2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[E.A]

Anyone else waiting to hear back from Mayer Brown post TI?

 

[Deleted member 8599]

Anyone else waiting to hear back from Mayer Brown post TI?

Yessir!

 

[LS12]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

 

[Celestie]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

I use personal examples all the time - I discuss the difficulties of my disability and how I've shown resilience in different places of my life. I can't speak for all firms, but for the ones I spoke to, they seemed impressed.

What's important is you show HOW you were resilient. What did you do? Was it a success? What did you learn? How will this help you as a lawyer? Has it prepared you?

 

[Gracey94]

Does anyone know for sure if Shoosmiths reviewing apps on a rolling basis? I thought they did but when I submitted my app last night it said ‘we’ll be in touch after the deadline’

 

[Andrew M]

Application stress has made me love mine tbh

Applications has just made me ignore mine!

 

[E.A]

Hello, this is your daily reminder to not let PFOs knock your confidence. I got three this week and was on the brink of thinking this is impossible yet again. But, no PFO can take away the hard work and time we put in to becoming better candidates! We know what we can offer and one day they'll see it too 😉😉😉

 

[GK8997]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

So the two examples I use for this are volunteering and netball- I used an example where I/ my teammate was injured during a game (unfortunately both of these situations have occurred!), I agree with @Celestie, the most important thing is to emphasises the action in the STAR structure. I also use an example of travel issues when volunteering abroad. It really is just a situation where you've had any sort of difficulty you've had to work to overcome, which I'm sure you have plenty of!

 

[ilovetheDLR]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

I use personal examples all the time - I discuss the difficulties of my disability and how I've shown resilience in different places of my life. I can't speak for all firms, but for the ones I spoke to, they seemed impressed.

What's important is you show HOW you were resilient. What did you do? Was it a success? What did you learn? How will this help you as a lawyer? Has it prepared you?

Completely agree with @Celestie on this - I have also used examples around my disability and how they have made me stronger and generally partners have really liked it. Imo personal examples are super powerful as it might help you stand out and also adds to your armoury of examples in competency-based interviews.

 

[Soccerox73]

Anyone else waiting to hear back from Mayer Brown post TI?

Lol I have been waiting since December 29! I emailed mid-Jan to check up but no replies.. been proper ghosted 😅

 

[Kablahc]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

Resilience questions are my favourite ones to get in a competency interview! Like the others that have answered I use my disability as an example (it's gotta be good for something 😂 ) but, if I already used it and want to avoid mentioning it twice, I often use either my work experience or my university modules. In my experience, it's usually good to approach this with some kind of humour, and it doesn't matter if it seems 'boring'. If it's a question you struggle with, you can pick something really standard just so it doesn't throw you off your game and then shine on your other qs with a unique answer. For example this is one I sometimes use if they ask me 'tell me about a time you failed at something/showed resilience through that':

"In my first year of university, I decided to study [module]. Although I found it really interesting, I knew from the beginning it would be a challenge, because [reason]. When I got my first essay back, despite my initial confidence, I discovered I had failed miserably! But I was determined to overcome this...blah blah blah"

I think something as simple as getting a bad mark in an essay is pretty universal and not something that would make that much of an impression on an interviewer. But it does show the competency, it's easy to STAR, and it means that you won't have to get into anything too personal if you think the experience isn't appropriate. Especially if you can tie it in to something a solicitor might do -e.g. you failed the first essay but you studied really hard on the technical part of the exam and you would now feel confident on preparing advice on the subject were you to be given the opportunity at [firm]. Hope this helps in some way ☺️

 

[OH]

Yessir!

Heard back this morning from Mayer Brown, with invite to AC next week, after TI back in December, so they're still going. I've just emailed asking if I can interview directly for a TC instead though, as I can't make any of the dates due to clashes.

 

[ellwilsen]

Has anyone heard from HFW for their summer scheme yet?

 

[liverpoollawyer]

Anyone have any idea when we will hear back from Hill Dickinson post-WG? They got back to me 3 days post test last year but seem to be really slow this time around

 

[sunflowerducks]

Resilience questions are my favourite ones to get in a competency interview! Like the others that have answered I use my disability as an example (it's gotta be good for something 😂 ) but, if I already used it and want to avoid mentioning it twice, I often use either my work experience or my university modules. In my experience, it's usually good to approach this with some kind of humour, and it doesn't matter if it seems 'boring'. If it's a question you struggle with, you can pick something really standard just so it doesn't throw you off your game and then shine on your other qs with a unique answer. For example this is one I sometimes use if they ask me 'tell me about a time you failed at something/showed resilience through that':

"In my first year of university, I decided to study [module]. Although I found it really interesting, I knew from the beginning it would be a challenge, because [reason]. When I got my first essay back, despite my initial confidence, I discovered I had failed miserably! But I was determined to overcome this...blah blah blah"

I think something as simple as getting a bad mark in an essay is pretty universal and not something that would make that much of an impression on an interviewer. But it does show the competency, it's easy to STAR, and it means that you won't have to get into anything too personal if you think the experience isn't appropriate. Especially if you can tie it in to something a solicitor might do -e.g. you failed the first essay but you studied really hard on the technical part of the exam and you would now feel confident on preparing advice on the subject were you to be given the opportunity at [firm]. Hope this helps in some way ☺️

Do you think it is worth mentioning struggles with mental health? I'm worried that I will be indirectly discriminated because of it.

 

[LS12]

Resilience questions are my favourite ones to get in a competency interview! Like the others that have answered I use my disability as an example (it's gotta be good for something 😂 ) but, if I already used it and want to avoid mentioning it twice, I often use either my work experience or my university modules. In my experience, it's usually good to approach this with some kind of humour, and it doesn't matter if it seems 'boring'. If it's a question you struggle with, you can pick something really standard just so it doesn't throw you off your game and then shine on your other qs with a unique answer. For example this is one I sometimes use if they ask me 'tell me about a time you failed at something/showed resilience through that':

"In my first year of university, I decided to study [module]. Although I found it really interesting, I knew from the beginning it would be a challenge, because [reason]. When I got my first essay back, despite my initial confidence, I discovered I had failed miserably! But I was determined to overcome this...blah blah blah"

I think something as simple as getting a bad mark in an essay is pretty universal and not something that would make that much of an impression on an interviewer. But it does show the competency, it's easy to STAR, and it means that you won't have to get into anything too personal if you think the experience isn't appropriate. Especially if you can tie it in to something a solicitor might do -e.g. you failed the first essay but you studied really hard on the technical part of the exam and you would now feel confident on preparing advice on the subject were you to be given the opportunity at [firm]. Hope this helps in some way ☺️

Thank you so much! This is definitely such a good idea and I’ve 100% had a few bad marks in my time haha

 

[LS12]

Thanks to everyone who

I use personal examples all the time - I discuss the difficulties of my disability and how I've shown resilience in different places of my life. I can't speak for all firms, but for the ones I spoke to, they seemed impressed.

What's important is you show HOW you were resilient. What did you do? Was it a success? What did you learn? How will this help you as a lawyer? Has it prepared you?

So the two examples I use for this are volunteering and netball- I used an example where I/ my teammate was injured during a game (unfortunately both of these situations have occurred!), I agree with @Celestie, the most important thing is to emphasises the action in the STAR structure. I also use an example of travel issues when volunteering abroad. It really is just a situation where you've had any sort of difficulty you've had to work to overcome, which I'm sure you have plenty of!

Resilience questions are my favourite ones to get in a competency interview! Like the others that have answered I use my disability as an example (it's gotta be good for something 😂 ) but, if I already used it and want to avoid mentioning it twice, I often use either my work experience or my university modules. In my experience, it's usually good to approach this with some kind of humour, and it doesn't matter if it seems 'boring'. If it's a question you struggle with, you can pick something really standard just so it doesn't throw you off your game and then shine on your other qs with a unique answer. For example this is one I sometimes use if they ask me 'tell me about a time you failed at something/showed resilience through that':

"In my first year of university, I decided to study [module]. Although I found it really interesting, I knew from the beginning it would be a challenge, because [reason]. When I got my first essay back, despite my initial confidence, I discovered I had failed miserably! But I was determined to overcome this...blah blah blah"

I think something as simple as getting a bad mark in an essay is pretty universal and not something that would make that much of an impression on an interviewer. But it does show the competency, it's easy to STAR, and it means that you won't have to get into anything too personal if you think the experience isn't appropriate. Especially if you can tie it in to something a solicitor might do -e.g. you failed the first essay but you studied really hard on the technical part of the exam and you would now feel confident on preparing advice on the subject were you to be given the opportunity at [firm]. Hope this helps in some way ☺️

Thank you guys - this makes so much sense. I guess I was looking at resilience as needing to be something so big but all of these responses are so helpful.

Would you still use the typical STAR approach for this question?

 

[GK8997]

Thanks to everyone who



Thank you guys - this makes so much sense. I guess I was looking at resilience as needing to be something so big but all of these responses are so helpful.

Would you still use the typical STAR approach for this question?

I personally have/ would just because I think it's always good to show results- it quantifies the achievement for your interviewer and also means your answers have a good structure!

 

[geographytolaw]

Has anyone heard from HFW for their summer scheme yet?

I've got an AC next week

 

[Imababysolicitor]

Heard back this morning from Mayer Brown, with invite to AC next week, after TI back in December, so they're still going. I've just emailed asking if I can interview directly for a TC instead though, as I can't make any of the dates due to clashes.

Congratulations on getting to AC! Can I ask what dates were available when you looked?