Hearing Back from Law Firms, Assessment Centres & Interview Tips - 2019 - 2020

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M&ALawyer

Valued Member
Future Trainee
Jul 29, 2019
116
594
Just received a Vacation Scheme offer from Skadden!

Last year I was rejected from all 60 of my applications. This year I began to give up hope once I received 15 more rejections I had spent an excessively long time preparing, including 3 post interview. Aside from my commercial law applications I applied to dozens of at high street firms and charities to gain some legal experience, but to no avail. .

I am so grateful to those on this website and @Jaysen for assisting me in the whole process, as I know I would have not been able to make it this far without the guidance provided. It feels like I am on the start of a journey, which I will try my best to hopefully end up in a TC!

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their applications!
 

Pallatablelawyer

Legendary Member
Jun 12, 2019
257
642
Just received a Vacation Scheme offer from Skadden!

Last year I was rejected from all 60 of my applications. This year I began to give up hope once I received 15 more rejections I had spent an excessively long time preparing, including 3 post interview. Aside from my commercial law applications I applied to dozens of at high street firms and charities to gain some legal experience, but to no avail. .

I am so grateful to those on this website and @Jaysen for assisting me in the whole process, as I know I would have not been able to make it this far without the guidance provided. It feels like I am on the start of a journey, which I will try my best to hopefully end up in a TC!

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their applications!
Man I am so happy for you wow
 
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J32

Valued Member
Future Trainee
Apr 4, 2019
108
250
Just received a Vacation Scheme offer from Skadden!

Last year I was rejected from all 60 of my applications. This year I began to give up hope once I received 15 more rejections I had spent an excessively long time preparing, including 3 post interview. Aside from my commercial law applications I applied to dozens of at high street firms and charities to gain some legal experience, but to no avail. .

I am so grateful to those on this website and @Jaysen for assisting me in the whole process, as I know I would have not been able to make it this far without the guidance provided. It feels like I am on the start of a journey, which I will try my best to hopefully end up in a TC!

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their applications!

Got White & Case and Skadden Vac Schemes! So thankful

Congratulations to both of you, terrific achievements! Make sure you celebrate this weekend :)
 
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NourJ

Esteemed Member
Future Trainee
Jan 1, 2020
85
44
Just received a Vacation Scheme offer from Skadden!

Last year I was rejected from all 60 of my applications. This year I began to give up hope once I received 15 more rejections I had spent an excessively long time preparing, including 3 post interview. Aside from my commercial law applications I applied to dozens of at high street firms and charities to gain some legal experience, but to no avail. .

I am so grateful to those on this website and @Jaysen for assisting me in the whole process, as I know I would have not been able to make it this far without the guidance provided. It feels like I am on the start of a journey, which I will try my best to hopefully end up in a TC!

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their applications!
Got White & Case and Skadden Vac Schemes! So thankful

Congrats guys! You earned it :D
 

003

Star Member
Sep 4, 2019
44
42
Just received an email from Reed Smith apologising for the wait and saying they have had an extremely high number of applications which they are working through as quickly as possible.

Is this likely a holding email or just an update? I submitted my research questions before Christmas but I haven't contacted them. Has anyone had a summer AC/ invite from them?
 

SG

Active Member
Future Trainee
Jan 16, 2020
18
19
Just received an email from Reed Smith apologising for the wait and saying they have had an extremely high number of applications which they are working through as quickly as possible.

Is this likely a holding email or just an update? I submitted my research questions before Christmas but I haven't contacted them. Has anyone had a summer AC/ invite from them?

I’ve received the same and I submitted my research questions before Christmas too.
 
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nisadee

Valued Member
Oct 9, 2019
103
126
Hey guys, I'm in a really sticky situation right now...
I know this might sound ungrateful to some but I'm thinking of not attending an interview at Macfarlanes which I have been offered. I'm going through a lot of stress right now and suffer from anxiety. I have already secured a vac scheme with DLA Piper and have been rejected from Freshfields. I prepared a lot for the Freshfields AC and I still did not get it and so I really don't want to think about preparing for the Macfarlanes one to that extent since I just cannot 'wing' it. The thought of going through this again is actually making me very stressed right now. I honestly am happy with having one vac scheme this year. I know Macfarlanes have a small intake and given the type of interview is about thinking on your feet (something I am not good at), I doubt I would get it anyway.
I don't know, I feel like my mind is kind of made up but I just wanted to share to know what some of you think about this... any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!
 

jan28

Legendary Member
Future Trainee
M&A Bootcamp
Sep 12, 2019
423
994
Hey guys, I'm in a really sticky situation right now...
I know this might sound ungrateful to some but I'm thinking of not attending an interview at Macfarlanes which I have been offered. I'm going through a lot of stress right now and suffer from anxiety. I have already secured a vac scheme with DLA Piper and have been rejected from Freshfields. I prepared a lot for the Freshfields AC and I still did not get it and so I really don't want to think about preparing for the Macfarlanes one to that extent since I just cannot 'wing' it. The thought of going through this again is actually making me very stressed right now. I honestly am happy with having one vac scheme this year. I know Macfarlanes have a small intake and given the type of interview is about thinking on your feet (something I am not good at), I doubt I would get it anyway.
I don't know, I feel like my mind is kind of made up but I just wanted to share to know what some of you think about this... any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!

I completely understand where you’re coming from but I think you should still attend. Although you’re gutted about the rejection now, you will be far more gutted after you’ve accepted it and will wish you gave Macs a shot in the future. Worst case, you get rejected from Macfarlanes but still have a VS offer plus more AC experiences in the bag. Think of it as short term pain for a long term gain :) take the weekend off and start again Monday x
 

Jade

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2018
22
36
Hey guys, I'm in a really sticky situation right now...
I know this might sound ungrateful to some but I'm thinking of not attending an interview at Macfarlanes which I have been offered. I'm going through a lot of stress right now and suffer from anxiety. I have already secured a vac scheme with DLA Piper and have been rejected from Freshfields. I prepared a lot for the Freshfields AC and I still did not get it and so I really don't want to think about preparing for the Macfarlanes one to that extent since I just cannot 'wing' it. The thought of going through this again is actually making me very stressed right now. I honestly am happy with having one vac scheme this year. I know Macfarlanes have a small intake and given the type of interview is about thinking on your feet (something I am not good at), I doubt I would get it anyway.
I don't know, I feel like my mind is kind of made up but I just wanted to share to know what some of you think about this... any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Oh bless you, completely understand where you are coming from. Your mental health should be your priority certainly. Just make sure your certain you won’t regret it, as your DLA VS may not result in a TC. Macfarlanes is also such a strong firm it would be a shame to let it go.
 

AH9891

Valued Member
Jan 11, 2020
102
164
Hey guys, I'm in a really sticky situation right now...
I know this might sound ungrateful to some but I'm thinking of not attending an interview at Macfarlanes which I have been offered. I'm going through a lot of stress right now and suffer from anxiety. I have already secured a vac scheme with DLA Piper and have been rejected from Freshfields. I prepared a lot for the Freshfields AC and I still did not get it and so I really don't want to think about preparing for the Macfarlanes one to that extent since I just cannot 'wing' it. The thought of going through this again is actually making me very stressed right now. I honestly am happy with having one vac scheme this year. I know Macfarlanes have a small intake and given the type of interview is about thinking on your feet (something I am not good at), I doubt I would get it anyway.
I don't know, I feel like my mind is kind of made up but I just wanted to share to know what some of you think about this... any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!

  • Hey, I completely understand how you feel, it’s such a difficult decision to make. Only you know how you feel about it and how prepared you feel for the interview. I’d say that Macfarlanes is one of the firms where you can’t reapply until a significant change in your circumstances after a failed AC (someone please correct me if this is incorrect), so if you genuinely like the firm and think that you are not in the headspace, I’d maybe not do it. I’m always a huge believer in going for it, but you have to do what sits best with where your head’s at and as they are one of the hardest to re-apply to, it may be best to not do it. Again, only you will really know what the best thing to do is
 
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J88

Standard Member
Sep 22, 2018
7
31
Hey guys, I'm in a really sticky situation right now...
I know this might sound ungrateful to some but I'm thinking of not attending an interview at Macfarlanes which I have been offered. I'm going through a lot of stress right now and suffer from anxiety. I have already secured a vac scheme with DLA Piper and have been rejected from Freshfields. I prepared a lot for the Freshfields AC and I still did not get it and so I really don't want to think about preparing for the Macfarlanes one to that extent since I just cannot 'wing' it. The thought of going through this again is actually making me very stressed right now. I honestly am happy with having one vac scheme this year. I know Macfarlanes have a small intake and given the type of interview is about thinking on your feet (something I am not good at), I doubt I would get it anyway.
I don't know, I feel like my mind is kind of made up but I just wanted to share to know what some of you think about this... any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Hey! Sorry to hear about this - this sounds really tough.

I'm not sure if this is at all helpful - but I think maybe it could be quite productive getting away from a outcome-oriented way of thinking i.e. wondering whether you'll be successful at the AC; or wondering about the conversion rates of your vac scheme, and letting that decide whether you should do the AC. Obviously the purpose of applying is to ultimately get a TC, but I think it could be helpful for your situation to *not* think about the interviews in an outcome-oriented way.

I'd instead think about the interview as part of a process - and a really great experience. I've done the Macfarlanes AC: it's pretty difficult, and you do need to think quite hard. But I think the experience does help you get better at these skills. If you're really stuck with the exercises, you can ask the partner for prompts. If you still can't get the answer, then the partner will probably just tell you in the end - there's no shame in it! This is really invaluable. You can then go away from the interview, replay it in your head and evaluate: what was my thinking process like? How could I have improved it? Are there gaps in my knowledge which I need to address? What did I miss? How could I have arrived at the solution the partner hinted towards? What can I do going forward?

I think treating the AC as a process makes it a much more enjoyable experience, and you can get a lot of value out of it for your future interviews - regardless of the outcome!

Although of course your mental health is extremely important, and you should prioritise that! My answer is just reflecting my own personal experience, and something that's helped me a lot :)
 
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