*Edit --> Sorry guys I changed the name of the thread. Spoiler alert I never managed to apply for Clifford Chance but I couldn't pass up the pun. Apologies to those who have been misled.*
TLDR: I got a training contract!! and just passed SQE 1!! Currently working through SQE 2.
Intro:
Hello, I'm Lilly. I joined the TCLA at the start of this round of applications and in my head, I was going to have a TC before the cycle was over. I realise now that I was a little bit delusional but I'm a law student, so it comes with the territory.
I realise that it is rather late in the day to be posting this, but idk I didn't feel like I had anything to post about until now and have decided to share my story in case people ever feel like they aren't going to get anything either. Also, I am slacking on my applications at the moment and need something to get me back on track. I do not think for a moment I'm going to be the next legal influencer of the decade but here's to hoping.
Plans for the thread.
- I think I also want to use this thread to share some of the tricks I have learnt. I know my strengths and my weaknesses.
- All the feedback I have ever gotten has said that I interview well, I think it is often why after the app stage I can make it to the final rounds when I fall at the written tasks.
- I have developed a few hacks throughout my time for this which I thought I would share.
- Throughout this journey, I know that I need to develop my written skills. My downfall has always been the written tests. I'm a slow writer and I like to redraft things or else they are riddled with errors. My feedback confirms it.
- So I hope to share any tips I learn along the way as well.
A bit about me (sans some pesky details).
- I studied law for my undergrad and got ok grades. It's nothing special but what can you do about it?
- I wanted to go to The Bar up until the end of my third year when I failed to get any mini-pupillages.
- I made two applications at the end of my third year for training contracts. Got offered one and made it to the AC stage for another.
- I ultimately couldn't accept the TC offer. I know this sounds awful but it didn't have a department in the area I was interested in, it was a small firm which would have required me to self-fund the SQE which I couldn't afford. It also wouldn't let me defer a year. I have wrestled with this decision over the last few months, thinking about whether this was the right one. I think it was, especially after the mess that happened with the SQE 1 this year but at the same time I really want a job.
- This year I have fully committed to the solicitor route and have picked out a few firms I like the look of.
- I try and only apply to firms where I know they have done at least one famous case in the area of law I am interested in.
Applications: (UP TO DATE)
I have so far made 10? applications
A mix of TC and Vac Scheme. It appears that once I get past the written application I make it to the end and I have more success on the direct TC route where the firm does not have a VS.
I have decided that some of these firms are very niche and it would be very easy to discover who I am from them. So I have assigned them aliases from Suits and The Goodwife in italics.
- Russel Cooke Direct TC - PFO
- Wakefield Cady TC - PFO post-final stage.
- Boodle Hatfield VS and TC - PFO
- PMC VS - PFO
- Bratten Gould TC - PFO post-final interview.
- Farrer and Co VS - PFO
- Mills and Reeve VS - PFO
Irwin Mitchell - VS - OFFER TRAINING CONTRACT OFFER- Rand Caldor Zane TC - PFO
- Pearson Hardman VS -
First Interview Invite💃 VS OFFER. TRAINING CONTRACT OFFER - Wedlake Bell TC: PFO
- Withers:
Test done. PFO
