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General Discussion Thread 2020-21
- Thread starter Jaysen
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- May 4, 2020
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In my experience, the VS was completely packed.Hi all, I am applying for winter vac schemes but I am still no sure how it will work out in case I hopefully get one as I am working afternoons and evenings as well. Can anyone, who has had a virtual vac scheme, share some details about their programme in terms of hours? Did you normally worked 9-5 for example or were your days pretty much packed with something happening 9-9? Thank you
9-5 were standard hours for practice talks/Q&A and so on, but on top of that there was also heavily suggested virtual networking (not obligatory, but since it was virtual it was the only real extra way of showing additional interest), and enforced socials, so the office hours were more like 9-7.
As well as 'office hours', the tasks that we were given to complete were all extremely time-consuming, and were to be completed in our spare time, so I don't think I was ever finished before 22/2300 each night. That seemed to be the broad experience of other people on the scheme too. Weekends were equally busy, and the only "free" period was at the very end of the scheme - but by then you needed to use those few free hours to prepare for the TC interview.
That said, this particular MC firm has squashed their entire 4 week scheme into 2 weeks, and so some firms were less intense (a friend of mine on the same VS who had an additional VS at another MC firm said it was much more relaxed), but personally, I wouldn't want to risk having to juggle both a vac scheme and work. I was lucky enough to have an employer who gave me as much time off as required (the only upside to zero hour contracts), but I do appreciate not everyone has this option.
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- May 4, 2020
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If you're interested in last year's experience (that got me an AC invite), my highest-scoring attributes were respect & working with others, my lowest scoring attribute was resource & work management.
That's fair thanks! I got strongest motivation + resilience and weakest leadership preference. So we'll see how that works out
I too got an AC invite last year and got the same. Didn’t get working with others this year and got critical thinking instead so who knows!
To those applying to Freshfields, is their vacation scheme only open to penultimate year law students, and non-law students? Seems so according to the website's wording.
Under the description of the winter vacation scheme, it is written "Once you have submitted your online application you will receive an invitation from us to complete 3 psychometric assessments", so my understanding is that they do not review the application before sending the tests.
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Correct - they don't! I submitted my application today and a few hours later received an email that said:
"Within the next 7 days you will receive an invitation to complete our online assessment. You will have 7 days to complete this."
Jessica Booker
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It’s rarely as simple as that. There will be hourly rates billed depending on what you are doing and your seniority, but then they will be wrapped up in packages of services, with things like discounts and capped fees applied too.
I did attempt to ask this earlier in the thread, but I don't think I was very clear, so I'm going to try and rephrase as the issue is one that is really worrying me.
When submitting vacation scheme applications firms are asking me to list my work experiences. When doing so there is often also space to outline key responsibilities etc. I was just wondering how I should approach these sections. Should I include key skills I developed? List my response in bullet points?
The reason I ask is that I feel like this is a space where I could improve my communication skills and ensure grad recruitment really see all the skills I have developed?
When submitting vacation scheme applications firms are asking me to list my work experiences. When doing so there is often also space to outline key responsibilities etc. I was just wondering how I should approach these sections. Should I include key skills I developed? List my response in bullet points?
The reason I ask is that I feel like this is a space where I could improve my communication skills and ensure grad recruitment really see all the skills I have developed?
Hi all, I am applying for winter vac schemes but I am still no sure how it will work out in case I hopefully get one as I am working afternoons and evenings as well. Can anyone, who has had a virtual vac scheme, share some details about their programme in terms of hours? Did you normally worked 9-5 for example or were your days pretty much packed with something happening 9-9? Thank you
Hello! I completely agree with what @Adam Gilchrist said above.
In regards to my experience, my virtual VS was cut from 2 weeks to 1 week where I basically worked the full 9-5pm. After every "work day" there were events planned for the candidates such as a Partner's Networking Event on Zoom, or a trainee's event etc. Plus after that, I would work until 8-9pm during the entire week on 2 tasks that were going to be assessed by Grad Recruitment at the end of the VS. I think it completely depends on the style of your VS and what you are going to be assessed on for a TC. For the VS I did, we only were assessed on our engagement during the VS and on 2 tasks that were assigned to us (we didn't have an exit interview or anything like that).
On the other hand, my partner completed a virtual VS which was completely different than me. He only had to do a SWOT analysis and presentation on the last day of his VS so he essentially finished "working" at around 5-6pm and only had events throughout the day. So I do agree that you will be super tired and drained if you worked during the VS, I think you should enquire about what the virtual VS will consist of and then make a decision based on that! I personally think you need all your energy throughout the day for the VS and you need adequate down time to relax as much as you can afterwards in order to be a good head space!
Hi Lydia!
I would not recommend putting bullet points because I did in my first cycle and did not get past the application stage at all. I'm not sure if it differs depending on the firm, but the work experience section is the best way to let Grad Recruitment know of your experiences and they can get to know you as a better candidate. I suggest looking on the firm's website to see skills they are looking for - this is often found on the Careers section of the website. Try to allot skills to the experiences you have and discuss what your role was in that work experience. I would try to pick out 2-3 skills per work experience to demonstrate in your answer. If you would want to see an example of this, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to help!
Linklaters winter vac only shut on the 15th and I'm already refreshing my emails, anyone that got to AC last year did they take a while to get back to you?
Took until the beginning of November so don’t expect anything for a couple of weeks
I personally don’t list but instead write about the skills I’ve learnt in that job, and what the role actually involved & how this will help me as a commercial lawyer!
Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has an email address for Jones Day Grad Rec? Having some trouble with my application but can't get through to anyone at the firm unfortunately
Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has an email address for Jones Day Grad Rec? Having some trouble with my application but can't get through to anyone at the firm unfortunately
this is the email address where they emailed me, they signed it with ‘trainee recruitment/development’ - hope this helps
[email protected]
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