Ask 3 future trainees (Magic & Silver Circle, International Elite) ANYTHING! *New TCLA Team Members*

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jacob Miller, @Naomi U and @Dheepa!

I was hoping to ask for some advice as to how you made your decisions on where to interview and accept TC offers from.

I am a career changer and this is my first cycle applying. I was lucky enough to secure 5 ACs - two of which I completed and received one TC and one VS offer. I ended up declining two of them and I now have one more to go. The problem is that I am experiencing severe burnout after this application process to the point where I am struggling to even complete university work, so I have not even started to prep for my final interview. I am really keen to accept my TC offer, but I feel a bit sad about all the events I attended for the final firm and how much effort I put in the application will go to waste (ultimately, they were still my top three choice of firm). I never thought I would be in this position haha!

What would be your advice to me in this situation? And how did you go about making these decisions for yourself?

Do you think it is worth risking current wellbeing and workload for an opportunity that may never come again?

Sorry to ramble - I am so confused and do not know many people who can help me with advice like this!

Thank you

If the firm you have your TC with is definitely your first choice, then withdraw from other processes. It's just wasting everyone’s time if there's little to no chance you would accept a TC with them (sounds like they would be your third choice).

 

[Dheepa]

Hi @Jacob Miller, @Naomi U and @Dheepa!

I was hoping to ask for some advice as to how you made your decisions on where to interview and accept TC offers from.

I am a career changer and this is my first cycle applying. I was lucky enough to secure 5 ACs - two of which I completed and received one TC and one VS offer. I ended up declining two of them and I now have one more to go. The problem is that I am experiencing severe burnout after this application process to the point where I am struggling to even complete university work, so I have not even started to prep for my final interview. I am really keen to accept my TC offer, but I feel a bit sad about all the events I attended for the final firm and how much effort I put in the application will go to waste (ultimately, they were still my top three choice of firm). I never thought I would be in this position haha!

What would be your advice to me in this situation? And how did you go about making these decisions for yourself?

Do you think it is worth risking current wellbeing and workload for an opportunity that may never come again?

Sorry to ramble - I am so confused and do not know many people who can help me with advice like this!

Thank you

Hi FL,

Ultimately I think you need to decide two things:

1. Do you think securing the TC/VS with the final firm will in any way change how you feel or your preference for the firm you already have a TC with? If you think there is even a small chance of it altering your final decision of where to accept a TC then I think you should go ahead with the AC.
2. Do you think you can push through, prepare and perform well for the AC? If you don't think you can/if you don't want to, then putting yourself through it will likely lead to a negative outcome anyway.

From personal experience, I had three VS offers when I got an AC invite from HSF and I'm not sure why I put myself through the stress of attending the AC when I barely prepped and knew that there was no way I'd given it enough effort to get the VS. Similarly, when W&C invited me to a VI for direct TC, I was overjoyed because I really loved their firm but ultimately I chose to drop out of the process because I was more than happy with the TC offers I had been made already.

I don't think anyone can really tell you what to do for sure here but if after considering the things I mentioned, you do want to drop out, don't let the "opportunity" factor alone force you in the opposite direction. If you are truly happy with the firm you do have that final offer from then you really aren't losing out on anything anyway!

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi @Jacob Miller, @Naomi U and @Dheepa!

I was hoping to ask for some advice as to how you made your decisions on where to interview and accept TC offers from.

I am a career changer and this is my first cycle applying. I was lucky enough to secure 5 ACs - two of which I completed and received one TC and one VS offer. I ended up declining two of them and I now have one more to go. The problem is that I am experiencing severe burnout after this application process to the point where I am struggling to even complete university work, so I have not even started to prep for my final interview. I am really keen to accept my TC offer, but I feel a bit sad about all the events I attended for the final firm and how much effort I put in the application will go to waste (ultimately, they were still my top three choice of firm). I never thought I would be in this position haha!

What would be your advice to me in this situation? And how did you go about making these decisions for yourself?

Do you think it is worth risking current wellbeing and workload for an opportunity that may never come again?

Sorry to ramble - I am so confused and do not know many people who can help me with advice like this!

Thank you

Hey,

This is a really interesting and very valid question. I agree generally with everything that's been said above.

My biggest single piece of advice is to trust your gut instinct.Ultimately, you're the only one who knows where is right for you and also whether you're able to grind through a tough period or whether you've pushed too much and you're flogging a dead horse. You've already achieved well and there's no shame in bowing out of other assessments if you're happy with the TC offer you've got.

I also agree with Jess specifically that, if you think there's a minimal chance of you accepting a TC or VS with other firms, drop out of their processes. This is only fair on other candidates. I personally did this for one firm with whom I knew I was unlikely to accept a TC after I had secured an offer from another firm.

Hope this helps!

 

[Naomi U]

Hi @Jacob Miller, @Naomi U and @Dheepa!

I was hoping to ask for some advice as to how you made your decisions on where to interview and accept TC offers from.

I am a career changer and this is my first cycle applying. I was lucky enough to secure 5 ACs - two of which I completed and received one TC and one VS offer. I ended up declining two of them and I now have one more to go. The problem is that I am experiencing severe burnout after this application process to the point where I am struggling to even complete university work, so I have not even started to prep for my final interview. I am really keen to accept my TC offer, but I feel a bit sad about all the events I attended for the final firm and how much effort I put in the application will go to waste (ultimately, they were still my top three choice of firm). I never thought I would be in this position haha!

What would be your advice to me in this situation? And how did you go about making these decisions for yourself?

Do you think it is worth risking current wellbeing and workload for an opportunity that may never come again?

Sorry to ramble - I am so confused and do not know many people who can help me with advice like this!

Thank you

Hiya!

First of all- congratulations on your tc and vs offers!

I really agree with the responses above. There isn't really a right or wrong answer here and only you will know in your gut what you want to do.

It's never easy because I think there is this idea that you have to get as many offers as possible. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I think it's about being honest with yourself. If you genuinely aren't sure and feel like you want to explore your final option because you think there is a strong chance you may choose it over your current tc offer then absolutely go for it!

However, don't feel like you have to do this. In my own experience, I actually ended up withdrawing from both a vac scheme and a direct tc interview. This is because as much as they were amazing opportunities at truly great firms, I was more than happy with my tc offer and it would be a lot for me to change my mind. As Jessica suggested, I personally felt like I would be taking up valuable space. But then again, this is only because I knew that I would probably not accept any following offers. So if you aren't sure yet, you most definitely deserve the opportunity to find out just as much as anyone else.

So my biggest advice is really to just reflect on your motivations and interests. Which firm do you feel you will truly thrive at with everything taken into account. If you feel like it is with your current tc then that's great! On the other hand, if you feel that you are unsure then it's just a matter of pushing through the last hurdle.

Hope this helps & best of luck❤️

 

[CT]

Hi guys, this might be a stupid question but I still don’t know how I’ll go about answering it. I’m preparing for “What issues are impacting law firms for the next few years?” - Do you think I should just focus on issues that directly affect the legal industry like the rise of ABS or technology? Otherwise, can I cover issues that rather affect its clients, such as ESG?

Also, say if I do cover tech or ABS, would they not be considered on-going trends already?

Thank you so much!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi guys, this might be a stupid question but I still don’t know how I’ll go about answering it. I’m preparing for “What issues are impacting law firms for the next few years?” - Do you think I should just focus on issues that directly affect the legal industry like the rise of ABS or technology? Otherwise, can I cover issues that rather affect its clients, such as ESG?

Also, say if I do cover tech or ABS, would they not be considered on-going trends already?

Thank you so much!

Avoid ABS. People have been talking about that for over 12 years.

If you talk about technology, be specific. What specific types of technology are impacting firms.

Even with ESG you’ll need to be specific. It’s become one of the “popular” topics to talk about and is growing in prominence pretty quickly. But ESG in itself is a massive topic. Some of it won’t be impacting law firms, some of it will.

 

[CT]

Avoid ABS. People have been talking about that for over 12 years.

If you talk about technology, be specific. What specific types of technology are impacting firms.

Even with ESG you’ll need to be specific. It’s become one of the “popular” topics to talk about and is growing in prominence pretty quickly. But ESG in itself is a massive topic. Some of it won’t be impacting law firms, some of it will.

Thank you, Jessica! Say I talk about a specific aspect of ESG, can I explain how it will impact those specific clients of the firm and how that firm can help them or how it may shift the focus of a sector to the other to adapt its client demand?

 

[FL0011]

Thank you so much @Jessica Booker, @Dheepa, @Naomi U and @Jacob Miller!

Your advice gave me a lot to think about and formed the basis of my decision this morning. Thank you for also sharing your own stories - it definitely made me feel less worried about the ‘opportunity factor’ and gaining as many offers as possible.

This is why I am so appreciative of this community! ❤️

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you, Jessica! Say I talk about a specific aspect of ESG, can I explain how it will impact those specific clients of the firm and how that firm can help them or how it may shift the focus of a sector to the other to adapt its client demand?

I’d be mindful of how you word/structure your answer to ensure that it is really answering the question. There is a risk that you focus more on the impact on clients rather than on the firms directly. Yes, there could be an opportunity for firms via clients, but does it directly impact them or does it change the way that they may do something (rather than just increasing potential client work).

 

[CT]

I’d be mindful of how you word/structure your answer to ensure that it is really answering the question. There is a risk that you focus more on the impact on clients rather than on the firms directly. Yes, there could be an opportunity for firms via clients, but does it directly impact them or does it change the way that they may do something (rather than just increasing potential client work).

Thank you for your advice!

 

[Dheepa]

Hi!

I was wondering if you have any advice on preparing for written assessments. I have one this week and we've been told it is a 'written analytical assessment based around a shareholders' agreement and reflective of a typical trainee task'.

I've never done a written exercise before, so would welcome any advice/what they look for when marking it if possible!

Thank you!

Hi! Sorry for the late response to this, completely missed this post!

It’s kind of hard to say how assessments are marked. Generally they would be looking for good structure, clarity of writing (simple language that’s to the point) and analysis. Analysis is something that’s quite difficult to break down on its own but generally I understand it as being able to pick out what’s relevant and framing it within the key points or arguments that you want to raise. Also going to link you to Jacob's article here.

You can also try googling shareholders agreements online and finding some examples. I’d suggest looking through them understanding how they’re structured and any making a note of any frequent terms that come up.

Hope that helps! ☺️

 

[ECNWalker]

Hi! Sorry for the late response to this, completely missed this post!

It’s kind of hard to say how assessments are marked. Generally they would be looking for good structure, clarity of writing (simple language that’s to the point) and analysis. Analysis is something that’s quite difficult to break down on its own but generally I understand it as being able to pick out what’s relevant and framing it within the key points or arguments that you want to raise. Also going to link you to Jacob's article here.

You can also try googling shareholders agreements online and finding some examples. I’d suggest looking through them understanding how they’re structured and any making a note of any frequent terms that come up.

Hope that helps! ☺️

That's great, thank you very much!

 

[CT]

Hi guys! For the question 'what is the role of a trainee', do you suggest that I talk about 3 key tasks then link to how I possess the transferrable skills to do those tasks? There are so many tasks that a trainee do though, do you think I should pick the ones that I am most suited to? Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi guys! For the question 'what is the role of a trainee', do you suggest that I talk about 3 key tasks then link to how I possess the transferrable skills to do those tasks? There are so many tasks that a trainee do though, do you think I should pick the ones that I am most suited to? Thank you!

Rather than tasks, I’d think more about a trainee’s purpose. You’ll need to think more about the themes of the work/responsibilities they would have, rather than being specific with tasks (which will be far too varied). You don’t need to link this type of question back to you though. This is just assessing your knowledge and understanding of the job, not your ability to do it.

 

[CT]

Rather than tasks, I’d think more about a trainee’s purpose. You’ll need to think more about the themes of the work/responsibilities they would have, rather than being specific with tasks (which will be far too varied). You don’t need to link this type of question back to you though. This is just assessing your knowledge and understanding of the job, not your ability to do it.

Thank you again Jessica! Can you clarify the difference between responsibilities and tasks? I personally find this difference to be quite abstract so it may have led me to interpreting the question wrongly.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you again Jessica! Can you clarify the difference between responsibilities and tasks? I personally find this difference to be quite abstract so it may have led me to interpreting the question wrongly.

There might not be a lot of difference. But I am not suggesting you focus on individual responsibilities.

 

[Holly]

Hey guys, happy Friday

I was wondering if anyone knew what type of joint venture structure is most commonly used in case studies?

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey guys, happy Friday

I was wondering if anyone knew what type of joint venture structure is most commonly used in case studies?

JV's can take a massive range of structures. They can be purely contractual or they can be in an SPV format - the SPV format is probably most common as it allows the stakeholders to use entity shielding and judgement proofing as they wish. Where an SPV is used, the substantive structure and management of the JV will be contained will be contained either in the SPV's articles or in a separate shareholders' agreement with a supremacy clause. In some areas (for example, oil and energy JVs), there are various standardised contracts available which are the most commonly used and are administered by international regulatory and quasi-regulatory bodies.

 

[Holly]

JV's can take a massive range of structures. They can be purely contractual or they can be in an SPV format - the SPV format is probably most common as it allows the stakeholders to use entity shielding and judgement proofing as they wish. Where an SPV is used, the substantive structure and management of the JV will be contained will be contained either in the SPV's articles or in a separate shareholders' agreement with a supremacy clause. In some areas (for example, oil and energy JVs), there are various standardised contracts available which are the most commonly used and are administered by international regulatory and quasi-regulatory bodies.

Thanks so much! This is very useful. Learnt a lot here and I’ll do some more research

 

[LS07]

Hi, I have been feeling very low after receiving rejections from every application I have sent since September 2020. I have acquired a lot of commercial law and non-commercial law experience over the years to help make my application stand out. I have tried to change my writing technique, get it proofread by various people including trainees, associates and friends but it hasn't paid off yet. At this point, I just don't know what to do and where to go. I am graduating this year and the thought of not having secured a TC is scary (although I know many people secure a TC later). I was wondering whether someone could give me advice on how to get back on track please? Most of firms have closed their applications now so I might have to re-apply next application cycle anyways but does anyone have any advice on what next steps I should take in the meantime? Thank you.