2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Jacob Miller]

JUST HEARD BACK I LANDED AN INTERVIEW AT NRF HAHAHAHA DAMN ANY ADVICE?

Very well done!

My experience of the NRF AC (successful) was that it was split into 3 parts: an assessed negotiation, an interview (covering strengths, competencies and commercial awareness) with 2 partners, and a written case study.

I would advise consulting a few of the articles I've written in recent weeks for some starting points on all of these elements:

Definitive Guide to Law Firm Interviews! *Monday Article Series*

In this week's (slightly delayed - sorry!) Article, we take a look at law firm interviews. Introduction Almost every law firm’s application process involves some form of interview. This style of interview is designed to find out about your motivations, experiences, skills and characteristics...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Definitive Guide to Assessed Negotiations! *Monday Article Series*

Hi All! Please see below my Guide to Assessed Negotiation Exercises at Assessment Centres and during Vacation Schemes. This guide has been built from my own experiences of assessed and real-world negotiations as well as having consulted with Grad Rec specialists. This is also the first in a...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Definitive Guide to Law Firm Case Studies! *Monday Article Series*

Hi all, please see below the third of my Monday Article Series! This week is my definitive guide to case studies. It's a long one - you might want to go get a coffee and settle in! Introduction This week’s Monday Article will cover how to approach law firm case studies, one of the most...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Hope these help!

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey does anyone know what the period of recognised training at Cooley is? I'm assuming this is the TC?

"Period of recognised training" is just what the SRA call your TC, essentially.

Well, I believe that technically speaking, a TC is one of the forms that a PRT can take, but it's a bit of a "you say potato" thing.

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi guys! A friend of mine did an interview and had these two separate questions: "why X firm" and "what are the USPs of X firm". I was wondering how to go about differentiating the answers to these two questions? In most of my application forms where they ask "why us" I mostly talk about USPs and why those matter to me, so I'm not really sure how I would differ my answers?

If you've unwittingly met the content of another question in your existing answer, it's highly unlikely that you'd be asked the other question in my experience. I've been in this position myself and never had an issue

It's also fine to frame these answers differently by thinking about "why us" from your perspective/ 'internal perspective and then the "what are our USPs" from a prospective client's standpoint - if you were asked the question having answered in a way you mention, this is the route I would go down.

 

[Jacob Miller]

I'm having a bit of a panic prepping for an AC tomorrow. For my last one, I prepped three deals the firm had done along with three corresponding commercial trends - for this one, I haven't found it as straight forward, mainly as the firm's website is so hard to navigate!

I've prepped one big commercial trend, along with two recent (ish...) cases taken by the firm on the same issue, but other than that my approach feels scatty. I know the firm's big, major cases and have three more commercial news stories up my sleeve, but none of them are particularly interlinked. How many deals / cases do people usually prep for their ACs, and do you try and connect them to the commercial stories you've prepped?

If you haven't already consulted it, I deal with this quite extensively in one of my recent articles which may help: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....w-firm-interviews-monday-article-series.3286/

Best of luck with your AC!!

 

[gg332dd]

If it helps I had this after an AC with DLA two years ago, then got rejected after the WG last year, THEN finally secured a VS this year! Keep trying!!!!! 💕

Thats amazing congrats!!!

 

[CareerChanger]

Taylor Vinters AC!! Gobsmacked. I cackled at the email tbh. Thought the feedback report for me from Arctic Shores made me look hideous.

 

[sunflowerducks]

Just received a Taylor Vinters AC. After playing that putrid balloon popping game for the 3rd time in a row, i finally defeated Arctic Shores 😂 😂

 

[Jony]

... memed my way into a Dechert AC

 

[Chloe L]

Taylor Vinters AC!! Gobsmacked. I cackled at the email tbh. Thought the feedback report for me from Arctic Shores made me look hideous.

Just received a Taylor Vinters AC. After playing that putrid balloon popping game for the 3rd time in a row, i finally defeated Arctic Shores 😂 😂

... memed my way into a Dechert AC

congratulations guys!!! Love seeing these so early in the morning

 

[Helpme12345]

What are peoples opinions on putting summer vacation schemes on social media when the two firms are quite different?

I have one for Akin Gump and one for HSF and I applied to them both primarily for their energy expertise. AG has now encouraged us to post the scheme on social media but I don’t want to impact getting a TC in any way. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[axd]

Does anyone have any advice on how to explain why you have chosen to apply to a firm's office without undermining the importance/value of their other offices in the UK??? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Jaysen]

Does anyone have any advice on how to explain why you have chosen to apply to a firm's office without undermining the importance/value of their other offices in the UK??? Any help would be appreciated!

I'd just focus on the positives of the particular office you are applying to (rather than the negatives of the other ones).

 

[Dheepa]

What are peoples opinions on putting summer vacation schemes on social media when the two firms are quite different?

I have one for Akin Gump and one for HSF and I applied to them both primarily for their energy expertise. AG has now encouraged us to post the scheme on social media but I don’t want to impact getting a TC in any way. Any advice would be appreciated!

It won't impact the TC decision at all. Getting multiple VS offers is never a bad thing, so don't overthink posting!

 

[jcatherine]

Anyone heard from linklaters summer vac scheme?
Also has anyone ever been asked about their opinions on Brexit in an interview?

 

[Jacob Miller]

What are peoples opinions on putting summer vacation schemes on social media when the two firms are quite different?

I have one for Akin Gump and one for HSF and I applied to them both primarily for their energy expertise. AG has now encouraged us to post the scheme on social media but I don’t want to impact getting a TC in any way. Any advice would be appreciated!

LinkedIn discussions can spiral quickly so I'll try get in early!

I personally think there's no harm in posting things (certainly I would be if a firm had encouraged me to); it's never likely to affect your chances of conversion one way or another though.

 

[gg332dd]

Anyone heard from linklaters summer vac scheme?
Also has anyone ever been asked about their opinions on Brexit in an interview?

In my experience when they ask commercial awareness questions they say "except brexit".

I don't even remember how but I once got into a slight argument with a partner in an interview because I was saying how brexit is a terrible idea etc, not knowing i was about to trigger a massive brexiteer, meanwhile the associate was to trying change the topic saying we probably shouldn't be discussing sensitive topics and the associate genuinely seemed scared of that partner lol -- needless to say i was rejected 🤣

 

[JayC]

Does anyone have experience with the interview at the Debevoise Open Day? How long is it/what kind of questions are involved? Feel free to message me if you have any suggestions! Also we are told that “you will be asked to review a document for 45 minutes ready to discuss at interview stage” - @Jacob Miller do you have any articles on how to prepare for something like this? I don’t know what kind of format it is likely to take! Thanks in advance

 

[xht]

... memed my way into a Dechert AC

was it for summer or spring?

 

[Kablahc]

Does anyone have any advice on how to explain why you have chosen to apply to a firm's office without undermining the importance/value of their other offices in the UK??? Any help would be appreciated!

Usually rather than focusing on the other offices I tend to draw out specifically what makes me attracted to the one I've applied to. E.g. 'Since office X is the only one that offers practice area Y, I felt it was natural for me to apply there since this is a specialism I'm really interested in'. I tend to avoid drawing comparisons to other offices directly because like you said it's very easy that way to end up accidentally undermining the other office's value. Instead of saying 'I would prefer the smaller atmosphere of office X over office Z, which is bigger and I might get lost in the machine' it's better in my experience to turn it into something like 'I'm very teamwork oriented so the closer knit atmosphere of office X was really attractive to me' then if I felt like I had to involve the firm's other offices in the answer I might say something afterwards like 'this way I could still enjoy the benefits of having a great large/national firm network just as I would in office Z while working in a smaller immediate team'. That way you're still being positive about the other offices but highlighting that your personality or skillset is more suited for the one you've applied to. Hope that's helpful in some way!!

 

[AAA_a]

Any news lately from Gibson, MoFo, Dechert and White & Case for summer VS?