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

[tc.la.vs]

over the moon to say that after two years, 50+ applications, a load of interviews, 2 vac schemes and infinite rejections I have been offered a TC somewhere I love! I am so so so beyond grateful and wish everyone on here the best of luck. This process has made me feel very crushed on occasion and I am incredibly thankful to be out of it tbh! Thanks everyone for contributing to these forums, they truly are so helpful. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get the TC of your dreams

 

[James Carrabino]

over the moon to say that after two years, 50+ applications, a load of interviews, 2 vac schemes and infinite rejections I have been offered a TC somewhere I love! I am so so so beyond grateful and wish everyone on here the best of luck. This process has made me feel very crushed on occasion and I am incredibly thankful to be out of it tbh! Thanks everyone for contributing to these forums, they truly are so helpful. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get the TC of your dreams

Wow @tc.la.vs this is absolutely incredible news! Please make sure you celebrate this weekend - all of us at TCLA are so proud of you 😊

 

[Jessica Booker]

over the moon to say that after two years, 50+ applications, a load of interviews, 2 vac schemes and infinite rejections I have been offered a TC somewhere I love! I am so so so beyond grateful and wish everyone on here the best of luck. This process has made me feel very crushed on occasion and I am incredibly thankful to be out of it tbh! Thanks everyone for contributing to these forums, they truly are so helpful. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get the TC of your dreams

This is fantastic news - congratulations!

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

If I have vacation schemes over summer, would it be worth applying to TCs now? I have little legal work exp. currently, but many TC apps (S&M for instance) open in June and recruit on a rolling basis. Would it be sensible to wait and apply after my vac schemes? Or should I mention to grad rec that I have upcoming vac schemes?

Thanks

Hi @captainhilts, this is a great question!

First of all, congratulations on your vac schemes! It is impressive to hear that you are driven to keep applying despite having secured vac schemes 😊

First of all, it is always worth applying to more firms if you have the time, no question! Even though you are clearly an excellent applicant from your vac scheme successes, you always boost your chances further with more apps, plus direct TC applications are a great route to take (see @AvniD's excellent thread about them here) as there is a prospect of ending up with a TC offer without having to go through a vac scheme!

You will be able to leverage your future vac schemes in your direct TC apps and I think this will help you pass the application stage! This leverage will be even stronger once you have completed the schemes, but by the time your direct TC interviews come around anyway you may have completed the schemes and so will have things to talk about then from your experiences

I noticed a massive difference in the success rate of my apps getting past the application stage after securing my vac schemes, but very little difference between the period before starting and after completing the vac schemes. I understood this to mean that firms will sometimes take the fact that you have been accepted to vacation schemes as if you have already been vetted as a good applicant and think that they may as well bring you to interview (although of course I cannot guarantee this, I am just speaking from my anecdotal experience).

In an actual interview, you will not have much that is interesting to say about a future vacation scheme, however, so it will be better if you have actually done the scheme. That said, for the rolling firms I would not hold off on submitting your application now because, as I mentioned, you may well have completed the scheme by the time it comes round to an interview.

Ultimately, this process is about being strategic with your applications and if you have the time to put in some direct TC apps now for the rolling firms and some for the non-rolling firms after you have done the schemes, then you will be able to maximise your chances of getting a TC! If you do not have time then don't stress and put in the apps when you have the opportunity to work on them more thoroughly

Please let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[GXA123]

I don't understand this question "Making a difference to our people, our community and our environment is important to us. Our aim is to have a positive impact on all that we do. Tell us what's important to you and what journey this has taken you on so far." what are they asking for?

 

[rightletsdothis]

I'm currently waiting for a firm to tell me the outcome of my conversion interview after a VS. The issue is, they make it so the partner who interviewed you is meant to tell you via phone call if you got in. They told these partners quite late on Friday and as such only about half of them got back to us in time before business close (they didn't get back to me and 8 others). I have 2 other TC offers but I want to choose this firm who are yet to inform me of my outcome. Seeing as I know GR must know if I got in, is it ok for me to message one of the GR team members on linkedin to tell me if I got in prior to a potential phone call next week from a partner? I really don't want to wait much longer and it seems odd as I know the GR know the outcome but are instead waiting for very busy partners to tell you instead... And I don't have much time to decide haha

 

[James Carrabino]

if in an interview when they ask "introduce yourself to me in 60s" i was wondering what kind of things would one include? should it be more personal (i.e personal attributes, hobbites, etc) or more achievement/career based (awards, career interests/achievements, etc)?

This is a really interesting question that I wanted to come back to

I know that in this kind of 'tell me about yourself' question I would always try to tell my life story in as concise a way as possible! I wrote a post in my thread about my anecdotal interview experiences where I explain that this is sort of one big motivational question, insofar as you want to tell them a really interesting story about yourself that all culminates in explaining why you are there applying to their firm! You would have to do this very concisely indeed, though to get it done in 60 seconds

With this in mind, make sure to mention your intellectual interests, how you developed your career aspirations, other interesting things about you including extra-curricular activities or hobbies you are passionate about and perhaps your cultural background, language skills or anything else that you think is of note!

I am not sure that awards are the most defining characteristics unless they are really big and had a big impact on your life and your confidence in your abilities, for example, but this question is not about listing your resume. Instead, try to show the interviewers your character and handpick the things that you would like to define you as a person, not just as an applicant!

Do try to think about how all of these things relate together, but at the same time do not leave out something important because you don't think it relates. Remember that law firms are looking for a diverse variety of interests in their lawyers and would love to hear about the things that you may not think are directly relevant to law, because they can give you an unique perspective

 

[James Carrabino]

I'm currently waiting for a firm to tell me the outcome of my conversion interview after a VS. The issue is, they make it so the partner who interviewed you is meant to tell you via phone call if you got in. They told these partners quite late on Friday and as such only about half of them got back to us in time before business close (they didn't get back to me and 8 others). I have 2 other TC offers but I want to choose this firm who are yet to inform me of my outcome. Seeing as I know GR must know if I got in, is it ok for me to message one of the GR team members on linkedin to tell me if I got in prior to a potential phone call next week from a partner? I really don't want to wait much longer and it seems odd as I know the GR know the outcome but are instead waiting for very busy partners to tell you instead... And I don't have much time to decide haha

I would not message grad rec on LinkedIn, if I am being honest, as I think that could come across as unprofessional. If you are going to contact them then I would do so by e-mail.

Also, I would not message them something along the lines of 'I know we are supposed to hear from the partners but I know you know the answer...' although I am sure you weren't going to do that anyway 🤣

Instead grad rec always let candidates know to get in touch if they have other offers and need an expedited response, so I would politely e-mail them in that context and let them know when you would need to hear by, ideally.

Remember that it is possible they are still making decisions in relation to the 9 of you and so they may not be able to let you know sooner. Some firms wait to see if some candidates accept their offers before giving out more offers.

Good luck with resolving this and congrats on your TC offers!!

 

[James Carrabino]

I don't understand this question "Making a difference to our people, our community and our environment is important to us. Our aim is to have a positive impact on all that we do. Tell us what's important to you and what journey this has taken you on so far." what are they asking for?

Do you have an interest or a cause that you are passionate about, which has led you either to completing a project, travelling somewhere, becoming involved in an initiative or developing a skill? I know it can seem like a vague question but it is looking for your demonstration of 1. Passion for something to show that you are an interesting and enriched individual, and 2. Commitment to pursuing that thing to the best of your ability to show your conviction and drive to make a difference.

Off the top of my head, I might answer this by saying that exposing young people to the arts is incredibly important to me, which has led me to volunteer for a range of charities that provide free music, dance and visual arts lessons to students from underserved communities! I could then talk about my 'journey' as including the places this has brought me to, the individuals I have encountered, etc.

I hope that helps

 

[GXA123]

Do you have an interest or a cause that you are passionate about, which has led you either to completing a project, travelling somewhere, becoming involved in an initiative or developing a skill? I know it can seem like a vague question but it is looking for your demonstration of 1. Passion for something to show that you are an interesting and enriched individual, and 2. Commitment to pursuing that thing to the best of your ability to show your conviction and drive to make a difference.

Off the top of my head, I might answer this by saying that exposing young people to the arts is incredibly important to me, which has led me to volunteer for a range of charities that provide free music, dance and visual arts lessons to students from underserved communities! I could then talk about my 'journey' as including the places this has brought me to, the individuals I have encountered, etc.

I hope that helps

Love this! extremely helpful, thank you

 

[Jessica Booker]

I'm currently waiting for a firm to tell me the outcome of my conversion interview after a VS. The issue is, they make it so the partner who interviewed you is meant to tell you via phone call if you got in. They told these partners quite late on Friday and as such only about half of them got back to us in time before business close (they didn't get back to me and 8 others). I have 2 other TC offers but I want to choose this firm who are yet to inform me of my outcome. Seeing as I know GR must know if I got in, is it ok for me to message one of the GR team members on linkedin to tell me if I got in prior to a potential phone call next week from a partner? I really don't want to wait much longer and it seems odd as I know the GR know the outcome but are instead waiting for very busy partners to tell you instead... And I don't have much time to decide haha

I would advise to be patient. It sounds like you’ll get a call on Monday anyway.

Do not expect Graduate Recruitment to respond at the weekend and especially via LinkedIn. This is not appropriate. Only contact GR through email.

Your other firms don’t need a decision this weekend either, and so there is no immediate rush on this.

 

[rightletsdothis]

I would advise to be patient. It sounds like you’ll get a call on Monday anyway.

Do not expect Graduate Recruitment to respond at the weekend and especially via LinkedIn. This is not appropriate. Only contact GR through email.

Your other firms don’t need a decision this weekend either, and so there is no immediate rush on this.

Ok will do!
But if I get into this firm I’m going to suggest GR come up with some way to tell everyone their results at the same time. It’s been chaos in the group chats for this vacation scheme… honestly a little cruel to leave half of them in the dark.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Ok will do!
But if I get into this firm I’m going to suggest GR come up with some way to tell everyone their results at the same time. It’s been chaos in the group chats for this vacation scheme… honestly a little cruel to leave half of them in the dark.

I wouldn’t do that. You are effectively telling someone how to do their job.

There are a whole load of reasons why a firm can’t tell everyone at the same time. It’s actually very normal and isn’t cruel - you can’t expect things to be standardised like this in all honesty.

Think about it this way. You have 10 spots to invite people to dinner. You don’t want to waste a spot and you have 30 people who would most likely be interested in attending, but might have other plans that day. You don’t invite all 30 in one go in case they can all make it. You also struggle to get hold of some people as they don’t pick up the phone when you call them. You probably have at least one wrong number for one of them too. Even when people do answer, they are non committal and say they will get back to you within a week with confirmation as to whether they can attend or not. So naturally some people get their invite later than others.

 

[rightletsdothis]

I wouldn’t do that. You are effectively telling someone how to do their job.

There are a whole load of reasons why a firm can’t tell everyone at the same time. It’s actually very normal and isn’t cruel - you can’t expect things to be standardised like this in all honesty.

Think about it this way. You have 10 spots to invite people to dinner. You don’t want to waste a spot and you have 30 people who would most likely be interested in attending, but might have other plans that day. You don’t invite all 30 in one go in case they can all make it. You also struggle to get hold of some people as they don’t pick up the phone when you call them. You probably have at least one wrong number for one of them too. Even when people do answer, they are non committal and say they will get back to you within a week with confirmation as to whether they can attend or not. So naturally some people get their invite later than others.

That analogy makes sense for firms that decide on who gets places in different waves, but this firm admits they make the decisions all in one single go and tell all the partners at the same time who they should phone. I just think for that specific firm, it would make sense to then just tell everyone straight away via an email in my opinion. Because then you end up with a bunch of people celebrating and then others curled up in a fetal position because their partner was busy... seems odd to me.

Plus this isn't a dinner party haha, it's a life-changing job opportunity that may never happen again.

 

[Jessica Booker]

That analogy makes sense for firms that decide on who gets places in different waves, but this firm admits they make the decisions all in one single go and tell all the partners at the same time who they should phone. I just think for that specific firm, it would make sense to then just tell everyone straight away via an email in my opinion. Because then you end up with a bunch of people celebrating and then others curled up in a fetal position because their partner was busy... seems odd to me.

Plus this isn't a dinner party haha, it's a life-changing job opportunity that may never happen again.

I used to do this on mass when firms couldn’t make offers until the first of September. We used to send an email out on mass at midnight on 1st September and then organise follow up calls with partners in the following days.

Even then, it didn’t go to plan and not everyone heard back at the same time for a whole host of reasons.

The process will have been determined by a lot of factors you don’t have sight of. Just because you want something, doesn’t mean it is practical for the GR team to implement it. It’s odd to you, but necessary to the team who is having to manage everything.

For all you know, getting the partners to call is deemed important (a lot of people feel this is important to convince VS’ers to join them over other offers), and all it would have taken is a number of partners to now be unable to call when they hoped and some people wouldn’t have heard back. I coordinated such calls, and trying to even get updates as to whether the partner called or not was a logistical nightmare.

 

[rightletsdothis]

I mean they did a mass email for the AC results and so everyone found out at the same time. Some were heartbroken and some euphoric but at least no one had to wait in agony...Seemed to work well also. That set-up of an email and then an eventual call sounds much better to me honestly.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I mean they did a mass email for the AC results and so everyone found out at the same time. Some were heartbroken and some euphoric but at least no one had to wait in agony...Seemed to work well also. That set-up of an email and then an eventual call sounds much better to me honestly.

It may be better for you, but it might not be what other people want (including the firm’s partners). A lot of people would find that very impersonal.

As I said, even when we did send mass emails, not everyone heard at the same time for a range of reasons, so it may not solve your concerns.

 

[rightletsdothis]

It may be better for you, but it might not be what other people want (including the firm’s partners). A lot of people would find that very impersonal.

As I said, even when we did send mass emails, not everyone heard at the same time for a range of reasons, so it may not solve your concerns.

We agree to disagree on this one I think 🤝

 

[TCApp2021]

Siuuuu.. got a TC offer this week! Thanks to everyone in this community for your advice throughout. Also in terms advice, i would say be strategic with your firm choices (I didn’t just apply to my preferred firms but also looked at the application process - e.g where firms had similar application questions/just cover letters I didn’t really need to draft answers from scratch so applied anyway).

I also have a summer VS offer elsewhere - they said they’d consider re-interviewing me for a direct TC if I got a TC elsewhere. Not sure if I should do this before actually deciding which firm I prefer first - does anyone have any advice on how to pick best firm?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Siuuuu.. got a TC offer this week! Thanks to everyone in this community for your advice throughout. Also in terms advice, i would say be strategic with your firm choices (I didn’t just apply to my preferred firms but also looked at the application process - e.g where firms had similar application questions/just cover letters I didn’t really need to draft answers from scratch so applied anyway).

I also have a summer VS offer elsewhere - they said they’d consider re-interviewing me for a direct TC if I got a TC elsewhere. Not sure if I should do this before actually deciding which firm I prefer first - does anyone have any advice on how to pick best firm?

Could you still go ahead with the VS and then decide which offer to accept? That could be an option, especially if you want to find out more about the firm to inform your decision on which firm to accept.