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

[Lumree]

Hi team,

This is a question more steered towards @Jacob Miller as I know you’re (currently?) based in Scotland but please feel free to reply as well @Dheepa @Naomi U !

Did you at any stage in the process have to, or decide to, explain why you wanted to move to London for a training contract? If so, how did you approach it?

Thank you!

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi team,

This is a question more steered towards @Jacob Miller as I know you’re (currently?) based in Scotland but please feel free to reply as well @Dheepa @Naomi U !

Did you at any stage in the process have to, or decide to, explain why you wanted to move to London for a training contract? If so, how did you approach it?

Thank you!

Based in Scotland for the next 12 days or so! Big move to London after that.

Yeah its something I've been asked a lot about - I've always just been very honest and said that I feel the London Market is more exciting, dynamic, diverse etc than the Scottish legal market. I think you can do more exciting work and London is also just an amazing city to be in from a personal perspective. I think being honest here is generally speaking well received.

 

[Dheepa]

Hi team,

This is a question more steered towards @Jacob Miller as I know you’re (currently?) based in Scotland but please feel free to reply as well @Dheepa @Naomi U !

Did you at any stage in the process have to, or decide to, explain why you wanted to move to London for a training contract? If so, how did you approach it?

Thank you!

Will chip in anyway since I’ve had to explain why I wanted to leave my home country in Asia permanently, qualify in a completely different jurisdiction, and of course build a life in London.

I pretty much agree with Jacob - honesty works best when answering questions like this. I think it’s a good idea to explain firstly why your professional ambitions line up with a career in London before also including one or two points on why your personal ambitions/goals also do so. I think that discussing your personal goals helps because it gives the firm all the more reason to believe you’re in it for the long run.

Obviously can’t be of much use on the personal ambitions front, but in terms of explaining my professional goals, I always brought up that London being the second biggest legal market in the world meant exposure to more interesting work. Other ways you can choose to approach this is maybe discussing particular practice areas that you’re interested (if it’s things like finance or corporate) and how London being a leading financial hub means that again you get better exposure to those areas.

Hope that helps

 

[Lumree]

Thank you both! I’m looking to make the move from Wales for very similar personal/professional reasons so really helpful insight.

 

[Jessica Booker]

From a recruiter's perspective, they just want to see you can make a reasonable time commitment to that location (really 5 years of work minimum from their perspective) and that also you are going to be happy living somewhere you haven't been to/lived in before. A lot of time, people focus on the work (which is important) but you have also got to be confident you can live in the location too. Your happiness and well-being outside of work is important to your happiness and well-being inside of work, and recruiters have seen too many people not thrive in London. London isn't for everyone (although that may be less of an issue these day with more remote working).

There is also a risk for recruiters that this is just an upskilling exercise for some. Some will want the English qualification/practice certificate + experience in London at a premier firm, knowing that it is a easy ticket to work in many other locations, whether that be in the UK or globally.

 

[Arisa]

Hello @Jacob Miller @Naomi U and @Dheepa
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us on this forum!
I also have a question regarding my application that I’m hoping you could give me some insight on.

I’m a 2:1 LLB non-EU graduate, currently studying the LPC part time, and due to be done in July 2022.
I’m currently applying for training contracts and oh boy... its been rejection after rejection so far.
One major issue with my application is that, my a levels were pretty bad (B,B,C... i know.. horrific..as I’m attempting to secure a training contract, most looking for AAB and above)
At this point the myriad of rejections are making me wonder if I actually have no hope due to the kind of a levels I have?
Or do I still have a chance? Do you know of any people who secured a training contract with a-levels like mine?
Also I’d be grateful if you could share with me any tips that could make my application stand-out despite my a level grades as well as any general tips applying as an international student.

P.S I have alot of work experience but unfortunately they aren’t very legal. Also I do have strong extracurriculars from undergrad, one of them being Law Society President at my university. I currently live and work in Japan.

I apologize for stuffing so many questions in here! I look forward to your reply! Thank you in advance!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jacob Miller @Naomi U and @Dheepa
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us on this forum!
I also have a question regarding my application that I’m hoping you could give me some insight on.

I’m a 2:1 LLB non-EU graduate, currently studying the LPC part time, and due to be done in July 2022.
I’m currently applying for training contracts and oh boy... its been rejection after rejection so far.
One major issue with my application is that, my a levels were pretty bad (B,B,C... i know.. horrific..as I’m attempting to secure a training contract, most looking for AAB and above)
At this point the myriad of rejections are making me wonder if I actually have no hope due to the kind of a levels I have?
Or do I still have a chance? Do you know of any people who secured a training contract with a-levels like mine?
Also I’d be grateful if you could share with me any tips that could make my application stand-out despite my a level grades as well as any general tips applying as an international student.

P.S I have alot of work experience but unfortunately they aren’t very legal. Also I do have strong extracurriculars from undergrad, one of them being Law Society President at my university. I currently live and work in Japan.

I apologize for stuffing so many questions in here! I look forward to your reply! Thank you in advance!

If you are applying to firms with a strict AAB or above criteria, then your A-levels will be a major obstacle unless you have mitigating circumstances to them. Would you not consider firms who do not have this requirement? There are enough large/international firms out there that don't these days.

I have recruited people with worse A-level grades than yours, but it was always with firms who didn't have an A-level requirement like the one you are suggesting.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hey guys. Hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask you, what are your views on the applicants mentioning things like an "Earnout clause" in the case study exercises. Is it okay to make such core legal points in the interview or can this backfire?

Thanks.

 

[Daniel Boden]

Hey guys. Hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask you, what are your views on the applicants mentioning things like an "Earnout clause" in the case study exercises. Is it okay to make such core legal points in the interview or can this backfire?

Thanks.

If they're applicable and make sense in the context of the case study then definitely mention them but be prepared to be grilled on your understanding of them in the follow-up interview. Many interviewers would question you about your understanding of those clauses such as 'earnout', 'drag-along rights/tag-along rights', 'pre-emption rights' etc. so that's just a word of warning but if you have a good understanding of them then feel free to as you will score points if they apply!

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey guys. Hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask you, what are your views on the applicants mentioning things like an "Earnout clause" in the case study exercises. Is it okay to make such core legal points in the interview or can this backfire?

Thanks.

As Daniel says, if they're applicable to the situation and you feel happy enough discussing them, then mentioning them is absolutely fine. Just be aware, though, that anything you bring up essentially makes it fair game for further pressing and questioning so don't mention something unless you're 100% okay with being probed on it.

 

[Tarnjeet]

Guys, could you please help me with the following:

1)Does anyone know how many TC places Ashurst reserve/take on for direct TC candidates?

2)I graduated a couple weeks ago and didn’t apply to Ashurst’s vacation scheme but plan to apply to their direct TC application (are they likely to ask why I didn’t apply to their vacation scheme/will this be looked down on?)

3)I start a paralegal role next month (i.e after I send of my application), can I use this as an entry for the work experience section? If not, is there generally somewhere else you would talk about a future role?

 

[Jacob Miller]

Guys, could you please help me with the following:

1)Does anyone know how many TC places Ashurst reserve/take on for direct TC candidates?

2)I graduated a couple weeks ago and didn’t apply to Ashurst’s vacation scheme but plan to apply to their direct TC application (are they likely to ask why I didn’t apply to their vacation scheme/will this be looked down on?)

3)I start a paralegal role next month (i.e after I send of my application), can I use this as an entry for the work experience section? If not, is there generally somewhere else you would talk about a future role?

Hi

I can't speak for 1, sorry.

Q2: I don't think this will be looked down on in any way. If you're asked (which you might not even be), just be honest - firms know we're making loads of apps to loads of firms, it's not a personal thing.

Q3: you would put a paralegal position as employment history as opposed to a work experience section.

 

[Tarnjeet]

@Jacob Miller Thanks!

 

[Bee6]

Hi all! I will be attending a virtual VS soon, but will not be doing any 'live' work. I think most of the work given will be fictional. When we do have a group presentation/work to do, should I ask my trainee buddy/grad rec for the house formatting - or is this too confidential? Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi all! I will be attending a virtual VS soon, but will not be doing any 'live' work. I think most of the work given will be fictional. When we do have a group presentation/work to do, should I ask my trainee buddy/grad rec for the house formatting - or is this too confidential? Thank you!

Hours formatting isn’t confidential really so no harm asking. They might be able to send you a template if the firm has one, or at least give you some pointers in terms of style.

 

[Bee6]

Hours formatting isn’t confidential really so no harm asking. They might be able to send you a template if the firm has one, or at least give you some pointers in terms of style.

Thanks @Jessica Booker ! Is it appropriate to ask the graduate recruitment team for the house formatting? Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks @Jessica Booker ! Is it appropriate to ask the graduate recruitment team for the house formatting? Thank you!

I'd ask a trainee/lawyer.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi guys. Hope you all are doing well. Could you please tell me, how should I go about setting up Google Alerts for firms that I am looking forward to applying to. I'm from India and I don't have the time to put in 15-20 apps like the UK students so I have zeroed in on CC, FBD and Links. I did set up alerts on these which compile everything and notify me in a mail that is sent once a day but I just don't know what to do with that information. Every day there seems to be a lot of lateral hiring with partners moving etc. and there is no way that I can remember all of this stuff. Is there some method to the madness? Should I only set up these alerts in the month of my application so that in case I get through, I can read the recent stuff that's been happening at these firms? I'm just not able to figure it out, could you please help? @Jacob Miller @Dheepa


Thanks

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi guys. Hope you all are doing well. Could you please tell me, how should I go about setting up Google Alerts for firms that I am looking forward to applying to. I'm from India and I don't have the time to put in 15-20 apps like the UK students so I have zeroed in on CC, FBD and Links. I did set up alerts on these which compile everything and notify me in a mail that is sent once a day but I just don't know what to do with that information. Every day there seems to be a lot of lateral hiring with partners moving etc. and there is no way that I can remember all of this stuff. Is there some method to the madness? Should I only set up these alerts in the month of my application so that in case I get through, I can read the recent stuff that's been happening at these firms? I'm just not able to figure it out, could you please help? @Jacob Miller @Dheepa


Thanks

I have only briefly tried Google alerts myself in the past for this reason. I think they're great, but can lead to some informational overload. I'm also not wildly sure of the infrastructural side of them in re how customisable they are etc.

I think having the alerts there is a good thing, but maybe brush up your scan reading skills etc and learn to really filter through all the unimportant stuff there to focus on a few key things that you want to follow closely too.

 

[Dheepa]

Hi guys. Hope you all are doing well. Could you please tell me, how should I go about setting up Google Alerts for firms that I am looking forward to applying to. I'm from India and I don't have the time to put in 15-20 apps like the UK students so I have zeroed in on CC, FBD and Links. I did set up alerts on these which compile everything and notify me in a mail that is sent once a day but I just don't know what to do with that information. Every day there seems to be a lot of lateral hiring with partners moving etc. and there is no way that I can remember all of this stuff. Is there some method to the madness? Should I only set up these alerts in the month of my application so that in case I get through, I can read the recent stuff that's been happening at these firms? I'm just not able to figure it out, could you please help? @Jacob Miller @Dheepa


Thanks

Completely agree with Jacob. I tried setting up Google alerts and would get over 100+ alerts daily for just a single firm. I don't think they're a very useful way of doing research. Your best bet is to attend webinars or online events firms run to get information you need. This will often be more helpful for apps than anything a news article can give you. You definitely don't need to remember information either - it's more about choosing information that actually made you want to apply and train at the firm + doing more background research into that information.

Just to flag, we're also releasing weekly news summaries from The Lawyer/Law.com on TCLA Premium which should also be useful for looking at business trends across different law firms (including the ones you mentioned applying to).

Hope that helps!