2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[jd3447]

Anyone else hate that feeling of having a few hours before your interview, where u feel like you need to keep working but just don’t know how u could possibly prepare more? Cos same

 

[Naomi U]

Do you think it is worth mentioning struggles with mental health? I'm worried that I will be indirectly discriminated because of it.

Hiya!

I think that's absolutely fine as similarly to my previous post (which I have quoted below) I think the focus here is how you showed resilience to overcome the issue, not what the issue itself is. ☺️

Hiya!

I completely agree with the above responses the focus here is not so much on the issue faced but how you overcame it. I think the concept of resilience is very subjective because its to do with overcoming and preserving through a crisis. What candidate A views as a crisis will naturally be different to what candidate B views as a crisis. However, the key thing here that interviewers will be looking for from both examples, is the coping methods and how such methods could be applied in the workplace.

With this in mind, I think if you approach your answer (whatever your example may be) using the STAR method, making sure to give extra attention to the action and result elements, you should be fine.

Hope this helps☺️

 

[Law on my mind]

Hi guys

Has anyone heard back from Eversheds ?

Birmingham office, post VI part of the process

 

[Han.louise]

Anyone else still waiting for Eversheds post VI for the Cardiff Office?

 

[Han.louise]

Anyone heard back from OC for the Bristol Office?

 

[thirdtimelucky]

It’s so hard to be patient I just wanna email everywhere for a response!

 

[Naomi U]

Anyone else hate that feeling of having a few hours before your interview, where u feel like you need to keep working but just don’t know how u could possibly prepare more? Cos same

Hiya!

From my personal experiences, there really does come a point where you just have to stop. Remember it's not a test in the sense that there aren't set questions and set answers that you must respond with. A successful interview is part knowledge, but also part personality - how confident you are, how well you are able to establish a rapport with your interviewers, whether your personal traits match with the value and culture of the firm. Whilst prepping again and again may help you achieve the former, the latter comes from within.

You want to go into your interview relaxed and confident in yourself and your abilities as this will enable you to ensure you put your best foot forward. So I would always recommend taking it easy on the day of the interview/ assessment centre. All you need is a quick run through your notes and a quick look at the news (just to make sure the whole world hasn't changed over night!) and you'll honestly be fine!

Believe in yourself!

Best of luck ☺️

 

[W]

Anyone still waiting on Reed Smith post research questions for the spring VS?

 

[kls]

HUGE CONGRATS!!!

I'm chuffed that the articles have helped you 🤩🤩

Thank you! Honestly will be recommending them to anyone and everyone 😂

 

[LegalNim]

Looking for some interview advice - a question I have always struggled to answer is the resilience once - to the point where it literally puts me off applications and throws me off my game in telephone interviews. Not because I haven’t been through stuff - I have but the stuff I would typically be like oh yeah I’ve shown resilience is pretty personal and just not suited to applications. I was just wondering how you go about answering this question in a more professional way? I’ve worked a number of roles and so I’m sure I have an experience that would be suited I just don’t know how to identify it. Sorry if this is an obvious question

Honestly, I think using a personal or professional answer would be fine - but the key is to focus on the positive side, not the negative side. Instead of talking about how awful the problem you overcame was, talk about how amazing the action to overcome it is. I was at an event where the lawyer took a written answer to this question and highlighted all the negatives and positives, over half of it was negative and he pointed out that the candidate had wasted around 150 words talking about how they'd failed and done badly (Something along the lines of "In my second year of university, due to a technical error I was registered for a module that I didn't want to take and was not one of my strengths. Despite attending every lecture and tutorial and doing all the preparatory reading, I submitted the formative assessment and received a low grade. This made me feel as though I couldn't progress properly and was jeopardising my overall degree grade..." etc . That's hard to recover from. If you open with ten words on "I was studying a module I found really challenging" and then immediately move on to how you coped, it's far more positive. And the time/words and focus are on how you did a good thing or performed well or bounced back. He said that often candidates will try to talk a lot about the problem because then it makes the overcoming seem more profound, when actually the candidate tends to come off as a negative person who dwells on the bad things.
I've used both personal and professional answers for this. Like you, I don't tend to share too much about my personal life with firms and I think that's an individual choice. I've used answers like sorting out alternative travel/accommodation arrangements when a connecting flight was cancelled whilst working abroad, recovering from a severe injury as a high performance athlete and (right now) teaching online instead of in a classroom.

 

[Jacob Miller]

Anyone else hate that feeling of having a few hours before your interview, where u feel like you need to keep working but just don’t know how u could possibly prepare more? Cos same

I personally don't do anything related to the interview the day of, I just chill and have my mind elsewhere. Found I got too in my head otherwise and it affected performance! Take a while to clear your head and just focus on feeling calm etc.

Best of luck with your interview!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Macfarlanes VS!!!

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to this community as a new member this year! Everyone has been so lovely and so keen to give help and advice and I just really appreciate it! Also if anyone has an AC coming up @Jacob Miller articles are a saviour and genuinely helped me so much!

Congratulations this is the dream achieved. Also if you don't mind me asking when did you apply and when did you get the AC invite as I applied on 20th January I am being patient but just wanted to know how long they take to get back.

 

[Owl Nights]

Cleary Gottlieb Summer Vacation Scheme offer! I did my AC yesterday and I applied somewhere in mid Nov. @Jacob Miller thank you so much for the awesome Monday series articles, especially the one on negotiation exercises.

Please feel free to pm me if you would like any advice on the AC !

 

[LegalNim]

Anyone else hate that feeling of having a few hours before your interview, where u feel like you need to keep working but just don’t know how u could possibly prepare more? Cos same

I always spend the last hour(ish) listening to All Rise by Blue on repeat. There's no way not to feel pumped by it, it's technically law related AND I read an article that people perform better in interviews after listening to upbeat music because it boosts confidence. So, I think it's a good strategy. (FYI I have NOT secured a TC yet with this strategy).

 

[KT]

Has yours been updated to reviewed? Mine still says finished

Mine still says finished as well. I saw some people on this thread before say that theirs still said finished even after they were offered an AC and others had it changed to reviewed so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I think we should hear back next week probably

 

[futuretraineecity]

Freshfields AC for direct TC!!!

 

[Legalmel_99]

BLM AC invite!! If anyone's had one with them before would appreciate any advice I completely messed up my first AC last week haha

Congratulations! Which office was this for can I ask?

 

[relentlesspursuit]

Doing some interview prep and focusing on commercial awareness. How would you approach a question that asked what business other than a law firm you are interested in? Heard a few conflicting approaches so just trying to get more views on this.

 

[MJ90]

s

Cleary Gottlieb Summer Vacation Scheme offer! I did my AC yesterday and I applied somewhere in mid Nov. @Jacob Miller thank you so much for the awesome Monday series articles, especially the one on negotiation exercises.

Please feel free to pm me if you would like any advice on the AC !

huge congrats here! Did they say if/when they were holding any more acs? Or should I assume a PFO is on its way?

 

[ishikam]

Anyone still not heard back from Freshfields post WG for Summer VS?

I applied on December 1st, did the WG on 13th December.