My Journey to a TC

[cls33]

Hi all,

I was inspired by @j.s.cox recent success and decided to start a similar thread to track and reflect on my progress, hold myself accountable, and hopefully connect with some likeminded people.

I am an international non-law student in my third year and I realised I wanted to pursue a career in law in August 2022. This is my progress so far:

• Applied to and been rejected from Travers, Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons WVS, and CC direct TC
• Applied to and successfully attended Open Days at Baker McKenzie, Taylor Wessing, and DLA Piper
• Attended Freshfields' Non-Law Workshop after a successful application
• Attended Slaughter and May's Winter Workshop and as a result have a direct TC interview scheduled in March with the firm
• Awaiting the outcome of these applications: Freshfields' direct TC, Baker McKenzie's SVS, and Taylor Wessing SVS (post arctic shores)

I have been trying to improve my commercial awareness by listening to daily FT news briefings, reading commercial newsletters such as ziplaw and littlelaw, and reading the book 'All you need to know about the city' by Christopher Stoakes. Until now I have just been sporadically looking at and reading articles on a surface level, struggling to connect the dots on how it relates to a law firm. However, I have realised if i'm going to feel prepared at my interview in two months, I have to start actively setting goals for myself.

I want to focus on:

• Reflecting more on the role of law firms and the effect on law firm clients when reading news
• Finding a couple interesting stories to focus on and follow rather than trying to gain an insight into everything at once
• Setting weekly and daily specific goals (for example, complete chapter 4 in the book i'm reading or spend 2 hours in the library preparing for motivational interview questions)
• Seek out help and as much experience I can get - talk to my career service and see if they can do a mock interview with me or use TCLA's service

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone

 

[AvniD]

Hi all,

I was inspired by @j.s.cox recent success and decided to start a similar thread to track and reflect on my progress, hold myself accountable, and hopefully connect with some likeminded people.

I am an international non-law student in my third year and I realised I wanted to pursue a career in law in August 2022. This is my progress so far:

• Applied to and been rejected from Travers, Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons WVS, and CC direct TC
• Applied to and successfully attended Open Days at Baker McKenzie, Taylor Wessing, and DLA Piper
• Attended Freshfields' Non-Law Workshop after a successful application
• Attended Slaughter and May's Winter Workshop and as a result have a direct TC interview scheduled in March with the firm
• Awaiting the outcome of these applications: Freshfields' direct TC, Baker McKenzie's SVS, and Taylor Wessing SVS (post arctic shores)

I have been trying to improve my commercial awareness by listening to daily FT news briefings, reading commercial newsletters such as ziplaw and littlelaw, and reading the book 'All you need to know about the city' by Christopher Stoakes. Until now I have just been sporadically looking at and reading articles on a surface level, struggling to connect the dots on how it relates to a law firm. However, I have realised if i'm going to feel prepared at my interview in two months, I have to start actively setting goals for myself.

I want to focus on:

• Reflecting more on the role of law firms and the effect on law firm clients when reading news
• Finding a couple interesting stories to focus on and follow rather than trying to gain an insight into everything at once
• Setting weekly and daily specific goals (for example, complete chapter 4 in the book i'm reading or spend 2 hours in the library preparing for motivational interview questions)
• Seek out help and as much experience I can get - talk to my career service and see if they can do a mock interview with me or use TCLA's service

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone

Amazing initiative @cls - I'm so happy to see you make this thread! 👏

It's so great to see that you have attended so many Open Days and have a TC interview lined up already! I think you're reading some great sources for commercial awareness, and I'll link this post here to help you understand how you can connect these new stories to law firms.

I look forward to reading you next update - eager to see how you approached your goals for this week!

 

[cls33]

Thank you for the link! @AvniD

Update

Over Christmas and throughout my exam period I have paused my commercial awareness efforts and interview preparation, as I don't want my career aspirations and stress to affect my final year university grades - especially since I can't redo uni but there's always another application cycle.

I did, however, successfully receive an invite to and completed the Bakers WG. I have also seen people on TCLA receive invites for the TW AC so I am crossing my fingers and toes that i'll receive the same outcome soon!

I also had a call with my Grow mentor today and scheduled a mock interview with him for February 1st. I'm going to be really nervous as i've never done a law interview before, but it is very much needed to get comfortable in that setting.

With my last exam on Friday, i'm taking the weekend off and then starting my preparation towards my Slaughters interview.

These are general goals/to-dos I have set myself for next week:

• Reflect on and prepare motivational interview questions such as why law, why firm etc.
• Talk to the career service and see if they can offer interview prep
• Write up all the advice I have received on my interview through LinkedIn, TCLA etc. in one document
• Start listening to daily news again and reflect on how it will affect the wider economy, clients and lawyers
• Get premium membership and book a TCLA mock article interview

Just can't wait for exams to be over so I can focus my attention on this, haha!

 

[j.s.cox]

Absolutely love this! I recently completed the Slaughters interview and would happy to answer any questions about the process.

 

[cls33]

Update

This week i've started actively preparing towards my Slaughters interview. It's still a while away, but since I scheduled a mock interview in three days with my Grow mentor I figured I better start preparing my answers. I also got a Taylor Wessing PFO post games-based assessment this week, which felt disheartening in the moment as I attended an open day there and the application form was quite long... but onwards and upwards.

Yesterday I had a really nice coffee chat with a girl at my uni who did Slaughters vac scheme last summer and has a TC offer with them, and found it super valuable in terms of how to structure my answers, what qualities they are looking for, and specific knowledge about the process and firm. I felt it enabled me to understand that they want you to be yourself (not just who you think they want you to be on paper), and that you're good enough on paper and they want you, you're just there to prove to them why you deserve it. I felt like she had a great outlook on the whole process and it was very refreshing to hear that perspective with a lot of career stress hanging over me atm.

This week I have:

• Initiated and completed coffee chat with girl who has Slaughters offer
• Roughly drafted some motivational interview answers
• Signed up for TCLA Gold and completed the courses: TCLA Premium and Gold Induction (100%), How to Prepare for a Law Firm AC (43%), Law Firm Profiles: Understand the differences between law firms (14%)
• Caught up on FT briefings I've missed since Christmas and bullet-pointed them in my commercial awareness document
• Combined all the Slaughter specific advice i've gotten through LinkedIn, TCLA etc. in one document

The upcoming week I want to:

• Draft lots of interview answers to prepare for Wednesdays mock
• Practice answering questions out loud and thinking on my feet (thinking of using Quizlet to make a big question bank)
• Finish the TCLA AC course and complete another course
• Keep up the general commercial awareness, but also start finding specific news stories to follow and look more into them (currently interested in following tech industry layoffs/changes post-Covid and the EU/US competition tension in terms of the IRA/Carbon Tax)
• Book a TCLA mock interview

I am still waiting to hear back from Freshfields and Bakers and i'm crossing my fingers for some good news!!

 

[cls33]

Update

Last week I:

• Brainstormed and bulletpointed lots of interview answers
• Started my Quizlet question bank
• Attended a live TCLA session on confidence in interviews
• Did a mock interview with my Grow mentor and a brief one with the uni career service and received some useful feedback
• Booked my TCLA mock interview
• Reached out to a Slaughters trainee and scheduled a call with him Friday

Yesterday I went to a Slaughters networking event held for winter workshop participants so we could see the office and get to know each other / talk to trainees and partners at the firm (as it was moved to virtual due to train strikes last minute). It was very informative and I really enjoyed getting to know the other participants and hear about everyones backgrounds and TC stages.

I also received an email earlier tonight inviting me to Bakers VI!! I am excited about progressing to the next stage, but VIs are also my worst fear as i've performed terribly in them before (at some point last year when doing a VI with pwc for non-legal work experience I just said sorry mid-recording because I felt so embarrassed about my answers haha)

This week my goals are:

• Practice video interviews by using simulators such as the TCLA one
• Prepare more answers to competency / situational questions as I know these tend to come up in Bakers VI (or so i've heard)
• Complete the Bakers VI
• Prepare questions and make sure I get the most out of my call with the Slaughters trainee
• Keep up my commercial awareness (been slacking a bit recently) and try to complete another TCLA course

 

[cls33]

Update

Applications:
I completed my dreaded Bakers VI. I prepared for this by researching potential questions online and messaging people who had already completed it. I'm not sure how I did to be honest, however, I did notice that all my interview preparation and practice the last couple weeks came in handy as I managed to think on my feet and tie in some commercial awareness (as opposed to before). It wasn't by best performance but definitely not my worst either - guess i'll just have to wait and see (fingers crossed).

I also received an invite from Freshfields post-initial screening to complete their WG, which I did around an hour ago. I prepared for it by refreshing my brain around each section, by watching youtube videos, making a rules sheet, and completing practice questions. I'm not sure how it went, but i'm really hoping for good news as Freshfields is one of my favourite firms.

Since my last post I:

• Had a call with a Slaughters trainee
• Attended two TCLA live sessions on interviews
• Met with an advisor from the uni career service who specialises in law - this was very challenging as she asked some questions I hadn't thought about, but also got some useful (and harsh) feedback on how to improve my answers
• Had a call with my Grow mentor where we went through more interview questions and how to answer then, and he also asked me questions about an article on public sector pay to practice for article exercises
• Had a call with Jessica Booker where we talked through a few interview questions
• Completed Slaughters virtual experience on Forage - this really provided a deeper insight into what a trainee does and I enjoyed comparing my work to the example solutions that were provided post-submission
• Listened to FT podcasts and read a few interesting opinion pieces on energy and tech

In the next week my goals are:

• I have a meeting in a few days with the same uni career advisor, and I want to come prepared and answer questions at a better standard - and also further identify and highlight questions I need to practice
• Complete the TCLA M&A course
• Keeping up my commercial awareness - start practicing reading and summarising opinion articles in the same format as the interview
• Try to find someone in my network to do a mock interview with me or that can refer me to someone

Thank you for reading!

 

[cls33]

Update

Applications:
I still haven't heard from Bakers SVS or FF TC, but doesn't seem like anyone here has received a Bakers AC (considering their first AC is today) and they may be running a bit behind schedule. Assuming PFO from FF since people have heard back, just wish they'd tell me as i'm checking my emails and the TCLA forum a ridiculous amount at this point.

Since my last post I:

• Had two career interview meetings with a career advisor. Today we went through motivational/commercial questions and how to incorporate work experience into answers which was super helpful. She also asked a few curveball questions that I think I dealt with well, which strengthened my interview confidence in general
• Started the TCLA M&A Course, think i'm around 74% through and it was useful to understand how I can articulate my motivation for corporate/M&A
• Read more FT articles (but need to get better at commercial awareness in the next couple weeks)

In the next week my goals are to intensify the preparation towards my interview, by:

• Preparing for my TCLA mock interview this Sunday and utilising it to spot areas of improvement and to make a more tailored plan moving forward
• Attending the Watson Current Affairs Wrap Up tomorrow evening and take notes
• Complete the TCLA M&A Course and start a new one
• Listening more to FT briefings and read more opinion pieces

 

[cls33]

Update

Haven't updated in a while, but I just completed my interview with Slaughters earlier today and my application cycle has therefore come to an end so thought I would write a final reflection

The two weeks before the interview, I:

• Listened to 23 hours of thinking commercially and took notes (really recommend this podcast)
• Had multiple mock interviews both motivation and article based
• Calls with future trainees at the firm

I don't actually there is anything else I could've possibly done to prepare. Considering it was my first law interview ever with a firm like Slaughters, I knew it was going to be challenging and to stay realistic. I found the day quite enjoyable, but very draining by the time I got to the end. I'll briefly sum up each stage and what I took away from it:

Written exercise: I was asked to act as a consultant and advise on a company's growth strategy. It was very time pressured, even more than I thought it would be despite being warned. I did manage to finish it and structure it, however, I would've liked to expand on and substantiate my points further. In hindsight, I would've liked to spend less time reading over the documents (I spent about 20 minutes) and more time typing out my answers and if I have to complete a written exercise at an interview again I will keep that in mind. However, i'm pleased I managed to deliver a finished product.

Partner/article interview: They asked general academic and CV related questions, but were very interested in why law and kept digging on that point. I did enjoy the conversational style of it, but it was definitely challenging to say the least. Both partners were really trying to pick holes in everything I said, and they didn't really ask me the traditional questions I had prepared such as why Slaughters. I was forced to think on my feet how to reframe those answers, and also asked a lot of questions about my opinions on different matters such as who's responsible for harmful content online, and then challenged on whatever I said. For the article it was pretty much the same. It was enjoyable to really be challenged, but in hindsight I wish i had given myself more time to think. Due to not wanting to obstruct the conversational element I just spoke straight away, and I know I could've given better answers if I just took a second to process my thoughts, so that's definitely something I will keep in mind going forward.

The HR interview: Nice and relaxing part of the day where I got to fill in any gaps I didn't get the chance to tell the partners. I was also asked to reflect on how I did on the other exercises and given the opportunity to point out anything I could've done better. I was asked all the generic questions of why law, why firm etc. and this is where my prep came in handy as I didn't have to use my brain much (considering how drained it was from the rest of the day) This was overall a great experience, and we even had a casual conversation after about the metal detectors in Pryzm at my uni (lol) and D&I.

Overall, it went OK and it was great exposure to law firm interviews. However, i'm not convinced it was a TC winning performance. I am also aware it is my first cycle and first interview, so I want to stay realistic about it and just take it as a learning experience. Hopefully my reflections could help someone in the same boat too.

They said it would take 2-3 weeks to receive an outcome, so I think i'm going to delete LinkedIn and limit my time stress-reading TCLA posts.

Thanks for following my journey and good luck to anyone still waiting for an outcome!!

 

[Jaysen]

Wishing you the best of luck @cls33, it has been great to follow you in your journey and I have my fingers crossed for you.

Good idea to keep yourself distracted for now!

 

[Ali A]

Good luck! It was amazing to follow your journey!