2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

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RoughWood

Legendary Member
Trainee
Feb 24, 2021
200
375
Is it worthwhile emailing graduate recruitment for some application feedback after getting rejected post application?

Honestly, I'm just sick of being rejected at this point. I've spent months on researching and writing applications, attending events, months spent gaining legal work experience through cold emailing firms, going for open days, networking, and its just fucking frustrating at this point.

It's a bloody draining process that makes you question your self worth, and when you get rejected, firms simply tell you that "rejections are made on very small margins" or "you were a very strong candidate, but unfortunately...".

If firms want to show that they truly care about D&I, all they need to do is jot down a couple points with every rejection they send out, and spend some more money on GR and employ more people to read applications (instead of bragging about having concierge services or fancy new offices). That's it. Not everybody has hundreds of £ to spend on application review services, just to find out what "small margins" they are being rejected on.

Sorry for the rant but I'd appreciate it if anybody could answer my question. Thank you.
I completely feel your pain, it is so frustrating getting rejections at application stage as you never get any feedback about how to improve for the future.

Just know you are not alone, I had a PFO within an hour (!!!!) of submitting an application to a regional firm a few weeks back with no input to take forward. Got to admire their efficiency though!

In my opinion it never hurts to ask if there were any particular points you could improve on, the worst they can say is no.
 
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Emily Kate

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
M&A Bootcamp
Oct 26, 2020
21
42
I was on the reserve list for a different firm and a month later they called me to say a spot had become available! Even though they have now filled their places, they are probably giving the candidates some time to confirm their place and other candidates may drop out later due to clashing dates etc! The fact that they even have a reserves list suggests that they have used one in previous years, so I wouldn't lose hope :)

Thank you that's really good to know. I'm honestly crying rn cos they started the email by making it sound like i'd got it lol
 
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Matt_96

Legendary Member
Future Trainee
  • Dec 15, 2018
    455
    1,196
    Can't remember if I chucked this into the convo as well, but I'd recommend getting a Lexology account. You get morning emails on practice areas of interests (corporate, real estate, private client etc.) including articles put out by law firms on those topics.

    These are written to be client friendly, but a lot of them will be quite high level and some articles aren't worth reading, but can be very helpful to stay in the know. I personally find this helpful as some articles are directly applicable to work I do in my current Paralegal role


    I can second this. I had to do an interview on third-party litigation funding recently which is something I knew very little about and 95% of the info I obtained came from lexology. The only problem is that because a lot of the commentary is drawn from practitioner blogs, I don't think there is ever going to be a single article that 100% answers your question as they tend to be quite introductory. Some of the more in-depth stuff is harder to find.
     
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    Elle W

    Valued Member
    Jan 12, 2021
    102
    249
    Thank you that's really good to know. I'm honestly crying rn cos they started the email by making it sound like i'd got it lol
    Well you should be proud because you obviously impressed them! I understand though - it's quite gutting to come so close BUT you still have a strong chance of getting a place! Hope you hear from them soon with positive news :)
     

    lilli

    Star Member
    Jan 16, 2021
    44
    203
    Anyone ever felt their AC interview/s went really terribly and still managed to get through? Such a silly question lol but I keep kicking myself over my answers when I know I could’ve done so much better! Ahhh
    One of my AC interviews I thought had gone really well, it was long and thought I'd built a good rapport with the interviewers - I got a PFO and the feedback said it was too short and didn't build enough of a rapport! Then another AC interview I was convinced I had messed up as it was soo short, didn't think I'd answered the questions fully / in enough detail, felt like I kept stuttering lol but got the vac scheme! So i feel like it's really hard to know, don't worry !! 😊
     

    tractor12

    Legendary Member
    Junior Lawyer
    Oct 6, 2019
    384
    587
    Anyone ever felt their AC interview/s went really terribly and still managed to get through? Such a silly question lol but I keep kicking myself over my answers when I know I could’ve done so much better! Ahhh
    People will have different standards - your "terrible" could be someone else's "incredible"! Keep those fingers crossed
     

    E1998

    Distinguished Member
    Feb 17, 2021
    74
    134
    One of my AC interviews I thought had gone really well, it was long and thought I'd built a good rapport with the interviewers - I got a PFO and the feedback said it was too short and didn't build enough of a rapport! Then another AC interview I was convinced I had messed up as it was soo short, didn't think I'd answered the questions fully / in enough detail, felt like I kept stuttering lol but got the vac scheme! So i feel like it's really hard to know, don't worry !! 😊
    I agree with this, sometimes you just can't tell!
     
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