Baker McKenzie, Ashurst, and some other firms require I enter in a "letter grade" as well as a number. To anyone who went to a UK university, does this mean to enter in 1:1, 2:1, etc? or A, B, etc (if so, what scale should I be using to measure?)
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
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Oh woww!! When did you hear from them? I got a mail from them last month saying they will get back by next month - haven’t heard from them yet ://
Nope, I’m still waiting to hear back from them regarding my Spring VS application. I think it might be a rejection as I know their Spring VS is soon
I'm thinking of applying to the Ashurst Direct Training Contract even though I got to the Summer Vacation Scheme final AC last year. I know that many firms don't invite candidates that they've interviewed before but I feel that I really didn't know what I was doing back then and know that my skills and commercial awareness have totally transformed since. Their feedback was massively encouraging and helpful - it made me like the idea of them much more and I think they were really unique!
Is this the point in the application to acknowledge this?
Is this the point in the application to acknowledge this?
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You should. They will know you applied in the last cycle anyway (cross checking name, email, etc).
I don’t see any cons as Ashurst officially says:
Can I reapply for a vacation scheme or Direct Training contract if I was previously unsuccessful?
- We only permit one application within each recruitment cycle. If you do wish to reapply we encourage you to complete a new application form in the next recruitment cycle and include any skills and experience you’ve gained since you last applied.
I don't think they are looking for both. They are looking for what you achieved at your specific uni. They recognise unis grade differently.
At mine it was a % eg 72%
At a friend's their modules were graded A-D.
The classification usually is required when they ask for year 1, year 2 etc.
They don't look for the equivalents to be entered just have the options there to cover that unis way of grading. If it won't let you move without filling a box then you put N/A if you can or leave it blank if it does let you move on.
Edit- sorry I meant to reply to @IntoLaw
- Sep 7, 2024
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Hiya @Szofi66
Just before @Jessica Booker and @Amma Usman get back to you, I wanted to quickly share my thoughts. I don’t think it's necessary to tie back your entries to the firm. Having gotten past their application stage myself, I’d suggest focusing on clearly setting out your experiences and making sure you describe each role in enough detail. When I was filling out my applications, I did make a point of highlighting the specific tasks and skills from certain roles that were particularly relevant or transferable to a legal career. That said, I’d really encourage you to focus on what you actually did in each role rather than trying to tie everything back to the firm.
Hope that helps, and best of luck with your application!
Jessica Booker
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- Aug 1, 2019
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Just to add to @Ram Sabaratnam's great advice.
Not everything needs linking back to the firm specifically - sometimes firms don't need to see this at the application stage but may assess it later on in the recruitment process. As Ram has suggested, I think its important to focus on your key skills, achievements and impact you had, especially given the tight word limit. What you can do is think about the skills maybe the firm values the most and weave that into answers on occasion, but I don't think you need to transform everything, especially if it is as the cost of you demonstrating some of your more interesting or impactful experiences.
- Sep 7, 2024
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Hiya @Tintin06
I’m not entirely sure about King & Spalding, but I’ve met a sizeable number of future trainees at Fried Frank and Paul Hastings, and none of them had any paralegal experience. That said, they did have a number of vacation schemes under their belts by the time they applied. Given that you’ve also completed several vacation schemes at excellent firms, I’d definitely say it’s worth applying for their direct training contracts. Best of luck with your applications.
I wanted to know about ashursts application process in terms of what you learned from it? so any feedback
- Sep 9, 2024
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Mayer Brown's application process is known to be quite idiosyncratic and I do not think they have much of an expectation for you to make many links to your 'why the firm' reasons at this stage. That said, I think if you have any good opportunities to do so (ie. where there is a clear alignment between a skill/experience and a differentiating feature of the firm) you should take them, as it can't do anything but elevate your application.
However, I definitely think you should not seek to tailor each work experience to the firm. The connections and resulting reasoning would likely look weak as a result, and you do not want to seem like you are pulling at straws. Moreover, it is generally thought that writing in the work experience section should be quite descriptive and to the point; if you consider Mayer Brown's tight word limit as well it's difficult to imagine they might have a different expectation. As such, I would say the same applies for inferences about skills: you can draw them, but do so sparsely and only where the link is very clear - you do not want to have a repetitive writing style.
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