Good morning guys! I concluded my application cycle in March with no VS offers. I was disappointed but not surprised as I truly believed that I did not present my best self. However, I have since picked myself up and have decided to apply for firms back in my home country (I am an international student). There are quite a few big-name firms here (eg: Baker McKenzie partner firm and HSF) so I was quite excited. Unfortunately, the majority of these firms have since canceled their internships with no plans of going virtual. This has left me with no internship placement in the summer. I am a bit concerned about how this will impact my application next cycle and I have since, applied to smaller firms/niche firms who have yet to reply. As it is, I am currently organising a flagship event in the summer with collaborations from various top firms such as EY as well as doing a consultation 'mini-internship'. Is there was anything else I could do this summer to boost my application? I do understand these would be viewed as 'extra-curricular' as opposed to work experience. I was also wondering what would be UK firm's perspective of my internship at smaller firms. Thank you so much!
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1. Every experience is a valid experience - it is always up to you how you present it in your application. An internship in a smaller/niche firm can be incredibly valuable.
2. As for summer vac schemes - plenty of people manage to secure a TC without having a single vac scheme in their resume (this might be for a number of reasons). If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about not having any internship for this summer, especially in the current circumstances (anecdotally, my only vac scheme was completely scrapped off). Just focus on the next cycle
3. From what you've written, you actually have very solid plans for the summer - however, if you want to do even more, then maybe try virtual internships (there is a separate thread about this on the forum) or some online courses?
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I entirely agree with what @Dominika_95 has said above. All experience is good experience and definitely leverage the online courses and internships that are available.
One thing I would say that can help you to prepare for the next recruitment cycle and to try and self develop further is to try and do things which scare you or try to confront some things which you know are your weaker areas. I found doing this between my two cycles really helped me as I was able to reflect on what had been holding me back and I actively had stuff I could discuss in my apps and at interviews to show my professional and personal development. I think now is as good a time as ever to do this and I assure you that you'll feel really proud of yourself for doing it too.
1. Every experience is a valid experience - it is always up to you how you present it in your application. An internship in a smaller/niche firm can be incredibly valuable.
2. As for summer vac schemes - plenty of people manage to secure a TC without having a single vac scheme in their resume (this might be for a number of reasons). If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about not having any internship for this summer, especially in the current circumstances (anecdotally, my only vac scheme was completely scrapped off). Just focus on the next cycle
3. From what you've written, you actually have very solid plans for the summer - however, if you want to do even more, then maybe try virtual internships (there is a separate thread about this on the forum) or some online courses?
Thank you so much for your reply Dominka and all your insight! I'm sorry to hear that your VS was scrapped
it really does suck but Im sure you'll secure another one next cycle! As for the online courses/virtual internships, would this be something I can put on my CV or would it be considered irrelevant/insignificant? Thank you so much once again!Thank you Alice for your reply! I'm definitely going to be applying for any online courses/trying to do in-person internships if available.
Could you give more insight as to what you did to confront your fears? Personally, I feel that my weaker areas are striving for excellence and perfecting my work. I do tend to rush and prioritise handing them in on time/completing them way before the deadline and having them complete rather than working on quality. I have been trying to work on that but have failed to find any concrete exams where I can grow. I have also struggled a lot with commercial awareness and was planning to do some online courses on finance/commercial understanding.
Also, I saw that you have recently secured a training contract and I would just like to extend my congratulations!
Jessica Booker
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Thank you so much for your reply Dominka and all your insight! I'm sorry to hear that your VS was scrapped
You’d definitely put it on an application form. Pretty much most people won’t have an face to face internship this summer, so any virtual internship is going to be the best alternative for the vast majority of applicants.
Jessica Booker
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“Perfecting your work” isn’t something lawyers do. It’s something that is impossible to do. What they have to do is work out how to get the work to the best they can under the time or resource constraints they have.
Thank you so much for your reply Dominka and all your insight! I'm sorry to hear that your VS was scrapped
Online courses and virtual internships could be included in your CV, however they tend to rank lower in the order of priority of things you would normally include. Put simply, if your CV is rather spacious, you could include them. Virtual internships (the automated kind), are often disclosed during the application process of the relevant firm (i.e. when applying to Linklaters, mention that you did their virtual internship). Similarly, online courses that are relevant to the firm could be disclosed as part of the application form.
You could also try volunteering and help out COVID19 related initiatives. That can certainly go in your CV, it looks great and it should give you some real responsibility.
Thank you so much!
I think perfecting work is something you maybe just need to bear in mind going forwards but my personal issue was public speaking. I still have some things to work on but it’s just about practice. I managed to work on this last year and have tried to do so further with my current job too. I think commercial awareness is a great thing to work on at this time. Courses will help and just being consistent with your news coverage and reading around topics
Thanks Jessica for your input! Will be trying to complete as much virtual internships open to me as possible.
Further, I do understand that perfection isn't possible. I was trying to express my tendency to disregard quality over quantity and my habit of merely 'completing the job satisfactorily' as opposed to just putting in that bit of extra effort!
Thank you so much for your input! I will definitely be looking into doing some volunteering initiatives!
Thank you so much!
I think perfecting work is something you maybe just need to bear in mind going forwards but my personal issue was public speaking. I still have some things to work on but it’s just about practice. I managed to work on this last year and have tried to do so further with my current job too. I think commercial awareness is a great thing to work on at this time. Courses will help and just being consistent with your news coverage and reading around topics
Ah I see thank you so much Alice!
Jessica Booker
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Thanks Jessica for your input! Will be trying to complete as much virtual internships open to me as possible.
Further, I do understand that perfection isn't possible. I was trying to express my tendency to disregard quality over quantity and my habit of merely 'completing the job satisfactorily' as opposed to just putting in that bit of extra effort!
It’s not about quantity. Focus on those with firms you are interested in or that might provide you with a different learning opportunity.
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Thanks Jessica for your input! Will be trying to complete as much virtual internships open to me as possible.
Further, I do understand that perfection isn't possible. I was trying to express my tendency to disregard quality over quantity and my habit of merely 'completing the job satisfactorily' as opposed to just putting in that bit of extra effort!
I think it's great that you've identified this as an area to improve on. The next time you get a task (doesn't have to be work, it could be anything), you might want to try focusing on making it excellent. That'll probably take a while to start with, but over time you should find a closer balance between speed and quality.
