2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Jessica Booker]

Just to add to this, I am considering applying to this firm. The advice I was given is that some of the trainees have gone backpacking, travelling, worked abroad so I should discuss that... I have never had the luxury of doing any of those as I've given up summers and Christmas to work a minimum wage job

This is why I hate the question. They don’t really understand not only the financial costs but also the opportunity cost of going somewhere.

You could always spin it as where you WOULD go on holiday if you had the luxury of time and money to do it. But I would try to answer it, even if it is day trips in the UK.

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Just to add to this, I am considering applying to this firm. The advice I was given is that some of the trainees have gone backpacking, travelling, worked abroad so I should discuss that... I have never had the luxury of doing any of those as I've given up summers and Christmas to work a minimum wage job

Which firm is this? I genuinely think it should be named and shamed somewhere like Legal Cheek. Whoever wrote that Q clearly went about it with the intention of making it absolutely clear to candidates whether they were the “sort” they wanted or not. What’s the marking scheme, extra points for yearly family holidays in Asia?

Actually I have great holidays that I could talk about, but they’re the result of a very fortunate upbringing. And the idea of that explicitly helping me in applications is grim. Bet they also have something on their website about their love of “diversity” (LOL)

 

[MLF]

Good afternoon everyone, I have a written exercise with Hill Dickinson on Wednesday, do you have any idea as to what it could be? It looks like their recruitment process changed compared to last year.

Many thanks!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

The advice @Jacob Miller has provided is spot on. Just think about what you gained from the experience of going somewhere different. It may just be a passion for a new cuisine or an interest in the local architecture, but think about you have personally benefited from it.

Yes his feedback was really good and I made a note of his advice and of what you said.

 

[Andrew M]

Just received my third post-AC rejection and I am just feeling very disappointed. Have a fourth AC coming up tomorrow and am finding it very hard to find the confidence/motivation to prepare for it. Feeling very demoralised.

Have you had much in the way of feedback that you can work on?

 

[Law2022]

I was under the impression that once you apply to Reed Smith, you get the SST shortly after? I have received nothing and its been almost a month. I don't want to chase them as they will be very busy but I thought the test link was an automated thing?

 

[Kablahc]

I was thinking that also as you could discuss any holiday.

Just to add to this, I am considering applying to this firm. The advice I was given is that some of the trainees have gone backpacking, travelling, worked abroad so I should discuss that... I have never had the luxury of doing any of those as I've given up summers and Christmas to work a minimum wage job

I don't think this is the same firm because the question was worded differently, but I had a question about 'your most memorable experience while travelling' on an app for a firm which I was successful for after only having travelled abroad 3 times in my life. If it helps I literally just talked about the architecture of a really famous building in that city and how I thought its history was impressive and that seemed to be enough for them!

 

[M777]

People who've done Mayer Brown vac scheme ACs, how much notice did they give you before the AC date? I've heard they're doing ACs until the end of march, and I did my phone interview 3 months ago, so just figuring out when I should write them off

 

[Kablahc]

Also double posting but I FINALLY got my PFOs from Boodle post app and Taylor Wessing post AS 😩

 

[Kubed]

I was under the impression that once you apply to Reed Smith, you get the SST shortly after? I have received nothing and its been almost a month. I don't want to chase them as they will be very busy but I thought the test link was an automated thing?

From their open day, if I recall correctly, I believe they check you meet their minimum academic requirements before sending the SST. It was a fairly quick process when I applied, but might be worth chasing up as I somehow slipped through the net later in the process (after the SST) and didn't receive the research questions until after I enquired about the outcome.

 

[josemourinho]

Also double posting but I FINALLY got my PFOs from Boodle post app and Taylor Wessing post AS 😩

Same here with Boodle. Not a surprise since people were announcing vac schemes last week but a disappointment nonetheless.

 

[Law2022]

From their open day, if I recall correctly, I believe they check you meet their minimum academic requirements before sending the SST. It was a fairly quick process when I applied, but might be worth chasing up as I somehow slipped through the net later in the process (after the SST) and didn't receive the research questions until after I enquired about the outcome.

Thank you for this. I do meet their minimum academic requirements so I think I might send them an email!

 

[Matt_96]

I would provide an example of a scenario where you've demonstrated enough professional integrity to do the same. When describing your actions, try to emphasise/include any of Reed Smith's own values/qualities they look for.

When I answered it I gave two examples that related to different situations that both required professional integrity, but one approach was more confrontational whereas the other was less so.

 

[M777]

MAYER BROWN AC THIS IS MY FIRST AC YAY I LOVE YOU ALL

Sorry to sound like a broken record- how long did it take you to hear back after your TI?

 

[thewaythecookiecrumbles]

Slightly controversial point here, but I've seen this a lot where travelling, more so abroad than within the UK, is seen as for the wealthy/those with more disposable income and I don't think that's true. Yes, it's easier to travel when you have more money, but as someone from a less well-off background I've worked for every single trip abroad I've been to. It's possible, especially the number of opportunities available abroad, to work and live in a lot of countries especially with a UK passport, even for a summer. I don't know the firm in question, but I don't think it's a matter of talking about family holidays, but also how you grew and what you learnt. Travelling especially on minimum income is something that is absolutely possible and shouldn't be a deterrent on anyone who wants to. I expect the firm would look favourably upon people who have put in the effort to go abroad despite financial background, at least I would hope anyway.

 

[SecretSantaxx]

Have you had much in the way of feedback that you can work on?

Yes, the firm very kindly provided me with some feedback which is useful for tomorrow. Will reflect on them and try to improve.

 

[M1999]

Slightly controversial point here, but I've seen this a lot where travelling, more so abroad than within the UK, is seen as for the wealthy/those with more disposable income and I don't think that's true. Yes, it's easier to travel when you have more money, but as someone from a less well-off background I've worked for every single trip abroad I've been to. It's possible, especially the number of opportunities available abroad, to work and live in a lot of countries especially with a UK passport, even for a summer. I don't know the firm in question, but I don't think it's a matter of talking about family holidays, but also how you grew and what you learnt. Travelling especially on minimum income is something that is absolutely possible and shouldn't be a deterrent on anyone who wants to. I expect the firm would look favourably upon people who have put in the effort to go abroad despite financial background, at least I would hope anyway.

i respect your opinion but you can’t really put people into two categories of ‘well off’ and ‘not well off’. People have other priorities like rent, supporting their families, paying off debts. I don’t think it’s fair to say ‘I did it so everyone can do it too’. In my opinion it’s an inappropriate question to ask people as young as 19.

 

[Lillith]

Slightly controversial point here, but I've seen this a lot where travelling, more so abroad than within the UK, is seen as for the wealthy/those with more disposable income and I don't think that's true. Yes, it's easier to travel when you have more money, but as someone from a less well-off background I've worked for every single trip abroad I've been to. It's possible, especially the number of opportunities available abroad, to work and live in a lot of countries especially with a UK passport, even for a summer. I don't know the firm in question, but I don't think it's a matter of talking about family holidays, but also how you grew and what you learnt. Travelling especially on minimum income is something that is absolutely possible and shouldn't be a deterrent on anyone who wants to. I expect the firm would look favourably upon people who have put in the effort to go abroad despite financial background, at least I would hope anyway.

I agree that many people from low-income backgrounds, myself included, have had the opportunity to travel at some point, at least within the UK, but I feel like there are people who haven’t had any opportunity to travel, especially abroad (whether it’s because they have caring responsibilities at home or they had to spend all their free time working or all their earned money on household costs). I didn’t apply to this firm and I don’t really know what sort of answer they’re looking for, but I can imagine it being off-putting if I was applying as I know that a lot of my opportunities to travel have been a bit “right place at the right time” and I could have easily not been able to go- it would make me question whether the firm is actually looking for people like me, although like I said I didn’t apply here so I can’t say for sure what type of answers they’re expecting

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Slightly controversial point here, but I've seen this a lot where travelling, more so abroad than within the UK, is seen as for the wealthy/those with more disposable income and I don't think that's true. Yes, it's easier to travel when you have more money, but as someone from a less well-off background I've worked for every single trip abroad I've been to. It's possible, especially the number of opportunities available abroad, to work and live in a lot of countries especially with a UK passport, even for a summer. I don't know the firm in question, but I don't think it's a matter of talking about family holidays, but also how you grew and what you learnt. Travelling especially on minimum income is something that is absolutely possible and shouldn't be a deterrent on anyone who wants to. I expect the firm would look favourably upon people who have put in the effort to go abroad despite financial background, at least I would hope anyway.

I do partially agree with your point, but people's circumstances vary a lot and I think using something like this as a question is really not a good initial signal to send to candidates. I know plenty of people who are not well off but have managed to travel extensively--equally I know people whose background makes travel impossible (growing up in poverty with caring responsibilities for disabled younger siblings, foster care and then working summers to try to pay uni costs, parents with severe disabilities who couldn't be left alone).

It's just an unnecessary thing to bring up in an application, if you want to ask about appreciation for other cultures then you can easily do that another way. There is also the serious possibility of putting off candidates who have not had the chance to travel extensively and feel like the firm is sending them a message here, that their process will not be designed to be inclusive.

 

[LegalNim]

Slightly controversial point here, but I've seen this a lot where travelling, more so abroad than within the UK, is seen as for the wealthy/those with more disposable income and I don't think that's true. Yes, it's easier to travel when you have more money, but as someone from a less well-off background I've worked for every single trip abroad I've been to. It's possible, especially the number of opportunities available abroad, to work and live in a lot of countries especially with a UK passport, even for a summer. I don't know the firm in question, but I don't think it's a matter of talking about family holidays, but also how you grew and what you learnt. Travelling especially on minimum income is something that is absolutely possible and shouldn't be a deterrent on anyone who wants to. I expect the firm would look favourably upon people who have put in the effort to go abroad despite financial background, at least I would hope anyway.

I completely agree on the money front. I come from a low-income background and the only country I travelled to growing up was the one my family are from. I've had a job since I was 13, worked full-time during school and university etc. When I became an adult and was no longer responsible for contributing to my family home (as I had to support myself) I travelled really widely. I heard so many people say they couldn't afford to study abroad but (if you're English) you're given an enhanced maintenance loan/grant, living costs are often cheaper and your flights/insurance etc are all paid for - I think there's a lot of misinformation around that. Obviously this might be different if people aren't English though - I don't know. I had lots of people tell me they couldn't afford to volunteer abroad but on one occasion I worked for the charity for free and they, in turn, funded it for me - on another occasion it was government funded.
However, I would say there are difficulties caused by certain situations - for example if people have children then travelling becomes incredibly difficult or certain disabilities (I was denied a visa for my first study abroad choice because of my disability).
The truth is that travelling is easier when you have money - but so are huge, vast numbers of things that applications ask for that no one cares to kick up a fuss about. How many applications ask for extra-curriculars? That's a hell of a lot easier when mummy and daddy are paying for ballet lessons or viola lessons or swimming. That's a hell of a lot easier when you aren't working 30 hours each week during your GCSEs to help pay rent. How many applications ask for awards given - which are given more often at private schools than at state schools? Life is easier if you're raised rich - but firms know that and, from my experience, they account for it.