TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

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bppgdlgrad

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Feb 4, 2022
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Congrats to everyone getting an offer! Just wanted to ask what people's application status say on the website post AC for FF. Mine says Completed but the date hasn't changed since when I got AC invite
 
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Jessica Booker

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Freshfields TC offer as well - got the call last week :) They also told me that they were still giving out offers / making decisions when I got told for everyone who hasn't heard :)
Multiple Freshfields TC offers! You love to see it !

Congratulations! This is fantastic news

Congrats Congratulations GIF by Women Engaged
 

Zacher

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2022
21
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start of last month:) think i was the 2nd or 3rd ac?
Can you remember the date by any chance. Also how many people were in your interview btw? See there were 3 in my interview. So from Feb 28th to April first week (when interviews are over). There are 28 working days, lets assume they interview everyday. I saw 2 slots per day to book. So that’s approximately 168 candidates. There are 80 direct training contract spots. That is a 47% chance you get an offer. This will be even higher if they want to factor in people who would be turning down them. So they will be perhaps making like 100 offers. These odds seem too good to be true. But the assumption that they interview only in groups of 3 must hold. If the odds are this high, and since we haven’t heard anything in over 4 weeks could mean, the coming days might not hold any good news. Because, would it take that long for ff to pick 1 out of 2 people if they want to make an offer. Since a lot of people have already got the offer and we haven’t heard of any rejections yet. It is likely that the people who have not yet heard are most likely ……😞 unless next Monday or Tuesday they get a ring. Please feel free to comment on the validity of this theory, or any flaws you see in it. I just pray this theory doesn’t stand.
 

BRo

Active Member
Feb 5, 2022
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Can you remember the date by any chance. Also how many people were in your interview btw? See there were 3 in my interview. So from Feb 28th to April first week (when interviews are over). There are 28 working days, lets assume they interview everyday. I saw 2 slots per day to book. So that’s approximately 168 candidates. There are 80 direct training contract spots. That is a 47% chance you get an offer. This will be even higher if they want to factor in people who would be turning down them. So they will be perhaps making like 100 offers. These odds seem too good to be true. But the assumption that they interview only in groups of 3 must hold. If the odds are this high, and since we haven’t heard anything in over 4 weeks could mean, the coming days might not hold any good news. Because, would it take that long for ff to pick 1 out of 2 people if they want to make an offer. Since a lot of people have already got the offer and we haven’t heard of any rejections yet. It is likely that the people who have not yet heard are most likely ……😞 unless next Monday or Tuesday they get a ring. Please feel free to comment on the validity of this theory, or any flaws you see in it. I just pray this theory doesn’t stand.
One fatal flaw in your reasoning my friend — there are 80 TCs total. FF typically recruits 50% of their trainees from the vac scheme route so only 40 from direct TC. Plus there is an additional summer application route which opens up in July so in reality there are roughly only 20 spots going this round. Therefore, chances are 20 offers/168 interviewees = 12%
 
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born&raised

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Nov 30, 2021
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I just applied to the Baker McKenzie Direct TC from outside UK. I got the message saying that the application has been sent successfully to Baker McKenzie. I can see the application in the cvmail portal Application Manager as well. However, the application date is displayed as "02/04/2022 00:26". I submitted at around 11:30pm London time, 1st April 2022. The deadline was 1st April as well. 2nd April has still not started in London, as per Google. Will my application not proceed due to this glitch? Should I mail grad rec about this? This is quite worrying :(
 

djqb

Legendary Member
Sep 6, 2020
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I just applied to the Baker McKenzie Direct TC from outside UK. I got the message saying that the application has been sent successfully to Baker McKenzie. I can see the application in the cvmail portal Application Manager as well. However, the application date is displayed as "02/04/2022 00:26". I submitted at around 11:30pm London time, 1st April 2022. The deadline was 1st April as well. 2nd April has still not started in London, as per Google. Will my application not proceed due to this glitch? Should I mail grad rec about this? This is quite worrying :(
Not to worry - I think it's just a time zone thing. Perhaps if you change your time zone on your PC and browser that would change too.

I wouldn't worry at all since you got the confirmation email 🙂
 

Zacher

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2022
21
9
One fatal flaw in your reasoning my friend — there are 80 TCs total. FF typically recruits 50% of their trainees from the vac scheme route so only 40 from direct TC. Plus there is an additional summer application route which opens up in July so in reality there are roughly only 20 spots going this round. Therefore, chances are 20 offers/168 interviewees = 12%
Okay that makes sense but i thought even vacation schemers will be interviewed post vacation scheme like direct training contract applicants? So wouldn’t they be included in the 168 interviewed. What is the summer application route btw? Do you have any links to check it out?
 

Abii

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Feb 1, 2021
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Okay that makes sense but i thought even vacation schemers will be interviewed post vacation scheme like direct training contract applicants? So wouldn’t they be included in the 168 interviewed. What is the summer application route btw? Do you have any links to check it out?
The summer route is the same just another window of apps being open. I think it might be open to slightly more people.
 

Jessica Booker

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One fatal flaw in your reasoning my friend — there are 80 TCs total. FF typically recruits 50% of their trainees from the vac scheme route so only 40 from direct TC. Plus there is an additional summer application route which opens up in July so in reality there are roughly only 20 spots going this round. Therefore, chances are 20 offers/168 interviewees = 12%
Trust me, it won’t be 168 interview slots for 20 spots.

I’d estimate it to be half of that if the figure of 20 TCs is accurate (it may not be).
 
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Zacher

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2022
21
9
Trust me, it won’t be 168 interview slots for 20 spots.

I’d estimate it to be half of that if the figure of 20 TCs is accurate (it may not be).
Yeah true. But i wanted to assume worst case scenario. But i still don’t understand why it has to be 20 spots? Because I understand there will be summer intake. But then again if it is 50% then there will be 40 spots. Don’t vacation schemers fall into the same category as Direct TC applicants, unless they are internally hired? I am new to this industry, i will be so grateful if someone can explain concept of vacation schemers?
 

IL1700

Active Member
Oct 13, 2021
12
38
Yeah true. But i wanted to assume worst case scenario. But i still don’t understand why it has to be 20 spots? Because I understand there will be summer intake. But then again if it is 50% then there will be 40 spots. Don’t vacation schemers fall into the same category as Direct TC applicants, unless they are internally hired? I am new to this industry, i will be so grateful if someone can explain concept of vacation schemers?
People who did vacation schemes have a TC interview at the end of their schemes and then usually hear about whether they’ve been offered a place in August ish time - so all the vac scheme TC places are already filled for this cycle. Hope that makes sense!
 
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Jessica Booker

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Yeah true. But i wanted to assume worst case scenario. But i still don’t understand why it has to be 20 spots? Because I understand there will be summer intake. But then again if it is 50% then there will be 40 spots. Don’t vacation schemers fall into the same category as Direct TC applicants, unless they are internally hired? I am new to this industry, i will be so grateful if someone can explain concept of vacation schemers?
80 TCs in total

60 vacation schemers - roughly two thirds are likely to be offered and accept a TC

That would leave about 40 spots left

Roughly 20 of them will be filled from the winter application window

Roughly 20 of them will be filled from the summer application window.

These are all estimates and gets slightly complicated by some of the VSers actually going forward for the next intake where they are non law VSers, but the same could be said of last summer’s VS programme.

VSers go through a practically identical recruitment process as direct TC applicants, so they don’t need to go through it again. They will just a conversion interview at the end of their scheme.
 
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Zacher

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2022
21
9
80 TCs in total

60 vacation schemers - roughly two thirds are likely to be offered and accept a TC

That would leave about 40 spots left

Roughly 20 of them will be filled from the winter application window

Roughly 20 of them will be filled from the summer application window.

These are all estimates and gets slightly complicated by some of the VSers actually going forward for the next intake where they are non law VSers, but the same could be said of last summer’s VS programme.

VSers go through a practically identical recruitment process as direct TC applicants, so they don’t need to go through it again. They will just a conversion interview at the end of their scheme.
Okay thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Chances look way more slimmer now. Somewhere between 12-25%. My interview wasn’t the greatest, so I am not going to get my hopes high.
 
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