2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

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Jessica Booker

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Apologies if this has been asked- but does anyone have experience or know of someone who has secured a TC offer and asked the firm who issued the offer whether they can complete other vacation schemes before accepting? Asking for a friend... ;)
Unless you have accepted the offer you can do what you want.

If you are basically asking for an extension of the period of time to hold that offer, it is a common question asked of firms. You have the right to ask, they have the right to say no.
 

Velikilawyer123

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It's highly unlikely a firm would allow you only to complete one week for another firm's scheme.

If this were me< I would do the following:
  1. Contact firm A to ask if there was an alternative week I could do
  2. If no, contact firm B to ask the same
  3. If no, decide what firm's scheme I wanted to do more
  4. Accept that scheme, contact the other scheme and say that, due to dates, you're unable to attend the VS. Ask whether you'd be able to be considered for a direct TC interview with the same firm (some might, others won't - no harm in asking here)
Hope this helps :)
Just out of curiosity, say firm A allows you to attend a direct TC interview in lieu of doing their VS cos you're doing a VS with firm B. How would you be able to really justify your motivation for firm A for a TC when they clearly weren't even your priority for the VS (as you could've always rejected firm B if the two clashed)?
 
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Jessica Booker

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Just out of curiosity, say firm A allows you to attend a direct TC interview in lieu of doing their VS cos you're doing a VS with firm B. How would you be able to really justify your motivation for firm A for a TC when they clearly weren't even your priority for the VS (as you could've always rejected firm B if the two clashed)?
You don’t necessarily have to do this. You just have to show you are interested enough in firm A. You could also taken what you have learnt from your time at firm A though.
 

j597

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Contact the firms and find out if they can be flexible. I rejected one of my offers because the date they gave for the office I applied to clashed with another scheme I had already accepted. They called me and asked me if I'd be interested in doing another date. So I would definitely recommend checking to see!
That's really interesting, thank you Andrew. It's definitely worth a conversation to see if there are any other dates.

Thank you for your help everyone :)
 

mls1803

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Is anyone else doing the Ahead with Ashurst scheme next week? Any tips would be so appreciated as I've never done a paid law scheme before. I know its not a full VS, but I think doing this fast-tracks you to the interview round for a VS next year, so any advice on how to come across well/prepare correctly for it would be amazing! Thanks!
 

Jacob Miller

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    Just out of curiosity, say firm A allows you to attend a direct TC interview in lieu of doing their VS cos you're doing a VS with firm B. How would you be able to really justify your motivation for firm A for a TC when they clearly weren't even your priority for the VS (as you could've always rejected firm B if the two clashed)?
    I would suggest reframing.

    Firm B weren't necessarily your priority, you maybe felt you needed more contact time with them to understand them better and the VS was the best way to do that.
     
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    Asil Ahmad

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    For Ashurst application do you think I could discuss their diversity goals in the legal landscape question and how the legal landscape is changing to have certain diversity targets.

    The question is how is the legal landscape changing and what are the challenges facing Ashurst?

    Thank you in advance.
     

    Jessica Booker

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    For Ashurst application do you think I could discuss their diversity goals in the legal landscape question and how the legal landscape is changing to have certain diversity targets.

    The question is how is the legal landscape changing and what are the challenges facing Ashurst?

    Thank you in advance.
    You'd need to ensure there is a commercial angle to this if you did go this route.
     

    Jessica Booker

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    hi everyone, what is your fave question to ask a partner?
    I'd avoid thinking like this. Partners are all different and so are you as a candidate. One person's favourite question for one partner, may not apply to the next partner, let alone may not apply to you. Context is means a lot - the questions you may ask over an informal coffee might be very different to a formal talk/presentation on a specific subject.

    Just ask genuine questions you are keen to learn more about. If you are really stuck, just ask for the partners opinion on something that is important to you (e.g. you want to learn more about it).
     
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