2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Jessica Booker]

Is anyone else having problems accessing cvmail? Trying to submit an app but it won't load?

Can be quite common on popular deadline days unfortunately.

 

[thirdtimelucky]

Can be quite common on popular deadline days unfortunately.

haha I thought so, I was hoping to get it in tonight to avoid tomorrow but it seems that won't be possible!!

 

[Bukayo Saka]

I included all of my virtual internships with Inside Sherpa/Legal Cheek/Bright Network etc. under the same post. Not sure if this is right though!

Did you put any society exec positions in work experience (e.g. Treasurer)

 

[leolegal]

Is anyone else having problems accessing cvmail? Trying to submit an app but it won't load?

Yes I'm having the same issue. Not sure what to do?

 

[LS12]

Did you put any society exec positions in work experience (e.g. Treasurer)

I contacted Bird and Bird about this and they said to put it in the work experience section

 

[ZaraB]

Did anyone hear from Gowling for the Birmingham VS? At this point I am expecting a PFO

 

[OB]

Did you put any society exec positions in work experience (e.g. Treasurer)

I personally wouldn’t class the virtual internships or society positions as work experience on applications. More like things to mention in the questions e.g. positions of responsibility, motivations for this career path etc.

 

[Jason S]

Did anyone hear from Gowling for the Birmingham VS? At this point I am expecting a PFO

Nah nothing yet. I know it’s a PFO so I can’t see why they didn’t just send out rejection emails on the same day they sent out VI invites. Guess it’s not a priority for them

 

[Bukayo Saka]

I personally wouldn’t class the virtual internships or society positions as work experience on applications. More like things to mention in the questions e.g. positions of responsibility, motivations for this career path etc.

That makes sense to be honest but some firms vary that's why I was curious. For example, Clifford Chance said that you should put virtual work experience under the work experience section. That's why I am not too sure.

 

[Jessica Booker]

That makes sense to be honest but some firms vary that's why I was curious. For example, Clifford Chance said that you should put virtual work experience under the work experience section. That's why I am not too sure.

Prioritise entries that are jobs you had to do work in - eg you had to turn up, you were given real responsibilities and had to deliver them to real people. That means a part time job you held down while studying is going to be far more interesting than an e-learning style virtual internship or open day.

The more you had to do, and the more time you had to do it, the more important the job becomes.

Most firms will not consider society positions as work experience. They are extra curriculars - still important but not appropriate for a work experience section general (although saw a post earlier that one firm said they were so you can see there is never a consistent approach).

 

[GXA123]

Did anyone hear from Gowling for the Birmingham VS? At this point I am expecting a PFO

Not yet, I don't think they have sent the invitations yet, stay positive!

 

[Ricky]

I personally wouldn’t class the virtual internships or society positions as work experience on applications. More like things to mention in the questions e.g. positions of responsibility, motivations for this career path etc.

I usually put my experience with the Pro Bono Society under a work experience section when there isn't enough space to expand on it sufficiently elsewhere in the application. I also include a misrepresentation claim I brought in the County Court as well.

 

[Lawbour]

Does any have experience of how long RPC takes to tell you if you passed the SHL test? Never thought I'd miss the Watson Glaser!!

I don't think they actually tell you you passed the test, they will either invite you to an AC in Jan/Feb or send out a rejection in february stating they will provide you with your test score.
The thing with RPC is that when you pass the test (i think their benchmark is quite low in comparison to other firms) they review your application again to decide on whether to invite you to their AC. so everyone could potentially pass but only a certain amount of people will be invited to the AC.
Hope this makes sense (my source is the grad rec team from last year's open day)

 

[Celestie]

Does anyone have any good WG cheat sheets or any recommendations of where to find them?
Every Pearson practice test seems to do me over however I have passed firms like CC. Getting a bit frustrated.

 

[LS12]

Does anyone have any good WG cheat sheets or any recommendations of where to find them?
Every Pearson practice test seems to do me over however I have passed firms like CC. Getting a bit frustrated.

I would really recommend making your own!! On my cheat sheets I include little bits of feedback on questions I’ve got wrong in the past!
Job test prep provides pretty good summaries of each question but obviously it’s expensive: I’m sure you’d be able to find them elsewhere, I just personally haven’t looked! But I’d really recommend making them for yourself (just as I’d recommend creating your own notes for an exam)

 

[33c]

Does anyone have any good WG cheat sheets or any recommendations of where to find them?
Every Pearson practice test seems to do me over however I have passed firms like CC. Getting a bit frustrated.

I know lots of people suggest not paying for tests but I really recommend paying for the JobTestPrep tests. The package explains every solution pretty well and there are longer 'cheat sheet' documents which explain different type of problem. I used to fail every test but now I usually score around the 80th percentile from using JobTestPrep.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

I know lots of people suggest not paying for tests but I really recommend paying for the JobTestPrep tests. The package explains every solution pretty well and there are longer 'cheat sheet' documents which explain different type of problem. I used to fail every test but now I usually score around the 80th percentile from using JobTestPrep.

I completely agree with this! I failed most tests I took last year but practising the JobTestPrep ques and going through the reasoning of each answer has helped me to pass them this year

(I also used the reasoning behind these answers to create my 'cheat sheets')

 

[M1999]

Hi
For TW’s question ‘what is your most significant achievement to date outside of your academic career?’
Could this be an extra curricular activity? There’s lots of room on the app for work experience! I want to talk about snorkelling and overcoming my fear which was a personal achievement, but not sure if I should do something more impressive

 

[Celestie]

Unfortunately, I cannot afford the JobTestPrep - its really expensive and oddly priced. Does anyone know any good free websites?

 

[Celestie]

Hi
For TW’s question ‘what is your most significant achievement to date outside of your academic career?’
Could this be an extra curricular activity? There’s lots of room on the app for work experience! I want to talk about snorkelling and overcoming my fear which was a personal achievement, but not sure if I should do something more impressive

Hi, I put an extra-curricular society achievement if that helps in any way