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

[James Carrabino]

Thanks so much!! This firm only hires through direct TC soooo not sure if that means they want everything sorted in Feb time

In my view, you should at least do the interview and then worry about it later

 

[Jessica Booker]

After an AC, is it common practice to send an email to the interviewers thanking them for their time?

If you have their email, then fine. If you haven’t and you track it down (and it isn’t really easy to find on the firms website) then I wouldn’t.

 

[James Carrabino]

I got given 7 days to do an online assessment and have been working through it slowly until today, the 7th day, where it abruptly expired at a random time and now my assessment got sent off only partly completed - i emailed gradrec asking because they never specified a time the url would expire and i assumed it was until the end of the day (they havent replied yet) but any thoughts?

Could it be 7 days from the exact time you first started it? I have had assessments follow a timeline like this; best to see what grad rec says!

 

[AvniD]

After an AC, is it common practice to send an email to the interviewers thanking them for their time?

I would always do this, regardless of whether it's part of UK/US culture or if it makes an impact on their decision.

It's courteous and helps cement you in the memory of your interviewers who you many work alongside down the line in the future, even if you don't end up securing a TC/VS.

In my emails, I would begin by thanking them for their time and move on to briefly speaking about a conversation that stood out to me in the interview. I would always keep the emails polite and would be careful to not sound too eager. I hope this helps if you consider sending them!

 

[AvniD]

I'll be sending TCLA moderators thank you notes and taco bell when I get my training contract - for putting up with all my application psychodrama on this forum.

This made my day 😂😂😂

 

[starbright]

Hi @corinium!

Huge congratulations on being invited to your first AC. I am really chuffed for you. It is a very surreal feeling and you have done extremely well to get so far in the process.

In line with @S87's insight above, I would really recommend Watson's Daily for brushing up on commercial awareness. The forum's commercial awareness updates are also fantastic (I wish I had used them when I applied!). If you can, start now and try to work on this little and often if you can (commercial awareness is very difficult to cram). You have plenty of time to do this, so just get stuck in as early as you can.

For a general breakdown of AC preparation, this post is a breakdown how I approached AC preparation. Please do not take it as a perfect approach, but it really is the one I employed!



Hey @robynm09,

I am so sorry about my error in my previous post. I have now amended the original post with the correct link. For ease though, this is the page I was talking about regarding article interviews!

Please do let me know how it goes



Hi @starbright,

So I do not think that it makes a difference either way honestly. I personally always did this. I know Partners interview lots of people and may not even read it. However, on the off chance they do, I always wanted to say thank you for the opportunity. I know opinion on this is divided though! I wouldn't overthink it though.

I hope that helps 🚀



Hey @gracelaw_,

My advice would be to make the most of the opportunity. You can never interview too many times for one. And as another user pointed out, if you did get offered a TC, you could ask for an extension.

It is a huge achievement to have been progressed so far with two firms too! Great going Grace!



Hey @lawvc2021,

I know others have responded to you on this, but I really recognise this feeling and empathise. I always suffered from self-doubt following my ACs/interviews. All I would say is that it is extremely difficult to objectively evaluate how you did in an AC. As best you can, try not to predict the outcome of your AC. So long as you did your best, you really cannot do any more.

It goes without saying, my fingers are crossed for you! 🤞



Alright alright @James Carrabino enough with the roasting 🍗.

The post is now amended.

I hope @robynm09 has recovered from their disappointment on discovering the error too. 😅

I always did - maybe this is a US thing but all my friends who did consulting recruitment in the US were told that interviewers looked to see if they received a thank you e-mail and that it could make the difference between two very equal candidates. That said, I do get the sense that it is not such an important thing in London TC/VS recruitment.

Regardless, I always believed that it was a polite gesture to send a kind note thanking the interviewer for their time. I also do this whenever anyone has a call with me or helps me out with something - it is good practice throughout one's career to recognise when others have invested their time on your behalf and thank them for it. I often received some really lovely responses (some even telling me how well they thought my interview went which I feel like they were not supposed to reveal)!

If you have their email, then fine. If you haven’t and you track it down (and it isn’t really easy to find on the firms website) then I wouldn’t.

I would always do this, regardless of whether it's part of UK/US culture or if it makes an impact on their decision.

It's courteous and helps cement you in the memory of your interviewers who you many work alongside down the line in the future, even if you don't end up securing a TC/VS.

In my emails, I would begin by thanking them for their time and move on to briefly speaking about a conversation that stood out to me in the interview. I would always keep the emails polite and would be careful to not sound too eager. I hope this helps if you consider sending them!

Hi all, thanks so much for replying!

My only concern about sending the thank you email was that I would come across as trying too hard or being desperate. And as @Jessica Booker said, I don't actually have my interviewer's emails and so I'd have to stalk them to find it! 🤣

Thank you once again though!!

 

[AvniD]

I'm curious.

Assuming I need to re-apply for VS/TCs (a very plausible assumption given that I've bombed the only two VIs I've received), how bad does it look if I make points that are similar to those I made in a previous written application to the same firm?

For instance, do I need to have entirely different rationales for 'why law' or 'why this firm'? Or is it simply enough that I use more recent/different evidence to substantiate the same points that I made in a previous application? (Or perhaps some combination of both of these).

If you say your core motivation for applying to the firm is their culture, and you want to re-use this then try to deepen your knowledge of the firm's culture (speak to their trainees, read more news articles about them, understand their objective behind their cultural initiatives etc.) so that the evidence that you use to back up your motivation is heftier than the ones you chose to rely on in the previous cycle.

There is always a way to rephrase something or demonstrate deeper, more developed motivations. It's tough, requires a ton of introspection, research and reflection on your life experiences and career ambitions, but once you do it, you will find that your application will have improved tremendously.

 

[AvniD]

Hi all, thanks so much for replying!

My only concern about sending the thank you email was that I would come across as trying too hard or being desperate. And as @Jessica Booker said, I don't actually have my interviewer's emails and so I'd have to stalk them to find it! 🤣

Thank you once again though!!

The emails are generally listed on the interviewers' firm profiles. If they aren't, you can email grad rec explaining that you would like to thank your interviewers and if they could kindly share the relevant email addresses.

Wishing you the best 😇

 

[James Carrabino]

How do people improve on timed VIs? I did a video interview simulation with TCLA and got decent feedback but my brain just absolutely melted during the real thing. Also I hate looking at myself on camera - so cringe.

It's tough... the cringest thing is seeing yourself not as you would in a mirror but the way the camera sees you, and like if you lean your head one way then it leans the other way on the screen 🤣 I think the trick is to really relax and know that it will seem cringe. The video interviews where I was successful were honestly some of the ones where I was more relaxed and had some 'ums' and some 'ers' as opposed to those where I was almost over-prepared and probably came across as somewhat robotic!

 

[Adrian_S]

It's tough... the cringest thing is seeing yourself not as you would in a mirror but the way the camera sees you, and like if you lean your head one way then it leans the other way on the screen 🤣 I think the trick is to really relax and know that it will seem cringe. The video interviews where I was successful were honestly some of the ones where I was more relaxed and had some 'ums' and some 'ers' as opposed to those where I was almost over-prepared and probably came across as somewhat robotic!

The best Video Interviews will be the ones I do after I get extensive cosmetic surgery and look fab

 

[James Carrabino]

Yes guys I agree - and my apologies I seem to have confused scenario-based questions with situational questions

Absolutely love to see self-reflection like this 😍 I have certainly had to correct myself on many an occasion after hearing from another user

 

[James Carrabino]

Ahhh same !!! Driving me crazy...I thought firms usually get back to you within a week or two max

I had to wait over 7 weeks once before finding out I passed an AC!

 

[James Carrabino]

Did anyone apply to Arnold Porter and shed a light on them?

Excellent regulatory firm, one of the major US players in life sciences, tech and white collar I think. Very small trainee intake if I recall (like two people)

 

[S87]

Excellent regulatory firm, one of the major US players in life sciences, tech and white collar I think. Very small trainee intake if I recall (like two people)

I was interested but then the low intake made me say no!

 

[James Carrabino]

PFO from Pinsent Masons London post-GMA. Absolutely gutted I got my application checked and amended by future trainees too, but I think I really let myself down in the GMA.

I'm in the penultimate year of my law degree (this is my first cycle applying) and so far I've only progressed to 1 AC out of 9 firms that I applied to, and realistically speaking, don't think I'll be getting any vac scheme offers this time round. Does anyone have any tips on re-applying for vac schemes in final year?

The thought of having to attend webinars, networking events and open days all over again in autumn and chasing deadlines again for applications whilst juggling everything else is already killing me. Aside from working on feedback you've received off the back of rejections, what else is helpful in bouncing back after a round of rejections?

Hi @jo I know that it is tough to face the prospect of applying again as at one point I thought I might have to face this prospect as well, before I got a TC offer at the end of the cycle (so there is still hope for you)!

Even when I was gearing up to apply all over again, I put the drudgery out of my mind and focused on everything I had learnt from my application cycle. I asked myself what worked in the applications that passed the app stage and how they differed from my other application forms. I asked myself which firms I liked most after going through the research process. I also looked at what days the new application cycle opened for various firms so that I could apply as early as possible and to as many firms as possible in a clear and structured way.

When I ultimately received two TC offers by the end of my first cycle, I was of course relieved. But I had also come around to not being too upset by the prospect of applying again. This was my career and my life that I was investing in, and investing more hours now in getting myself to the right firm could never be something that I would regret! The process is a drag, but you will get there eventually - I am certain of it! if you apply again, I am confident that you will feel much more experienced as a candidate and this will help you in approaching the process

 

[James Carrabino]

Who does everyone think is the dark horse of law firms? The diamond in the rough that doesn’t get enough credit and attention from the forum. I’ll start:

Northridge.

This is a cool question - I honestly have no idea which firm I would say! Maybe you want to start a thread about it 😊

 

[Jessica Booker]

The emails are generally listed on the interviewers' firm profiles. If they aren't, you can email grad rec explaining that you would like to thank your interviewers and if they could kindly share the relevant email addresses.

Wishing you the best 😇

I would instead ask Grad Rec to forward the email on to thank the interviewers rather than asking for the emails, as otherwise you are asking Grad Rec to deal with multiple emails (to ask for permission to share the details with you to each interviewer, then the email back to you), instead of just forwarding it.

This is the most appropriate way of dealing with it if you haven’t been given your interviewers’ email details.

 

[gilo]

any thoughts on how best to start a video interview, and the types of points worth making. Is it best to focus on why the work at the firm is appealing or go into things like pro bono ect

 

[parsleyperson]

does anyone know if PwC's video interview deadline means sunday 23:59 or 00:00? 😭

 

[starbright]

I would instead ask Grad Rec to forward the email on to thank the interviewers rather than asking for the emails, as otherwise you are asking Grad Rec to deal with multiple emails (to ask for permission to share the details with you to each interviewer, then the email back to you), instead of just forwarding it.

This is the most appropriate way of dealing with it if you haven’t been given your interviewers’ email details.

That makes a lot of sense - thanks so much Jessica!