How can I improve myself as a TC candidate in the time before a vac scheme?

[Etudierlaw2022]

Any tips for maximising the time I have between now and a vac scheme in June? I would love to find work experience as a paralegal, but because of covid, feel limited in my options. How can I best show the firm that I've grown in this time?

edit: I failed to convert a vac scheme to a TC last year and I think it was partially because I didn't have any new experiences to talk about in the time frame between the vac scheme offer and the actual scheme.

 

[Dheepa]

Hiya!

Honestly speaking, I don't think it's necessary to go out of your way to find a paralegal job and I don't think I'd recommend doing it unless you really wanted to for other reasons as well.

Interesting/new experiences that can help you stand out and tip things in your favour often have very little do with law. Personally if you wanted to show the firm you'd been maximising any free time you have, I'd focus on honing interests you already have, or maybe if you really wanted to picking up a new language or a new project. These kind of things give you transferrable skills that show that you are constantly developing yourself and are also generally more interesting for both yourself and your interviewers to discuss during that final interview!

If you are worried about making yourself better equipped for the kind of legal work you'd be assessed on during the vac scheme, I really strongly recommend doing some of the virtual internships on Forage. The kind of deliverables some of the internships ask you to submit are not that different from what I had to hand in during my vacation schemes and I found that the example answers provided for each task on the platform really helped me understand the kind of structure, writing and presentation style lawyers use. (Personally highly recommend the L&W Emerging Companies and M&A internships because in addition to everything I already mentioned I also learnt a lot of useful commercial knowledge from both)

Other than that, the best way to prepare in advance for a vacation scheme is just to make sure you're keeping up with your commercial awareness on a day to day basis. Also this might seem like slightly superficial advice, but make sure you are incredibly well rested and stress free before your scheme (the paralegal job might hinder this actually) because a huge part of being able to convert a VS involves being the person that is constantly switched on and engaged. This is especially true now for virtual schemes where things like body language and tone of voice matters all the more. You want to make sure you are never short on energy and that you are always the person in the room that comes prepared with questions or is able to contribute to discussions with your supervisors and mentors in a meaningful way. Small things like this go a long way when the time comes for people to give feedback on your performance. Not to mention being tired out from another job means more room for silly typos and mistakes when submitting work and even if this alone is not fatal, it will just add to your stress levels during the scheme! Some advice that I received from a partner is that you can be trained on the intricate legal and commercial knowledge, but no firm can train you to be enthusiastic about the job. That's something you have to bring on your own everyday. I would just keep that in mind when considering whether to apply to paralegal roles that may run up into what will probably be some of the most tiring weeks of your year anyway.

Interested to see what @Alice G @Daniel Boden @Naomi U @Jacob Miller have to say about this though!

 

[Etudierlaw2022]

Thank you so much for this, this is incredibly helpful! My background is in a non-law field and one of my biggest criticisms from the scheme was that it didn't seem like I was committed enough to law, so I suppose that's why I'm keen on getting more legal work experience, but I definitely think being well-rounded is important.

And I definitely understand what you mean about body language and tone, and their heightened importance on virtual schemes. You really do have to have the energy for it! So not burning myself out prior to the scheme is excellent advice, thank you.

 

[Dheepa]

Thank you so much for this, this is incredibly helpful! My background is in a non-law field and one of my biggest criticisms from the scheme was that it didn't seem like I was committed enough to law, so I suppose that's why I'm keen on getting more legal work experience, but I definitely think being well-rounded is important.

And I definitely understand what you mean about body language and tone, and their heightened importance on virtual schemes. You really do have to have the energy for it! So not burning myself out prior to the scheme is excellent advice, thank you.

Thanks for sharing the feedback you got. I completely understand why you’re worried about building up your experiences now.

Maybe the others I tagged will have some more relatable advice (as I did law myself) but I feel like demonstrating your commitment to the career may be less of an issue this time around since you’ve already done a vacation scheme and are still applying having been rejected which I would think gives a stronger impression of someone that really wants the role in spite of the setbacks. I also think doing the virtual internships I mentioned will again help with demonstrating your commitment as they are time consuming and do really show inititiave to do more on your part. The other thing I want to say is that plenty of people do get TCs without much legal work experience at all, so maybe all you really need to do is dig a little deeper and reflect a bit more in order to craft a stronger more convincing why law answer.

 

[Alice G]

@aspiringjd2021 I think @Dheepa is right in her post above when she discusses being well rested etc and certainly the importance of enthusiasm.

I am non-law myself and asides open days and a week in a local firm when I was 15 I had no other legal experiences before my vac schemes in 2019. So, the commitment doesn't necessarily come from formalised placements which is why @Dheepa's suggestion of virtual internships is great advice.

I also think when it comes to the scheme, show a genuine interest in talks by asking questions and also try to ask questions about the work you do - how might it fit into the bigger picture or any other questions you honestly want the answer to. I also think being proactive is a big thing and can show drive and enthusiasm. I asked about pro bono work and was invited to attend a clinic on my Shearman vac scheme and it didn't go unnoticed.

I also think in this time, you would do well to consider your 'why law?' answer. I wonder if perhaps it was that in the final interview they didn't really feel like it had developed or become stronger. On a vac scheme you really need to be keeping a diary and constantly noting down things you learn about the work, job and career path and why those things are reinforcing your desire to be a lawyer. Apologies if you did this, but having spoken to candidates before I know this can be a bit of an issue as the firm wants you to make clear to them what you got from the experience and how it has enhanced those motivations.

I do hope this helps!

 

[Etudierlaw2022]

Thank you so much to both of you!

 

[Naomi U]

Any tips for maximising the time I have between now and a vac scheme in June? I would love to find work experience as a paralegal, but because of covid, feel limited in my options. How can I best show the firm that I've grown in this time?

edit: I failed to convert a vac scheme to a TC last year and I think it was partially because I didn't have any new experiences to talk about in the time frame between the vac scheme offer and the actual scheme.

Hiya!

Congrats on your upcoming vac scheme!

I completely agree with both pieces of advice given by Dheepa and Alice.

In my case, my only legal experience was two years prior in non-commercial roles - so I definitely don't think experience is a huge factor. I think vacation schemes are for learning; learning about the firm, learning more about commercial law and the role of a trainee, and I also think learning about yourself through the skills and the values you develop and use.

On this note, whilst I think working as a paralegal is a great way to improve legal and office based experience, I think you should also focus on doing things that help you develop holistically. This may be through books, picking up a new hobby, volunteering etc. I think these are great because they help distinguish your personality from other candidates.

I think it's easy to minimise the skills, experiences and traits we develop all the time if we focus too much on seeing things from a legal and commercial lens. By minimising these, it's easy to always feel like we are never prepared and that there is so much more to do. But you must give yourself credit, you've been selected for a vac scheme before and you have again!

So I think my biggest advice is to believe in yourself, in your experiences and in the skills you have. This doesn't mean you shouldn't focus on developing and prepping, but don't think you have to be the finished product in order to succeed on your vac scheme.

I hope this helps. Wishing you the best of luck!! ☺️

 

[Daniel Boden]

@aspiringjd2021 I made a thread regarding this just last year which I'll link below - the tips I gave worked pretty well for me

Vacation Scheme Preparation

Hi guys, Per my post in the 'hearing back from law firms' thread, I thought I would create this so we can bounce ideas off each other and help each other out with any questions to ensure that we can all (hopefully) get those TC offers after this summer! I'll post my approach today but please...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[Etudierlaw2022]

Thank you very much @Daniel Boden and @Naomi U, this is much appreciated!

 

[A.C]

Hi, I have a spring vac scheme coming up and I’m already anxious about whether I’ll be able to convert it to a TC. I believe this firm recruits trainees mostly from their vac schemes and I’ve seen loads of helpful tips about how to convert a VS - I wondered though if anyone may be willing to share their experience of why they haven’t secured a TC following a VS? It would be really helpful to hear the feedback that was given

 

[Dheepa]

Hi, I have a spring vac scheme coming up and I’m already anxious about whether I’ll be able to convert it to a TC. I believe this firm recruits trainees mostly from their vac schemes and I’ve seen loads of helpful tips about how to convert a VS - I wondered though if anyone may be willing to share their experience of why they haven’t secured a TC following a VS? It would be really helpful to hear the feedback that was given

Hi!

So I'm gonna start by linking you to this thread here because it's me from about a year ago going through the same anxieties you are now and never actually believing I'd make it to the other side. It also has some great advice from both Alice and Dan who also bounced back from post-VS rejections from previous cycles.

My own feedback after my failed VS was that I had failed to show enough analytical ability in my final case study. The firm I did the VS at unfortunately made TC decisions based solely on the final case study and interview so it didn't matter that any analysis I had done during work for my supervisor may have been more in depth. I personally tried to improve on this by joining the AS Commercial Awareness Competition and also just practicing case studies way more. Both helped me realise that strong analytical ability involves a degree of argumentative capability i.e being able to support your position with information you have pieced together and solutions you can offer to mitigate issues within your choice. I've given this advice elsewhere before but if you'd like to improve on the quality of work/tasks you produce during the VS, try some of the Forage virtual work experience programmes because the tasks on there really mimic work you can expect to get and seeing the example answers produced by associates help you understand the standard you should be aiming for!

Looking back on my own performance during my first VS, I'm not surprised I didn't get it. When I compare it to how enthusiastic I was during my vacs in my final year (reached out to various people for coffees, always tried to be friendly with other VS students, GR, anyone at all I ran into), how engaged I was (even during terribly boring IT inductions I somehow managed to stay switched on completely - thank god for coffee!),and how much more careful I was with the work I produced (I proof read absolutely everything at least 5 times over and ensured especially in terms of the analysis that I had covered all bases), I think all of those things made a world of difference.

I'm sorry if I seem to be repeating advice that you've already heard a thousand times over, but I really believe that converting a VS comes down to being the candidate that yes produces great work but also is enthusiastic about every single thing during the course of the VS. You'd be surprised how many people fall short on the latter part (just like I did during my first VS)

Hope that helps! ☺️

 

[A.C]

Hi!

So I'm gonna start by linking you to this thread here because it's me from about a year ago going through the same anxieties you are now and never actually believing I'd make it to the other side. It also has some great advice from both Alice and Dan who also bounced back from post-VS rejections from previous cycles.

My own feedback after my failed VS was that I had failed to show enough analytical ability in my final case study. The firm I did the VS at unfortunately made TC decisions based solely on the final case study and interview so it didn't matter that any analysis I had done during work for my supervisor may have been more in depth. I personally tried to improve on this by joining the AS Commercial Awareness Competition and also just practicing case studies way more. Both helped me realise that strong analytical ability involves a degree of argumentative capability i.e being able to support your position with information you have pieced together and solutions you can offer to mitigate issues within your choice. I've given this advice elsewhere before but if you'd like to improve on the quality of work/tasks you produce during the VS, try some of the Forage virtual work experience programmes because the tasks on there really mimic work you can expect to get and seeing the example answers produced by associates help you understand the standard you should be aiming for!

Looking back on my own performance during my first VS, I'm not surprised I didn't get it. When I compare it to how enthusiastic I was during my vacs in my final year (reached out to various people for coffees, always tried to be friendly with other VS students, GR, anyone at all I ran into), how engaged I was (even during terribly boring IT inductions I somehow managed to stay switched on completely - thank god for coffee!),and how much more careful I was with the work I produced (I proof read absolutely everything at least 5 times over and ensured especially in terms of the analysis that I had covered all bases), I think all of those things made a world of difference.

I'm sorry if I seem to be repeating advice that you've already heard a thousand times over, but I really believe that converting a VS comes down to being the candidate that yes produces great work but also is enthusiastic about every single thing during the course of the VS. You'd be surprised how many people fall short on the latter part (just like I did during my first VS)

Hope that helps! ☺️

Thank you so much Dheepa! I think one of my biggest fears was that even if I try my hardest it won’t be enough; but hearing you reflect on your first VS is really helpful and I will just do my best and enjoy it 😊 I don’t post on here much but I feel huge huge thanks to people like you, Alice and Daniel on this forum to have made it this far