Prospects of a TC in London?

[IntrovertedV]

Hi all!

I've never posted here before so apologies for being so soppy in my first thread! I would just like some insight on the likelihood of me obtaining a legal career after years of hopeless applications to law firms in London. My first batch of applications were appalling, but have been improving at every next attempt and I am still not getting anywhere.
About myself: My A-Levels are, to my standards, pretty terrible, being at ACCC from a good college. I luckily secured a place at City, University of London and graduated from there in 2018 with a 2:1. I decided to take a gap year since I had some issues with my documents with student finance in relation to funding the LPC, thus forcing me to delay in applying for it. I finally started my LPC LLM course part-time at BPP in September 2019 and let's say it's been terrible for me. I had to resit my Business Law module and I fear that Property Law might be next. Many applications ask if I had to do any resits and I'm worried that disclosing this will be the nail on my legal career coffin. I have been working as an administrator, then payroll assistant, then back to administrator at a construction engineering company (currently furloughed). I have legal work experience at 2 small firms and have attended numerous open days at BCLP, Bircham Dyson Bell and have done volunteering during my university studies. I have not resat anything at university, thankfully. I co-founded my university's Pro Bono Society and served as its marketing manager until I graduated. I also participated at several mooting competitions.

I guess my question is, do I have a shot? My heart lies with Kennedys - I did nearly secure a vac scheme there, but did not pass their WG test (*facedesks*). I am really worried about my history of a resit (possibly resits) at BPP.

Any answers would be of great help to me! I am trying to be as honest with myself as possible.
Thank you all!

 

[Alice G]

Hi all!

I've never posted here before so apologies for being so soppy in my first thread! I would just like some insight on the likelihood of me obtaining a legal career after years of hopeless applications to law firms in London. My first batch of applications were appalling, but have been improving at every next attempt and I am still not getting anywhere.
About myself: My A-Levels are, to my standards, pretty terrible, being at ACCC from a good college. I luckily secured a place at City, University of London and graduated from there in 2018 with a 2:1. I decided to take a gap year since I had some issues with my documents with student finance in relation to funding the LPC, thus forcing me to delay in applying for it. I finally started my LPC LLM course part-time at BPP in September 2019 and let's say it's been terrible for me. I had to resit my Business Law module and I fear that Property Law might be next. Many applications ask if I had to do any resits and I'm worried that disclosing this will be the nail on my legal career coffin. I have been working as an administrator, then payroll assistant, then back to administrator at a construction engineering company (currently furloughed). I have legal work experience at 2 small firms and have attended numerous open days at BCLP, Bircham Dyson Bell and have done volunteering during my university studies. I have not resat anything at university, thankfully. I co-founded my university's Pro Bono Society and served as its marketing manager until I graduated. I also participated at several mooting competitions.

I guess my question is, do I have a shot? My heart lies with Kennedys - I did nearly secure a vac scheme there, but did not pass their WG test (*facedesks*). I am really worried about my history of a resit (possibly resits) at BPP.

Any answers would be of great help to me! I am trying to be as honest with myself as possible.
Thank you all!

Hey there!
Thanks for being so candid and there’s no such thing as a soppy post here! We’re all very community driven and it’s wonderful to have you with us

to keep it short and sweet, yes, you absolutely do have a shot provided you meet the minimum academic criteria (which based on your open day invites and the fact you nearly got the Kennedys Vac suggests you do). The only way you don’t have a shot is if you don’t meet the minimum requirements and if you don’t actually give yourself the chance by applying in the first place!!

With the resits, don’t worry. Be truthful and do state them (as it’ll be worse to get a TC and they unearth these in their checks) and always use the space for mitigating circumstances to discuss any impediments which meant you weren’t able to achieve what you had hoped.

You seem to have a wealth of great experiences and things which will make you stand out so don’t write yourself off or sell yourself short!

I really hope this gives you a little boost! Work hard on those apps, get them as good as they can be and really sell your experiences well

Best of luck and keep me updated with how you get on

 

[IntrovertedV]

Hey there!
Thanks for being so candid and there’s no such thing as a soppy post here! We’re all very community driven and it’s wonderful to have you with us

to keep it short and sweet, yes, you absolutely do have a shot provided you meet the minimum academic criteria (which based on your open day invites and the fact you nearly got the Kennedys Vac suggests you do). The only way you don’t have a shot is if you don’t meet the minimum requirements and if you don’t actually give yourself the chance by applying in the first place!!

With the resits, don’t worry. Be truthful and do state them (as it’ll be worse to get a TC and they unearth these in their checks) and always use the space for mitigating circumstances to discuss any impediments which meant you weren’t able to achieve what you had hoped.

You seem to have a wealth of great experiences and things which will make you stand out so don’t write yourself off or sell yourself short!

I really hope this gives you a little boost! Work hard on those apps, get them as good as they can be and really sell your experiences well

Best of luck and keep me updated with how you get on

Hi Alice!

Thank you so much for your response! I really needed your words of encouragement, especially during these difficult times.

I did try and apply for mitigating circumstances to my uni after receiving my results, but was unsuccessful. I did hear that disclosing it to the law firm may be a double-edged sword however, so I'm not entirely sure if I shall mention that in my applications.

And thank you! I have signed up for a virtual work experience at White & Case, so hopefully that will bump my CV up even more.

And I will keep you updated - thank you once again!

 

[D]

Hey!

Things like the WG can be practised. You can definitely improve your performance in those.

I think the academics are something you are just going to have to work on. Sometimes with firms, there are aspects of academics that are non-negotiable, even where you excel in other areas. My only advice would be to really throw yourself into your schoolwork to really get the best grades you can. You have achieved a 2:1 from Uni so you can definitely do well in the LPC!

By the way - if an application asks if you have had to resit, and you lie, and they find out... that'll likely be good grounds to void the application you have made. Proceed with caution.

 

[IntrovertedV]

Hey!

Things like the WG can be practised. You can definitely improve your performance in those.

I think the academics are something you are just going to have to work on. Sometimes with firms, there are aspects of academics that are non-negotiable, even where you excel in other areas. My only advice would be to really throw yourself into your schoolwork to really get the best grades you can. You have achieved a 2:1 from Uni so you can definitely do well in the LPC!

By the way - if an application asks if you have had to resit, and you lie, and they find out... that'll likely be good grounds to void the application you have made. Proceed with caution.

Hi D, thanks for your response!

That's a fair point. There are some aspects in the WG that I am good at, and not so good in others. The SJT is also a hurdle for me, but I'll just have to keep practicing!

I certainly will - I just had a really bad day doing that BLP exam. It is a shame my mitigating circumstances application was rejected, but at least I tried. Their threshold was high, so I expected the worst.

Oh absolutely. I would never lie about that to them. I'd rather be honest about things like this. Not worth risking it.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi D, thanks for your response!

That's a fair point. There are some aspects in the WG that I am good at, and not so good in others. The SJT is also a hurdle for me, but I'll just have to keep practicing!

I certainly will - I just had a really bad day doing that BLP exam. It is a shame my mitigating circumstances application was rejected, but at least I tried. Their threshold was high, so I expected the worst.

Oh absolutely. I would never lie about that to them. I'd rather be honest about things like this. Not worth risking it.

SJT’s you can’t really practice as they are unique to each organisation. The “right” answer for a question for one firm could be the wrong for the next.

 

[IntrovertedV]

SJT’s you can’t really practice as they are unique to each organisation. The “right” answer for a question for one firm could be the wrong for the next.

Yep, and that's what makes me so nervous about them. I try to research the firm as much as I could and see if I could utilise that to the question in the SJT (if possible, of course)

 

[Danielle]

I think it's important to consider that different firms look for different things. Whilst some firms look for consistently strong academics, it is important to remember that a lot of others don't (as long as you meet the minimum overall academic requirements), and instead place a lot more emphasis on soft skills, work experience, and extra-curricular activities (which, by the sounds of your post, you definitely have!). Hope is certainly not lost for you landing a Training Contract at a City firm, you just have to seek out the firms who look for the things that you have to offer.

On a side note, I would strongly recommend reflecting on why you didn't do so well in some of your exams, as this can often be a question that crops up in interview, and being honest and self-aware will really help the firm to look past the results.

Good luck!