every time and I just start laughing.

 

[Andrew M]

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

It isn't true that "real work" wouldn't permit or require exceptions. The Equality Act provides a duty for employers to make reasonable adjustments for persons with disabilities.

 

[LegalNim]

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.

Was a law society through the Students' Union? If so, they can't prevent you joining. I'm a non-law student and joined my law society, the faculty kicked off and wouldn't let me, but if it's an SU society then the faculty have no say in it. I ended up on the committee too. I was also a campus ambassador because, even though they stated they wanted a law students, I applied anyway and explained my motivations for choosing my degree over a law degree to pursue a career in law and they liked me.

 

[MI]

Hello everyone! I've just been invited to an AC with Ashurst, but for some strange reason, I am unable to book a slot for an interview, let alone view the timeslots on their cvMail portal. I've tried searching all over the portal but I can't find them. For those of you who have received the AC invite or have experience using Ashurst's portal - have you been able to book your interviews? I would greatly appreciate any guidance on this, thank you in advance!

I was able to book my slot in fine, is nothing showing when you click on the interview tab on the portal?
Maybe contact Ashurst GR to help you out.

 

[Jony]

Hello everyone! I've just been invited to an AC with Ashurst, but for some strange reason, I am unable to book a slot for an interview, let alone view the timeslots on their cvMail portal. I've tried searching all over the portal but I can't find them. For those of you who have received the AC invite or have experience using Ashurst's portal - have you been able to book your interviews? I would greatly appreciate any guidance on this, thank you in advance!

Drop them a friendly email, Nicola usually replies really fast and it’s definitely important for you to get it sorted on the server-side!

 

[chloe88]

what is the procedure for accepting a VS? i was offered a VS through a call from the interview partner last week, but have not heard anything from HR confirming which window I am allocated to. Do firms only email VS candidates about the next steps to take once they have confirmed all the offers?

 

[packhorse]

what is the procedure for accepting a VS? i was offered a VS through a call from the interview partner last week, but have not heard anything from HR confirming which window I am allocated to. Do firms only email VS candidates about the next steps to take once they have confirmed all the offers?

Definitely email expressing the preference ! This is what I did

 

[Jessica Booker]

what is the procedure for accepting a VS? i was offered a VS through a call from the interview partner last week, but have not heard anything from HR confirming which window I am allocated to. Do firms only email VS candidates about the next steps to take once they have confirmed all the offers?

Really depends on the firm. Some firms will allocate spots on schemes as they go, others may wait until they have concluded their recruitment.

I would contact the firm in question and ask them.

 

[chloe88]

thank you for the info @packhorse @Jessica Booker

 

[summer207]

Hii, so I'm not sure if they count Tuesday but I would say send them off by Friday, just to be safe. If your laptop situation is really dire you could always email them and see if they'd be generous to issue you an extension, or use your phone? Hope it works out!

I’m going to aim for Saturday since that would still be the 5th day if Tuesday was included? If I’m not able to get a laptop, I might have to email grad rec and hope they understand. Thank you!