TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23

[Marco Polo]

Anyone hear from Paul Hastings?

Called them and apparently if you've not received anything then you didn't make it :/

 

[Tintin06]

yep, still waiting.. supposedly, we should hear by the end of tomorrow - i think someone on this thread called grad rec and that's what they told them

That was me. Yes hopefully we know by then.

 

[bella98]

Anyone heard from Macfarlanes post-AC??

 

[NadineBusty]

Anyone heard from Gide?

 

[Lawandmore]

Hey! I just wanted to post a quick message reassuring those of you applying for vac schemes / TCs that you can certainly achieve your goal. I also wanted to offer some assistance. I achieved BCC at A-Level, attended a non-Russell group university and graduated with a 2:1. I applied for TCs in my first and third years and received zero offers. I then began the LPC LLM and have just secured a TC at Osborne Clarke. I went from zero offers to being able to pass multiple stages of assessment and secure a TC at a top firm by learning everything I possibly could about the process.

If anyone is looking to apply to OC or wants help with vac scheme / TC applications more generally, please just send me a message. It took me a lot of time, research and conversations to learn how to pass all of the stages successfully, so if you think I may be able to help just let me know.

 

[sophie98]

Paul Hastings second round interview - It’s my first final stage that’s been in person and not virtual so if anyone has tips I’d be v grateful!

 

[AlexJ]

Paul Hastings second round interview - It’s my first final stage that’s been in person and not virtual so if anyone has tips I’d be v grateful!

What is the structure of the interview and do you know who it is with?

If so research your interviewers, think what you would like to ask them.

Go back over the big 3 (why me, why law, why this firm)

Have a ‘cheat sheet’. Put your key points on 2 pages, take it with you and look at it right before. You might even be able to take it in (I took mine in but actually didn’t look at it, but having it there gave me confidence)

If it’s a CV blind interview go back over your key experiences you want to highlight.

Make sure you know where you are going and how to get there. Do it in advance if you can, the last thing you want to do on the day is be lost!

Make sure you keep up to date on the news, and the firms news section. You don’t want to be caught out by anything.

Finally, try and relax (easier to say!) they have invited you to interview because they like you and potentially want to hire you, use this to give you confidence if you can. The first interview clearly went well. Try and get any feedback from this if you can.

Some of these tips are personal and may not work, but hopefully this helps!

 

[sophie98]

What is the structure of the interview and do you know who it is with?

If so research your interviewers, think what you would like to ask them.

Go back over the big 3 (why me, why law, why this firm)

Have a ‘cheat sheet’. Put your key points on 2 pages, take it with you and look at it right before. You might even be able to take it in (I took mine in but actually didn’t look at it, but having it there gave me confidence)

If it’s a CV blind interview go back over your key experiences you want to highlight.

Make sure you know where you are going and how to get there. Do it in advance if you can, the last thing you want to do on the day is be lost!

Make sure you keep up to date on the news, and the firms news section. You don’t want to be caught out by anything.

Finally, try and relax (easier to say!) they have invited you to interview because they like you and potentially want to hire you, use this to give you confidence if you can. The first interview clearly went well. Try and get any feedback from this if you can.

Some of these tips are personal and may not work, but hopefully this helps!

Thank you so much for this!

 

[Deleted member 24543]

Feeling defeated and in need of advice. Gonna be a long one

I recently had a vacation scheme and experienced severe micro-aggressions during my seat. In one of the conversations with the wider team, they made fun of people of my race, saying they do not speak proper english.

When I was asked what I was doing before the vac scheme, I told them I did a vac scheme elsewhere and was told “what a waste of your *** (a profanity was used) time”. On calls, I was made fun of, with the senior member saying they spent a great amount of time trying to learn how to pronounce my name (though I am Asian, my name is a typical English name). I had spoken to someone in the team about this as they had witnessed all of it and asked me what I thought, but I even brushed it off and said “I won’t take it personally though” as I did not want to appear too sensitive. I was told that this was just “the character of the senior member” and that “we’re all just used to it”.

I ended up not getting offered the TC though I went above and beyond for it. I was never welcomed into or introduced to my team. I knocked from door to door introducing myself and established my own presence. I asked for extra work, and offered help while I could but met every deadline there was at the same time. Feedback for my work was really positive, things like “it was high quality, professional” and even at the conversion interview, was told “you showed great enthusiasm for wanting to be part of this firm and displayed emotional maturity in your interview”. They said “they went back and forth with the decision (to reject) but it all boiled down to the fact that you were too comfortable with your supervisor” and that ”you need to understand people can’t always give you time of day or be there for you”. I responded and told them honestly that I had faced racism and confided in my supervisor about it because I was asked how I felt and that I’d be very sad if this “being too comfortable” is because I rightfully flagged up discriminatory behaviour. I’m so gutted that instead of viewing the racism I faced as the issue, they viewed me as the issue instead.

Honestly still feeling scarred that this was my experience. This is a large firm and I don’t know if they’re just used to brushing off issues like this. I’m future-focused now and just trying to apply to other TCs as initially, this TC was my one brink of hope. I never knew I would be put down so badly for my race and discriminated against. I felt so alone.

Hypothetically if I get another AC at a firm
for a direct TC, how honest do I be about this? I don’t want to appear like I’m bashing the firm in any interview. I am ultimately grateful that they offered me a vac scheme, and will always be.

 

[j.s.cox]

Feeling defeated and in need of advice. Gonna be a long one

I recently had a vacation scheme and experienced severe micro-aggressions during my seat. In one of the conversations with the wider team, they made fun of people of my race, saying they do not speak proper english.

When I was asked what I was doing before the vac scheme, I told them I did a vac scheme elsewhere and was told “what a waste of your *** (a profanity was used) time”. On calls, I was made fun of, with the senior member saying they spent a great amount of time trying to learn how to pronounce my name (though I am Asian, my name is a typical English name). I had spoken to my supervisor about this as they had witnessed all of it and asked me what I thought, but I even brushed it off and said “I won’t take it personally though” as I did not want to appear too sensitive. I was told that this was just “the character of the senior member” and that “if you want to be part of the team, you just have to get used to it”.

I ended up not getting offered the TC though I went above and beyond for it. My supervisor was never around, I was never welcomed into or introduced to my team. I knocked from door to door introducing myself and established my own presence. I asked for extra work, and offered help while I could but met every deadline there was at the same time. Every single piece of feedback for my work was really positive, things like “it was really high quality, professional, you showed great emotional maturity in your interview”. They said “it took us a long time to make this decision, they went back and forth but it all boiled down to the fact that you were too comfortable with your supervisor. You need to understand people can’t always give you time of day or be there for you” and I was honest and said I faced racism and confided in my supervisor about it because I was asked how I felt. I’m so gutted that instead of viewing the racism I faced as the issue, they viewed me as the issue instead.

Honestly still feeling scarred that this was my experience. This is a large firm and I don’t know if they’re just used to brushing off issues like this and showing such a lack of care for their vacation schemers? I’m future-focused now and just trying to apply to other TCs as initially, this TC was my one brink of hope. I am an international student and scoring this huge vac scheme was a big deal for me, I never knew I would be put down so badly for my race and discriminated against. I felt so alone as my supervisor was never really around too, and even when he was, he ended up speaking badly of me for confiding in him about my discomfort.

Hypothetically if I get another AC at a firm
for a direct TC, how honest do I be about these? Do I even speak about my bad experience? I don’t want to appear like I’m bashing the firm as they’re incredibly reputable.

This sounds horrible! If it's any consolation, it sounds like you dodged a bullet. When you secure a TC, you'll have to work there for the next two years. I can imagine working in an environment such as this would be detrimental to your mental health and would not make you enjoy a career in law. Did you talk to the firm's HR department about what was happening? If not, it may be worth dropping them an email.

In terms of future ACs, I think it would be best just to say that you did not fit in with the culture of the firm or something along those lines.

 

[jnice]

Hey! I just wanted to post a quick message reassuring those of you applying for vac schemes / TCs that you can certainly achieve your goal. I also wanted to offer some assistance. I achieved BCC at A-Level, attended a non-Russell group university and graduated with a 2:1. I applied for TCs in my first and third years and received zero offers. I then began the LPC LLM and have just secured a TC at Osborne Clarke. I went from zero offers to being able to pass multiple stages of assessment and secure a TC at a top firm by learning everything I possibly could about the process.

If anyone is looking to apply to OC or wants help with vac scheme / TC applications more generally, please just send me a message. It took me a lot of time, research and conversations to learn how to pass all of the stages successfully, so if you think I may be able to help just let me know.

I want to echo this! With this thread closing soon, I want to say the biggest thank you to the TCLA team and everyone on this and the VS forum. This was my first year actively using these forums and I’ve ended this cycle (my fourth cycle!!!) with 2 vac schemes after 3 applications, one TC offer and a paralegal role! Please make use of this forum or rather the new one for the upcoming cycle and particularly helpful to me was the AC experiences! If you have a question - ask! Also, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions regarding vacation scheme/training contract apps - very happy to help!

 

[Louise59]

anything from Weil or K&L Gates, by any chance ?

 

[futureTS2025hopeful]

Feeling defeated and in need of advice. Gonna be a long one

I recently had a vacation scheme and experienced severe micro-aggressions during my seat. In one of the conversations with the wider team, they made fun of people of my race, saying they do not speak proper english.

When I was asked what I was doing before the vac scheme, I told them I did a vac scheme elsewhere and was told “what a waste of your *** (a profanity was used) time”. On calls, I was made fun of, with the senior member saying they spent a great amount of time trying to learn how to pronounce my name (though I am Asian, my name is a typical English name). I had spoken to someone in the team about this as they had witnessed all of it and asked me what I thought, but I even brushed it off and said “I won’t take it personally though” as I did not want to appear too sensitive. I was told that this was just “the character of the senior member” and that “we’re all just used to it”.

I ended up not getting offered the TC though I went above and beyond for it. I was never welcomed into or introduced to my team. I knocked from door to door introducing myself and established my own presence. I asked for extra work, and offered help while I could but met every deadline there was at the same time. Feedback for my work was really positive, things like “it was high quality, professional” and even at the conversion interview, was told “you showed great enthusiasm for wanting to be part of this firm and displayed emotional maturity in your interview”. They said “they went back and forth with the decision (to reject) but it all boiled down to the fact that you were too comfortable with your supervisor” and that ”you need to understand people can’t always give you time of day or be there for you”. I responded and told them honestly that I had faced racism and confided in my supervisor about it because I was asked how I felt and that I’d be very sad if this “being too comfortable” is because I rightfully flagged up discriminatory behaviour. I’m so gutted that instead of viewing the racism I faced as the issue, they viewed me as the issue instead.

Honestly still feeling scarred that this was my experience. This is a large firm and I don’t know if they’re just used to brushing off issues like this. I’m future-focused now and just trying to apply to other TCs as initially, this TC was my one brink of hope. I am an international student and scoring this huge vac scheme was a big deal for me, I never knew I would be put down so badly for my race and discriminated against. I felt so alone.

Hypothetically if I get another AC at a firm
for a direct TC, how honest do I be about these? Do I even speak about my bad experience? I don’t want to appear like I’m bashing the firm in any interview.

This sounds horrendous. Which firm is this, so we can all avoid applying to them?

 

[Rollon23]

Has anyone heard back from hogan lovells since the WG?

 

[taylorkelce]

This sounds horrendous. Which firm is this, so we can all avoid applying to them?

Seconded. Name and shame the firm and individuals. I suggest contacting the SRA as well.

I would also say the more a firm says how diverse, how modern, how collaborative it is, the less it actually is. They're often trying to cover issues with marketing.

What exactly is wrong with being "too comfortable" with your supervisors? What is this, Windsor Castle or Downton Abbey?

 

[TJames12]

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of reassurance/advice regarding my current situation. I have been working in audit and tax for the last 15 months and hoping to gain a TC as a career changer. However, im really struggling with the role and it's starting to impact my mental well-being so I'm unsure whether to stick it out for the sake of TC/VS applications. How detrimental would quitting be to future applications but moreover what alternative roles would be good for TC applications in the meantime if not paralegal work. P.S. I ventured down the accounting route as I failed to secure a paralegal role.

Thanks

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hey, all. I got rejected after the VI for BCLP last month. They have opened their new app cycle today and it's going to remain open until 31st May, 2024. Does anyone know if I am eligible to apply? Thanks.

 

[gilo]

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of reassurance/advice regarding my current situation. I have been working in audit and tax for the last 15 months and hoping to gain a TC as a career changer. However, im really struggling with the role and it's starting to impact my mental well-being so I'm unsure whether to stick it out for the sake of TC/VS applications. How detrimental would quitting be to future applications but moreover what alternative roles would be good for TC applications in the meantime if not paralegal work. P.S. I ventured down the accounting route as I failed to secure a paralegal role.

Thanks

I’d suggest to start looking for roles that you would enjoy more and to think carefully about the skills you have and how they could be useful for a business/organisation. Otherwise speak to your current employer and try and find tasks or move roles that would be better suited to yourself. Law can be quite cutthroat but reaching out to recruiters can be a good place to start if you have GDL/LLB. I wouldn’t quit your job straight away personally but try and find something whilst doing your role, because it is often better to have continuity on your CV. But if your mental health is being compromised then obviously should prioritise that, tell your employer first as there is often well being and counselling services available in most organisations for this exact reason, and speak to the GP too if you haven’t already done so.

 

[Sara]

Yay Guys after 5 years of serious applying I finally got a training contract at Hugh James. I thought of giving up many times but managed to Persevere, so over the moon. Thanks to the Definitive interview guide here. That was so invaluable!

Now to do the SQE!!!

 

[SemperParatus]

Apologies if it sounds like I’m venting but I honestly don’t understand what’s taking Weil so long. It’s been over a month