TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2023-4

[desperateTCseeker1998]

How many questions are there, are they competency questions, and what’s the word limit for the cover letter?

The cover letter word limit is 500 words and the other questions are:
Please describe an achievement you are most proud of. What challenges did you face?

Please tell us why you believe commercial awareness is an important skill for a successful lawyer.

What challenges do you think Fried Franks clients are facing in respect to the changes in the UK economy and how can Fried Frank help them with these challenges?

Please use this section to write your cover letter to support your application (word limit is 500 words). *

 

[Jessica Booker]

The cover letter word limit is 500 words and the other questions are:
Please describe an achievement you are most proud of. What challenges did you face?

Please tell us why you believe commercial awareness is an important skill for a successful lawyer.

What challenges do you think Fried Franks clients are facing in respect to the changes in the UK economy and how can Fried Frank help them with these challenges?

Please use this section to write your cover letter to support your application (word limit is 500 words). *

I’d aim for no more than 1000 words across the three questions (not including the cover letter).

 

[evie99]

Does anyone know what type of case study Ashurst uses for the final partner interview? Is it an article based case study or a hypothetical deal scenario?

 

[TC seeker]

Anyone heard from Slaughter and May?

Do you know Slaughter and May has any online assessment or video interview?

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Based on previous experience, does anyone know by when W&C come back to you on the outcome of your direct tc app and when they hold the ACs? (theyre non rolling so ofc I understand it's going to be after 14 July). Thanks.

 

[pb15]

anyone applied for Al Tamimi Training Contract?

hi yes I have

 

[gch1997]

Hi, has anyone got any tips for Withers online assessment, I always seem to struggle with these!

 

[Law009]

Has anyone heard back from Browne Jacobson after the telephone interview?

 

[lawyerletsgo]

@Jessica Booker hi! I have left this Q to the last moment so Im hoping you get to see this sometime today - when a firm asks 'describe a time you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone' does this need to be academic or law related? or can I speak about a music performance? is it better if its a recent event?

thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker hi! I have left this Q to the last moment so Im hoping you get to see this sometime today - when a firm asks 'describe a time you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone' does this need to be academic or law related? or can I speak about a music performance? is it better if its a recent event?

thanks!

No - doesn’t need to be academic or within a legal setting. I would try to ensure it is fairly recent (say last 2-3 years) to show you have put yourself outside of your comfort zone more recently. It can really be any example but the emphasis pf the answer needs to be on how you explain why the situation was outside of your comfort zone and really putting the detail in the uncomfortable nature of doing that.

 

[lawyerletsgo]

No - doesn’t need to be academic or within a legal setting. I would try to ensure it is fairly recent (say last 2-3 years) to show you have put yourself outside of your comfort zone more recently. It can really be any example but the emphasis pf the answer needs to be on how you explain why the situation was outside of your comfort zone and really putting the detail in the uncomfortable nature of doing that.

thank you so much for your response - i really appreciate this!

I was thinking of focusing on why the situation was uncomfortable, why I chose to do it anyways and what skills I deployed or developed to succeed. is this sensible? is this a competency type Q?

 

[Jessica Booker]

thank you so much for your response - i really appreciate this!

I was thinking of focusing on why the situation was uncomfortable, why I chose to do it anyways and what skills I deployed or developed to succeed. is this sensible? is this a competency type Q?

Yes - this is a very sensible approach to take. It is effectively a competency question as it is asking you to pull upon a previous example of where you have demonstrated something in particular.

 

[sunnyd]

Hi @Jessica Booker, just found out that an assessment centre next week will involve a presentation, but no other information has been given about it - could you please help as to how i should prepare? 😭

 

[legal_student2024]

For anyone who did the Withers test, what were their strength/weakness areas?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, just found out that an assessment centre next week will involve a presentation, but no other information has been given about it - could you please help as to how i should prepare? 😭

I would stress many of these type of assessments you cannot prepare for as such, and this type of presentation/assessment is probably designed as such so that candidates cannot prepare.

You can consider what makes an effective presentation though. To me, this article is quite useful in explaining what typically makes an effective presentation: https://hbr.org/2020/01/what-it-takes-to-give-a-great-presentation

 

[jplaw1010]

does slaughters recruit on a rolling basis?

 

[KBanana]

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen Hello! I have 2 questions:

1. According to Slaughter's website, a CV should not be more than 2 pages, would mine get overlooked if I condensed it down to 1 page?

2. In my CV, should I state factually what I have done (e.g. "carried out X") or should I also mention the skills that I developed (e.g. "Developed communication skills by carrying out X")? I am a bit worried about repeating myself here and in the 'why me' part of my cover letter, where I discuss the relevant skills I developed from my experiences. However, I also do not know if Slaughter and May uses some AI to scan through the CVs to look for the qualities they listed on their website and if they look at the CVs first rather than the cover letter.

Thank you!

 

[Lawyering13]

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen Hello! I have 2 questions:

1. According to Slaughter's website, a CV should not be more than 2 pages, would mine get overlooked if I condensed it down to 1 page?

2. In my CV, should I state factually what I have done (e.g. "carried out X") or should I also mention the skills that I developed (e.g. "Developed communication skills by carrying out X")? I am a bit worried about repeating myself here and in the 'why me' part of my cover letter, where I discuss the relevant skills I developed from my experiences. However, I also do not know if Slaughter and May uses some AI to scan through the CVs to look for the qualities they listed on their website and if they look at the CVs first rather than the cover letter.

Thank you!

Slaughters explicitly ask you not to state skills as they are able to infer it from your job descriptions. So I would just put “Carried out X, achieved Y results” or something, and do two-three bullet points for each work experience.

 

[studentgrad]

Has anyone heard back from HFW for their direct training contract?

 

[RiverJules]

Anyone heard anything from howard kennedy post VI?