General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[S87]

Ah I was rejected post test for a policy advisor position, any insight would be much appreciated ! Congratulations !

Keep applying and do not give up!

 

[TLC20]

Keep applying and do not give up!

Hey feel free to DM me re Civil Service jobs - I transitioned from contractor to full time a couple years back and work with a lot of people on the policy and commercial side.

A

 

[keira]

Hey! Is anyone else getting really slow replies from A & O? I emailed them on Sunday and have had no response. Not sure what the right etiquette is for chasing up stuff like this, the email is quite important to my application!

 

[Andrewp]

Dentons rejection

Sorry to hear - what stage and what office?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Yes it is

If it’s the Treasury, let me know. I used to do the recruitment there

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey! Is anyone else getting really slow replies from A & O? I emailed them on Sunday and have had no response. Not sure what the right etiquette is for chasing up stuff like this, the email is quite important to my application!

It’s peak holiday season - I wouldn’t necessarily expect a response in four days at this time of year.

Remember it’s urgent to you, but not necessarily urgent to them. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further

 

[Changes]

Hey feel free to DM me re Civil Service jobs - I transitioned from contractor to full time a couple years back and work with a lot of people on the policy and commercial side.

A

Likewise, I was a fast streamer and am now an economic advisor at one of the larger departments. Though I am seeking a switch to law...

 

[Deleted member 4851]

Does anyone know which city firms are not too picky about grades? This year was my first application cycle and I can't figure out wether I got rejected because of my grades or because of my application. I got a first from a RG uni with final year average 79 and second year average 73 (all marks were 2:1 or above), BUT my first year was a nightmare, averaging mid 2:2 with two thirds and one failed ;( discovery module as I had to juggle uni with 40+ hours work a week and I was not quite good at it. I really don't know whether my app goes straight to the bin because of the first year grades or the issue is my writing style.... I have the equivalent of all A*s/As before uni and I also have zero legal experience (except of InsideSherpa and webinars) but plenty of other customer facing and office jobs. I want to start apply for vac schemes at US firms but I am not sure whether my ambitions are too high.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Does anyone know which city firms are not too picky about grades? This year was my first application cycle and I can't figure out wether I got rejected because of my grades or because of my application. I got a first from a RG uni with final year average 79 and second year average 73 (all marks were 2:1 or above), BUT my first year was a nightmare, averaging mid 2:2 with two thirds and one failed ;( discovery module as I had to juggle uni with 40+ hours work a week and I was not quite good at it. I really don't know whether my app goes straight to the bin because of the first year grades or the issue is my writing style.... I have the equivalent of all A*s/As before uni and I also have zero legal experience (except of InsideSherpa and webinars) but plenty of other customer facing and office jobs. I want to start apply for vac schemes at US firms but I am not sure whether my ambitions are too high.

I suspect your grades are a concern for most of you applied before having your final year results.

Once you had your third year grades and the modules are in a majority of being strong 2.1s or firsts, you are in a much stronger position.

You need to explain you worked 40+ hour weeks though in your first year. And if you have continued to work 40+ hour weeks, getting your current grades and working is exceptional - many firms will take that into consideration if you spell it out for them.

It could easily be down to something else though. Academics are the thing that people think are the issue because they are less subjective and easier to compare than subjective things like work experience or how you write. Most applicants don’t pass either the “career motivation” or “written style” part of an application.

I’d network with US firms to understand whether you are wasting your time or not. No one here will know every individual firm’s preferences enough to comment. They really aren’t uniform - one US firm could love your profile, the next could hate it. You need to connect with them, especially given your situation.

 

[Deleted member 4851]

I suspect your grades are a concern for most of you applied before having your final year results.

Once you had your third year grades and the modules are in a majority of being strong 2.1s or firsts, you are in a much stronger position.

You need to explain you worked 40+ hour weeks though in your first year. And if you have continued to work 40+ hour weeks, getting your current grades and working is exceptional - many firms will take that into consideration if you spell it out for them.

It could easily be down to something else though. Academics are the thing that people think are the issue because they are less subjective and easier to compare than subjective things like work experience or how you write. Most applicants don’t pass either the “career motivation” or “written style” part of an application.

I’d network with US firms to understand whether you are wasting your time or not. No one here will know every individual firm’s preferences enough to comment. They really aren’t uniform - one US firm could love your profile, the next could hate it. You need to connect with them, especially given your situation.

Thank you for your advice. I will try to connect with the firms and see what they say. Hopefully I would find the firm which would love my profile.

 

[Frank]

I suspect your grades are a concern for most of you applied before having your final year results.

Once you had your third year grades and the modules are in a majority of being strong 2.1s or firsts, you are in a much stronger position.

You need to explain you worked 40+ hour weeks though in your first year. And if you have continued to work 40+ hour weeks, getting your current grades and working is exceptional - many firms will take that into consideration if you spell it out for them.

It could easily be down to something else though. Academics are the thing that people think are the issue because they are less subjective and easier to compare than subjective things like work experience or how you write. Most applicants don’t pass either the “career motivation” or “written style” part of an application.

I’d network with US firms to understand whether you are wasting your time or not. No one here will know every individual firm’s preferences enough to comment. They really aren’t uniform - one US firm could love your profile, the next could hate it. You need to connect with them, especially given your situation.

Judge me but grades are such a stupid thing to be honest. In a few years time, assuming you get this job as you want it, no client would ask for your grades. They simply won’t care, come on just a label on somebody.

 

[Deleted member 5185]

If anyone is waiting to hear back from BLM, regarding their direct TC, apparently they are entering into a redundancy consultation with the view that it will affect 89 roles across the board.

They have also closed their Leeds and Bristol offices (this may be because the firm is in favour of working remotely). Not too hopeful about the impact it will have on recruitment .

 

[Camilla]

If anyone is waiting to hear back from BLM, regarding their direct TC, apparently they are entering into a redundancy consultation with the view that it will affect 89 roles across the board.

They have also closed their Leeds and Bristol offices (this may be because the firm is in favour of working remotely). Not too hopeful about the impact it will have on recruitment .

Thanks for this info. The redundancies look to be predominantly in the business support/marketing teams from what I can see. I would have thought they would continue recruitment for trainees but it is getting a bit late in the year now :/

I am supposed to have a place on the training contract assessment centre but last time I spoke to grad rec they said everything is paused until further notice:

"We are hopeful that things will change in the coming months and as they do myself or someone from our wider team will be in touch to update you."

I will send them another email and let you know what response I get

 

[LegalNim]

Judge me but grades are such a stupid thing to be honest. In a few years time, assuming you get this job as you want it, no client would ask for your grades. They simply won’t care, come on just a label on somebody.

I work as a teacher and I could not agree more. Every single year, students get grades that are often determined by pure luck. I can't speak for international exams but, in the UK, our exam boards are terrible and the mistakes they make are often the deciding factor in which students do well and which students don't. I'm glad to see firms increasingly moving away from judging based on grades. I was reading an article just yesterday about a study where they analysed lawyers grades against their professional success and there was no correlation at all.

 

[Lumree]

I work as a teacher and I could not agree more. Every single year, students get grades that are often determined by pure luck. I can't speak for international exams but, in the UK, our exam boards are terrible and the mistakes they make are often the deciding factor in which students do well and which students don't. I'm glad to see firms increasingly moving away from judging based on grades. I was reading an article just yesterday about a study where they analysed lawyers grades against their professional success and there was no correlation at all.

Do you have a link to the article by any chance? Would be interesting to read that!

 

[Deleted member 5185]

Thanks for this info. The redundancies look to be predominantly in the business support/marketing teams from what I can see. I would have thought they would continue recruitment for trainees but it is getting a bit late in the year now :/

I am supposed to have a place on the training contract assessment centre but last time I spoke to grad rec they said everything is paused until further notice:

"We are hopeful that things will change in the coming months and as they do myself or someone from our wider team will be in touch to update you."

I will send them another email and let you know what response I get

That’s amazing, congratulations for getting onto one ! But yeah it’s really tough being in this constant state of limbo.

Thank you Camilla

 

[Jessica Booker]

Judge me but grades are such a stupid thing to be honest. In a few years time, assuming you get this job as you want it, no client would ask for your grades. They simply won’t care, come on just a label on somebody.

It’s not quite that simple unfortunately. Firms are putting you through one or two qualifications before you can even start the job (as it stands anyway), and there is some correlation between people doing well in their degree and the going on to do well in the GDL/LPC. It is therefore a calculated risk assessment to take on people who are more likely to pass those expensive courses and not waste anywhere between £16-35k on paying for someone to take those exams only to fail them, let alone not having someone ready to start because they failed.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I work as a teacher and I could not agree more. Every single year, students get grades that are often determined by pure luck. I can't speak for international exams but, in the UK, our exam boards are terrible and the mistakes they make are often the deciding factor in which students do well and which students don't. I'm glad to see firms increasingly moving away from judging based on grades. I was reading an article just yesterday about a study where they analysed lawyers grades against their professional success and there was no correlation at all.

A-level grades yes, but not degree grades.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Do you have a link to the article by any chance? Would be interesting to read that!

https://www.thelawyer.com/do-a-levels-predict-highest-performing-lawyers/

 

[Camilla]

https://www.thelawyer.com/do-a-levels-predict-highest-performing-lawyers/

So the Watson Glaser is a better indicator of performance during a TC than A-Level grades. Interesting!