Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Daniel Boden]

Jessica in regards to this again, do you think they could say I was trying to lie or be deceptive ? Additionally, I noticed there’s a module on my transcript called career mgt .. I never partook in the module and so I was never assessed on it.. The university however did put it in my transcript cause that’s their policy.. but I never took the module .. so actually, do you think they’ll just conclude that I am a liar ?

No just explain the circumstances as you have done here and I am sure it will be fine. Might be worth having a phone call with them to be able to properly explain any questions they may have as a follow-up

 

[Jessica Booker]

Jessica in regards to this again, do you think they could say I was trying to lie or be deceptive ? Additionally, I noticed there’s a module on my transcript called career mgt .. I never partook in the module and so I was never assessed on it.. The university however did put it in my transcript cause that’s their policy.. but I never took the module .. so actually, do you think they’ll just conclude that I am a liar ?

If your grades were worse than those you had put down - for instance if all your other modules were 2.1s and these were 2.2s or lower, then put quite frankly, yes they would think you were purposely deceptive.

But considering it sounds like these modules were stronger grades than your average, then that is less of an issue.

They won’t think you are deceptive if you explain the situation to them but they are going to question how someone can miss now three modules from their transcript. That isn’t a good look when you are entering a career where if you missed three clauses out of a contract you could find yourself in serious trouble with a client.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are well. I emailed Shoosmiths a couple of days back and I asked them if I could apply for a direct TC as an Indian law student. This is what they said: "
We welcome applications from international students but please note we do not hold a licence to provide sponsorship. It is up to you if you choose to apply for a placement and training contract or a training contract only.

"
Could you tell me what they mean by providing sponsorship? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I really can't seem to figure this out.
Thank You.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are well. I emailed Shoosmiths a couple of days back and I asked them if I could apply for a direct TC as an Indian law student. This is what they said: "
We welcome applications from international students but please note we do not hold a licence to provide sponsorship. It is up to you if you choose to apply for a placement and training contract or a training contract only.

"
Could you tell me what they mean by providing sponsorship? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I really can't seem to figure this out.
Thank You.

It means they can't obtain a work permit for you. An international student would either need the right to work in the UK or need to apply for their own visas to allow them to work in the UK, rather than the employer sponsoring someone's visa.

An employer needs to hold a licence to apply for work permits. If the firm does not have that licence, they literally can't even start the process of obtaining a work permit for someone who requires it.

 

[Pallatablelawyer]

If your grades were worse than those you had put down - for instance if all your other modules were 2.1s and these were 2.2s or lower, then put quite frankly, yes they would think you were purposely deceptive.

But considering it sounds like these modules were stronger grades than your average, then that is less of an issue.

They won’t think you are deceptive if you explain the situation to them but they are going to question how someone can miss now three modules from their transcript. That isn’t a good look when you are entering a career where if you missed three clauses out of a contract you could find yourself in serious trouble with a client.

Thank you! They emailed back saying it will have no negative impact on my interview. I am assuming it’s all well and good for now.

 

[Helpme12345]

Hi Jess,
I applied to a spring scheme and said my second preference would be summer but I now have a VS in summer. Should I inform the other firm that I am now only available for spring? I have only been invited to VI so far.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jess,
I applied to a spring scheme and said my second preference would be summer but I now have a VS in summer. Should I inform the other firm that I am now only available for spring? I have only been invited to VI so far.

No - only inform them if you are successful post VI and are invited to the next/final stage.

 

[Daniel Boden]

Thank you! They emailed back saying it will have no negative impact on my interview. I am assuming it’s all well and good for now.

Glad to hear it and yes you can relax now haha

 

[LawGrad19]

Hi Jessica - Apologies if this has been asked before but I had a quick question. I have accepted a vacation scheme over the summer for a firm that recruits solely from the vacation scheme. I recently have been offered an interview with another firm that I am also interested in however the dates clash. Shall I let them know before the interview or wait until I get the offer to ask to be assessed for a TC?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica - Apologies if this has been asked before but I had a quick question. I have accepted a vacation scheme over the summer for a firm that recruits solely from the vacation scheme. I recently have been offered an interview with another firm that I am also interested in however the dates clash. Shall I let them know before the interview or wait until I get the offer to ask to be assessed for a TC?

If you are definitely not going to be able to do a vac scheme with them, then ask to be converted to a TC now rather than after interview. You could be wasting everyone's time otherwise (which won't be apprecaited!).

 

[Legalmel_99]

Hi Jessica,

For video interviews mine says “extra time” does anyone know if this is for reading the questions and/or answering the questions?

Or if it’s just that I got extra days to complete the video in comparison to others??

Apologies if this has been asked by someone before but I haven’t seen it so just thought I’d reach out

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

For video interviews mine says “extra time” does anyone know if this is for reading the questions and/or answering the questions?

Or if it’s just that I got extra days to complete the video in comparison to others??

Apologies if this has been asked by someone before but I haven’t seen it so just thought I’d reach out

Have you asked for reasonable adjustments?

 

[Legalmel_99]

Have you asked for reasonable adjustments?

They know that I have SpLD I made it clear on the form when I applied

 

[Jessica Booker]

They know that I have SpLD I made it clear on the form when I applied

The the extra time has been applied to the assessment itself rather than the deadline. I won’t know if that has been just applied to the reading time or whether it has also been applied to your answering time as well though. For some reasonable adjustments, it would only be applied to reading time.

 

[Legalmel_99]

The the extra time has been applied to the assessment itself rather than the deadline. I won’t know if that has been just applied to the reading time or whether it has also been applied to your answering time as well though. For some reasonable adjustments, it would only be applied to reading time.

Thankyou! I also assumed thinking time but wasn’t sure 🙂

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. My question is regarding direct TC applications. Ideally how many weeks of legal experience do firms look for, and does it mean that the more legal experience you have, the stronger your application becomes?

Thank You.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. My question is regarding direct TC applications. Ideally how many weeks of legal experience do firms look for, and does it mean that the more legal experience you have, the stronger your application becomes?

Thank You.

There is no set answer.

I have seen enough people secure a TC with no legal work experience.

It isn't a exact science/correlation that your application becomes stronger the more experience you have.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are well. Recently, I read something about direct TC applications which said that sometimes firms invite the direct TC applicant to join their vac scheme, because the firm is doubtful about the candidate but is still interested and therefore wants to see how he/she performs during the scheme to make a final call. Is this true? How frequent is this and what if someone just doesn't have the time to do a 2 weeks scheme?
Thank You.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are well. Recently, I read something about direct TC applications which said that sometimes firms invite the direct TC applicant to join their vac scheme, because the firm is doubtful about the candidate but is still interested and therefore wants to see how he/she performs during the scheme to make a final call. Is this true? How frequent is this and what if someone just doesn't have the time to do a 2 weeks scheme?
Thank You.

I have never heard of this. I doubt it is very frequent at all, and that at best a firm would just direct you to apply to their vacation scheme. If this did happen and someone couldn’t do the scheme, then the candidate would just have to forgo the opportunity and would just be deemed unsuccessful.

 

[Tarnjeet]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

Would really appreciate your views on this:

I’m a final year law student in my first application cycle. If I don’t get a TC this year I’m not sure what do next.

If I spend the next year/s in a different job (hopefully legal or finance-related) to build up experience and strengthen my position before entering my second application window (Sep 2021), rather than doing the LPC, would this put me at a disadvantage? Would firms still sponsor me if I end up taking the LPC a few years down the line (if I secure a TC with them then)?

Thanks,