Premium Academy - An Eight Week Virtual Programme

[Jaysen]

Hi everyone,

As I'm sure you know by now, I’m a big believer in consistency to help you get to where you want to be.

This means planning your week, identifying the top goal you want to achieve in the week, and taking small reps each day to move the needle.

In the training contract journey, this top goal for your week might be:

• writing one complete application;
• preparing, booking and completing one mock interview; or
• having a clear understanding of the different types of financial statements.

Setting and completing a challenging goal each week will achieve faster results than attempting to cover too much. You will be focused and the benefits of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone will compound.

This summer, we want to help you get there through our new eight-week virtual programme.

Premium Academy - Live Online Classes​

If you are making direct training contract applications, have a vacation scheme coming up, or you want to make sure you are set up for success when vacation scheme applications open, our Premium Academy has been designed for you to see results after eight weeks.

The goal is to give you accountability and progression each week to fast-track your training contract success. Through our live weekly sessions, we’ll teach you how to master everything from converting your vacation scheme into a training contract to mastering case study interviews.

How To Dive In​

To join, sign up to TCLA Premium here. The programme officially begins next week, but we’d love for you to join us at our launch event tonight where we share our best advice for writing training contract applications.

You’ll also learn about our drop in sessions and the wealth of resources we have in store over the next eight weeks.

The Good News?​

If you want to keep using our free resources, you can sign up to our free Premium Academy Newsletter. We’ll share with you our biggest tip from each event.

Finally, to celebrate the launch, we’re giving one free premium subscription away today. All you have to do is share your top application tip in this thread and we'll select one winner at 4pm. We'll be running this giveaway each week, so don't worry if you didn't win this time!

Whether you decide to sign up or work through our free resources, I really hope you have a successful cycle this year.

Best of luck.
Jaysen

 

[Jaysen]

Hey everyone,

To mark the launch event of our new Premium Academy, we're giving away a free month of TCLA Premium today.

All you have to do is comment and share your one best application tip below.

We'll be announcing the winner at 4pm today ahead of the event tonight at 5:30pm

 

[AM17]

Hi everyone

The tip I’d like to share is not to downplay the results when using the STAR structure. It’s a good chance to show the impact you have made and what you have achieved. Hope that helps!

 

[Rishika Arya]

If you are certain that you want to apply for a vacation scheme/training contract in the future, the first step is to start thinking of all the experiences you have had, and do not filter out anything. Following this exercise, I would recommend contemplating on specific tasks, responsibilities and initiatives you undertook therein and map them with the skills required to be a trainee. Prepare a document for this and keep updating this document as and when you undertake a new experience. This would help you write your first draft very easily.

 

[JasmineM9]

Hi everyone!

I think my biggest application tip is authenticity. Writing an application that makes you unique starts with you!

Don’t try and write what you think the recruiter is looking for but write instead what makes a specific firm stands out to you and why do you think your experiences makes you a great candidate for the firm!

I usually take a piece of paper and on one side I write stand out points about the firm and on the other side I try to connect my personal experiences with the stand out points

Hope this helps

 

[AspiringSols]

Hi everyone,

My best application tip is really selling yourself. Don’t just say you achieved something. Get into the details of how you achieved XYZ. Give data and evidence to show what you achieved.

I hope that’s helpful.

 

[Amritanshu Pushkar]

Hola TCLA Members!
One tip I'd like to share is that not many applicants focus on researching the firm well before making an application. The problem is that basic information about a firm can easily be looked for, by applicants around the globe and the firms actually search for applicants who know about them and their business well.

Hence, making applications can be successful when given a taste of the firm's recent commercial developments through your application, setting you different from the crowd.

Thank you! Hope that helps!

 

[hungry_for_TC]

Hey everyone,

To mark the launch event of our new Premium Academy, we're giving away a free month of TCLA Premium today.

All you have to do is comment and share your one best application tip below.

We'll be announcing the winner at 4pm today ahead of the event tonight at 5:30pm

My tip is to be yourself in your application. Don't say you're passionate about Private Equity if you have no idea what work there is in P.E, don't say you would die to represent a Venture Capitalist firm because you think that's going to put you at an advantage, etc.

They (the Firm) want to know who you are, and if you're both good fits for one another. Additionally - HR has seen millions of candidates and so they are easily able to tell if you're just pretending/putting on a show. Of course, everyone will be putting their best face forward on the applications, but just try to show your best self with 'curated' authenticity. If you aren't sure about PE but are interested, that's good enough! Just write well and clearly about the source of that interest: did you intern at a start-up for a bit? Do you like fast-paced work, like how you enjoyed working at that busy café? That's more authentic than playing it up with no substance.

That's all for now folks!!!

 

[ztyh]

Hi! My biggest application tip is that no experience is too irrelevant. For example, in my vac scheme interview I talked about the challenges that arose from planning trips for my friend group & how I resolved them (using the STAR structure). I received express positive feedback from it by the partners!

 

[S. Singh]

Hey everyone,

If I could give you a top application tip, it would be to find something unique about your dream firm. Standing out in applications requires you to provide details that most candidates do not rely upon. For example, reading a firm's annual review, diversity report, and publications will give you unique insights to tailor your application answers to that firm.

Let's say you are interested in applying for X firm. After reading X's website and career pages, you learned that X is renowned for its corporate practice. Many candidates will use this information to justify their motivation for working at X. But since you read X's annual report, you know that X's corporate practice generated 40% of the firm's revenue. X advised on public M&A deals worth £200 billion last year.

You will most likely stand out among thousands of applicants by providing such unique and detailed information in your applications. I hope that helps, and all the best for your applications!

 

[ashleigh22]

Hello everyone!
My top tip for an application is to really get to know the firm you are apply to. In my opinion, attending the events they hold or even their webinars which are usually free, or speaking to people really helped me to stand out and substantiate the ‘why this law firm’ question which is usually asked in application forms. I did in mine and the interviewer really liked how I took the initiative to get to know the firm better!

 

[Ange718]

One top application tip when it comes to describing situations that shows-off an applicant's strengths:
Aside from being clear and giving your answers a logical structure, be positive by explaining what energised you in that situation and the impact of your actions. It will be beneficial for you to reflect on what you found motivating and what you learned about yourself in that situation because you are giving the firm a chance to see what aspects you really engage with in order for them to recognise your potential by reading what aspects you are really going to love doing.

 

[Koyin]

Hi Everyone!

My top tip for applications is don't be afraid to reach out to people already working there to speak to them! Firms often have Open Days and other events where they invite current trainees and associates to talk about their experiences, and hearing about the firm through their experiences is often great as it gives you more substance to what it's really like working there. But if for any reason you haven't been able to attend such events, message people on LinkedIn!! Or ask anyone you know if they know people working at your target firm––people are a lot more willing to help than we think! Hearing directly from current and future trainees that have recently been through the application process can honestly give you invaluable insights and more unique talking points for your application, plus what they tell you is likely to be a very authentic and realistic image that you can't always get from just looking at the grad brochure.

NOTE: You may find that for every 10 LinkedIn connect-request messages you send, you only get about two responses, but the effort is entirely worth it and speaking to two or three people per firm is really all you need. Give it a shot!!

 

[Regina_George]

My top tip is to share your personal experience that challenged you and making it relevant.

As an international student I faced a lot of adversities when starting my legal career in the UK due to the complex immigration policies of this country. However, I did not give up and managed to extend my student visas until I qualified for indefinite leave to remain and got my right to work. Through managing part time jobs, preparing for exams and applying for TCs, vac schemes and open days I developed excellent time management skills and resiliency.

I have spoken to a few amazing people who managed to flee a war, raised a child as a single parent and were hesitant to include this experience in their application/ talk about it during an interview. My advice is do not hold back from talking about personal hardships as demonstrates resilience and strength of your character.

 

[Jaysen]

Hi Everyone!

My top tip for applications is don't be afraid to reach out to people already working there to speak to them! Firms often have Open Days and other events where they invite current trainees and associates to talk about their experiences, and hearing about the firm through their experiences is often great as it gives you more substance to what it's really like working there. But if for any reason you haven't been able to attend such events, message people on LinkedIn!! Or ask anyone you know if they know people working at your target firm––people are a lot more willing to help than we think! Hearing directly from current and future trainees that have recently been through the application process can honestly give you invaluable insights and more unique talking points for your application, plus what they tell you is likely to be a very authentic and realistic image that you can't always get from just looking at the grad brochure.

NOTE: You may find that for every 10 LinkedIn connect-request messages you send, you only get about two responses, but the effort is entirely worth it and speaking to two or three people per firm is really all you need. Give it a shot!!

Thank you so much to everyone for participating - this was all a pleasure to read.

Congratulations to @Koyin this week for winning the free subscription to TCLA Premium. I thought this was particularly good advice. I will drop you a PM now.

Otherwise, we'll be running one of these each week, so please do try again!

 

[sunflowerducks]

Hey everyone,

My top application tip is to remain authentic in the application process and in your responses. This means finding genuinely unique reasons for why you are interested in a particular firm or in commercial law as a whole. This is best emphasised by utilising your experiences, education and personal interests and hobbies to illustrate why you are drawn to a firm. For example, I enjoy media, having experience in the sector and am interested in programming and game development. This allowed me to provide a unique response for why I was applying to my VS firm, as they were leaders in the media and interactive entertainment sectors,. The firm is known for presenting in various gaming law conferences. If you have a genuine interest in an area of law a firm specialises in, or any initiatives they adopt, it'll be far more interesting researching and writing the application unique insights to tailor your application answers to that firm.

 

[lawnoob]

Hi everyone!

My tip is more focused on enhancing your CV (since many applications do require you to submit one and I feel like this is always overlooked as less important)

Many people write down 'task based' bulletpoints that would be on a job description such as "assisted in co-ordinating virtual events in collaboration with X." That's cool and all, but so what?

The key to a results-based CV is the following structure:
I did _____ and the outcome was ___
I did _____ and it resulted with _____
I did _____ and it helped with ______

CVs are usually limited to 1-2 pages so it is really important to showcase your key capabilities there and not waffle. Think about whether the person reading it would be excited about what you've done!

Here are some prompts that can help you think of what content to put down under each job:

• What special things did you do to set yourself apart from others? How did you do the job better than anyone else did, or than anyone else could have done? What evidence would you give to back that up?
  • “Exceeded annual sales goals by 33%+ for five consecutive years; recognized as the highest performing sales professional during that time period.”
• What did you do to make this job your own? How did you take the initiative? How did you go above and beyond what was asked of you in your job description?
  • “Helped meet pressing production deadlines within the advertising department; worked over 30 hours in voluntary overtime to meet deadlines."
• What are you most proud of in this job, in terms of what you achieved?
  • “Played a key role in helping to raise over $30,000 for cancer research; exceeded the fundraising goal by $10,000+.”
• How did you solve one or more specific problems in this job? What were the problems or challenges that you or the organization faced? What did you do to overcome the problems? What were the results of your efforts?
  • “Reduced customer dissatisfaction by transitioning from an automated phone response system to a ‘real person – real time’ response system."
• What tangible evidence do you have of accomplishments -- publications you've produced, products you've developed, sales you’ve generated, etc.?
  • “Exceeded store sales goals 100% of the time, during my first year of employment, through a sharp focus on quality customer service.”

Another tip is to always add quantitative data where you can!

• "Collected survey data from email subscribers."
  • "Collected survey data from 1,000 email subscribers. Used this data to implement four new marketing strategies that helped increase sales numbers by 15% within three months."
• "Oversaw day-to-day operations of the warehouse."
  • "Oversaw a team of 20 employees. Delegated tasks among employees to increase overall productivity by 25%."
• "Created software applications to improve communication flow."
  • "Created five software applications to assist in communication across all 12 company departments. Miscommunication decreased by 10% as a result."

Best of luck to everyone! If I come across any other tips for CV I will edit and add on here

 

[Jenn-H]

My tip is to be yourself in your application. Don't say you're passionate about Private Equity if you have no idea what work there is in P.E, don't say you would die to represent a Venture Capitalist firm because you think that's going to put you at an advantage, etc.

They (the Firm) want to know who you are, and if you're both good fits for one another. Additionally - HR has seen millions of candidates and so they are easily able to tell if you're just pretending/putting on a show. Of course, everyone will be putting their best face forward on the applications, but just try to show your best self with 'curated' authenticity. If you aren't sure about PE but are interested, that's good enough! Just write well and clearly about the source of that interest: did you intern at a start-up for a bit? Do you like fast-paced work, like how you enjoyed working at that busy café? That's more authentic than playing it up with no substance.

That's all for now folks!!!

Hey- I saw on a couple of threads that you got the summer vac scheme for Ropes- I was wondering if you would be able to give me some insight into what you put on the online application form- I have no idea what they are looking for so any help at all would be appreciated!