2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Staples]

Quite tragically, the woman who spoke about Balance in her life passed away a couple of years after this video from a heart attack

I was just reading about this and it made me so sad

 

[Daniel Boden]

Have heard rumours in the financial world that the fallout of the Goldman associate survey has been other banks (+ Apollo) dishing out bonuses as a thank you to associates!

So ironic given that it seems every firm BUT GS is making changes... something tells me if they don't make a significant effort/response the turnover of associates/analysts will be even higher this summer

 

[21wajsz]

Hey guys! What advice can you give in regards to applying for a direct TC without much legal or professional experience (of course doing as much Forage Virtual Internships but not sure if that will help)! I have consistently worked part-time and am very involved in a wide range of societies but not sure if this will be sufficient either!

 

[aspiringlawyer22]

How useful/helpful are virtual internships? Do recruiters value them?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hmm well I think I can justify my motivation for the firm pretty well, but I don't think I could directly address why I've applied to BOTH them and some of my other firms (e.g. I find it very hard to find much if any similarity between a high-end US PE-focused firm and a mid-market asset finance UK firm). So in that case, if the difference is so glaringly obvious, would it better to simply leave out my upcoming VS that I can't marry with this firm, even if my specific motivation for this firm is solid?

No - there would be no sense in leaving out your VS. You don’t have to explain why you applied to other firms. You just have to explain why you are NOW applying to them, keeping in mind the firms you have previously applied to are more prestigious

 

[Jessica Booker]

How useful/helpful are virtual internships? Do recruiters value them?

They are useful to you.

How much value a recruiter places on them depends on how they then shape the rest of your application

 

[Msh123]

If they gave you a time frame by which you could expect to hear back and they've exceeded this quite substantially, I would say there's no harm in following up with an email. I know some people don't like doing this though through fear of looking impatient (myself included lol)

Have done that- automated reply saying they'd be away till this tues but that's now passed... I'm just curious as to what's going on haha

 

[Mick Channon]

I'm curious, would you be willing to share why (feel free to DM if you'd rather not say publicly)? What did the interviewers do or not do that made you feel disappointed especially?

Happy to share publicly - based on information from people I'd spoken to (who have in-depth knowledge of the firm), my assumption going into the interview was that they would take significant interest in your extra-curricular activities and would really give you a chance to show off your personality, and would ask personal questions, like where else you'd applied.

Instead, you had this weird, very stale Q&A; I didn't get asked any follow-up questions to my answers, nor anything specifically related to my application - bar one question about some old work experience. They basically concluded the interview after 20 minutes (of the 30 allotted, 5 of which had already been used up on a presentation) and asked if I had any questions for them. I get that they might have decided I wasn't right by then, but I really felt like I hadn't had a fair crack at the whip at all.

 

[Jaysen]

In the vein of funny youtube videos, my siblings just sent me this:

This is my new favourite video

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Odd question--is it my tech being weird or do some fairly major firms not come up on Legal 500? Like Reed Smith--when I try to look at their London profile I just get a message saying there are other ranked firms who are going to provide me with information instead. Am I going crazy or is this a thing? Is this just firms refusing to pay a membership fee or what is going on?

 

[M777]

Happy to share publicly - based on information from people I'd spoken to (who have in-depth knowledge of the firm), my assumption going into the interview was that they would take significant interest in your extra-curricular activities and would really give you a chance to show off your personality, and would ask personal questions, like where else you'd applied.

Instead, you had this weird, very stale Q&A; I didn't get asked any follow-up questions to my answers, nor anything specifically related to my application - bar one question about some old work experience. They basically concluded the interview after 20 minutes (of the 30 allotted, 5 of which had already been used up on a presentation) and asked if I had any questions for them. I get that they might have decided I wasn't right by then, but I really felt like I hadn't had a fair crack at the whip at all.

I think it's definitely worth remembering the principle that ACs are as much about you finding out if the firm is the right fit for you, as much as they're trying to see if you're a right fit for them. I know it sounds like a massive cliche and total nonsense, but it really does ring true.

If it's any consolation, I've had 4 ACs over the past 10 months- one was a TC app last cycle and 3 were this cycle. Sadly, none of them went my way. However I DEFINITELY got a sense of which ones I didn't want to work for by doing those ACs!! If V&E's interview was as stale/robotic as that, then chances are that fate is on your side and that they weren't the ones for you.

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Odd question--is it my tech being weird or do some fairly major firms not come up on Legal 500? Like Reed Smith--when I try to look at their London profile I just get a message saying there are other ranked firms who are going to provide me with information instead. Am I going crazy or is this a thing? Is this just firms refusing to pay a membership fee or what is going on?

I came across this problem also with VCovington yesterday

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi guys,

I recently had a rejection from Debevoise & Plimpton for their vacation scheme, but I was told by their Graduate Recruitment team that they were writing to me personally because they were impressed with my application and to apply again next year. Is that genuine or is it just fluff to soften the blow of the rejection?

Genuine

 

[Legalmel_99]

I saw two people get offered their VS yesterday on my LinkedIn so I don't think you'll be waiting too long! ☺️

Thankyou! ☺️ I seen a few myself but think it was for their Scottish offices x

 

[Daniel Boden]

Odd question--is it my tech being weird or do some fairly major firms not come up on Legal 500? Like Reed Smith--when I try to look at their London profile I just get a message saying there are other ranked firms who are going to provide me with information instead. Am I going crazy or is this a thing? Is this just firms refusing to pay a membership fee or what is going on?

Yeah, some firms aren't a part of it for some reason (quite a lot of US firms especially). I guess they feel that being a part of the Chambers & Partners directory is enough idk...

 

[Anon 11031]

Thankyou! ☺️ I seen a few myself but think it was for their Scottish offices x

Let me know how it goes! I have everything crossed for you x

 

[Matt_96]

Yeah, some firms aren't a part of it for some reason (quite a lot of US firms especially). I guess they feel that being a part of the Chambers & Partners directory is enough idk...

I realised how boring and hyper-focused on job hunting my life has become recently when I discovered that Chambers and the Legal 500 were the no.2 and 3 most visited websites on my browsing history over the past year behind the FT. Might have to start putting down reading (and rereading when I forget) the law firm rankings as a hobby in the extracurriculars section of my next app at this rate!

Sad reaccs only pls

 

[Daniel Boden]

I realised how boring and hyper-focused on job hunting my life has become recently when I discovered that Chambers and the Legal 500 were the no.2 and 3 most visited websites on my browsing history over the past year behind the FT. Might have to start putting down reading (and rereading when I forget) the law firm rankings as a hobby in the extracurriculars section of my next app at this rate!

Sad reaccs only pls

Completely unashamedly mine is TCLA ❤️

 

[gee565]

Did anyone do the Cooley AC today that knows how many people got through the the final interview part? I'm really curious to know what the competition's like

 

[Lily721]

I have an answer that is 265 words long, but the maximum is 300 words. Would graduate recruitment view this unfavourably? I just don't know how else I can change it to get more words in as I am quite happy with it.