TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

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Jessica Booker

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I posted this question earlier today but it was a Sunday and no one was available to offer me advice so I thought I’d try again today!

To cut a long story short. I’m a final year law student and I’m applying to a particular firm which asks me to detail the positions of responsibility, sports, and other achievements both at university and at school.

these are two separate questions (300 words each). other questions on the application form look great! However, I genuinely have zero achievements to speak of both in school and at university.

I’ve worked full time jobs (as a business owner) at university, and I moved schools mid-way through my GCSEs due to a troubled childhood.

to put it bluntly, I haven’t engaged with any societies at university, nor do I have any particular achievements I.e. winning a debating competition.

this is my first cycle and I’ve got through the initial application stage for every single firm that I’ve applied to, but these two questions have completely stumped me.

Do you guys think I should bother applying since a genuinely can’t prose a meaningful answer to the question at hand?

I could really use your advice!

Edit: And when I say nothing in terms of positions at school/university, I genuinely mean nothing! The firm asks 4 other questions, PLUS a 300 word cover letter which I feel confident I can answer. I just don’t know what to do about the 600 word gap in my application that will likely make any grad recruiter automatically reject me.
Use these sections to explain your circumstances.

Even if you haven’t done anything within the school/university environment, try to think of other things you may have done - do you play any sports for fun, do you go to the gym or do any other form of exercise, do you explore your interests whether they be arts/science/languages etc? Do you participate in the local community (eg church/religious groups)?

With your self employment have you ever done anything beyond sell your products/services? I am also self employed, but I have done a bit of work for charity and would mention that. I have also donated my time for things like charity auctions, so could reference that too.

Have you done any fundraising activities? For instance, I did a marathon walk in October 2020 which required me to train extensively - I’d include something like that if I was writing this answer.

If the answer to all of the above is still no, then you’ll need to explain why your self employment has kept you busy and restricted your time/energy for any activities.
 

Jessica Booker

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Hi all, just out of curiosity, if you have two summer VS and you receive a TC after the first scheme, are you allowed to still participate in the VS at another firm and decide to accept/decline the TC offer afterwards?
Technically, if you are accepting the TC ahead of starting the second vacation scheme, you should renege the offer. Some firms, whether they are the TC offerer or the SVS firm, may also state you have to do this based on the terms of their respective offers too.

Usually, firms will give you four weeks to accept the offer or possibly will give you to the 15/16/17 September to accept, so you may find you don't have to accept the TC offer until then, giving you time still to complete the second VS.
 
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Deleted member 11671

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How did everyone find the Skadden final interview? For me it was one-sided and based on questions they had to ask (ie pre-written I think - they moved onto the next question as soon as I finished the last). Ended about 8ish minutes beforehand to leave time for questions. It reminded me a lot about what people were saying here for V&E's vac scheme interview last year (ie one-sided, used a list of questions etc).

Did anyone else have a similar experience?
I had my interview today and yes it was fairly similar, although the interviewers tried to make it seem more of a conversation.
 
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