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

[S87]

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Can somebody clarify what this means? Can I apply for White & Case's direct TC after being rejected for their VS a couple months ago? (i.e., applying for the TC in the same cycle after being rejected from the VS).

It seems that you cannot, so sorry

 

[summer207]

If you don’t find out your seats till the VS starts, is there anything to actually prep in advance, except brushing up on your knowledge of the firm?

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Got this from Gibson Dunn: Thank you for your application for a place on the Gibson Dunn Summer Vacation Scheme 2022. I regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. However, we were impressed with your application and encourage you to apply for our 2023 summer vacation scheme, as we aim to recruit all of our trainees from our summer vacation scheme. Applications open in Autumn.

Did anyone else get the same?

I am still waiting from them post application and did not get this could it mean a good or a bad thing for me.

 

[Jessica Booker]

If you don’t find out your seats till the VS starts, is there anything to actually prep in advance, except brushing up on your knowledge of the firm?

Not really in all honesty. I am sure others might have advice of what you could do, but there definitely won’t be any expectation for you to do such research/preparation. It’s going to be much more about what you do during the scheme .

 

[S87]

Goodness me, Farrer & Co application is a novel...so many questions!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Goodness me, Farrer & Co application is a novel...so many questions!

Tell me about it. Their application is the longest and Tylor Wessling is the same.

 

[George Maxwell]

Weird question: Does anyone have a favourite quiet place to write (applications) somewhere in central London?

Hey @Adrian_S,

I wanted to add to the congratulations that you have received given the news of your VS offer! It has been great getting to know you over the past few months and I am delighted that your hard work has paid off 🚀

I also love this question too. I had never heard of the Wellcome Collection library that a couple of members mentioned! Personally I have a couple of coffee shops that I like to go to (although in all honesty a library often allows me to work more productively)!

Do you have any places that you particularly like to go to?

Has anybody had their NRF Vac Scheme documents/contracts? After replying to their email, which said they would try and get back to me by the end of the week, it's been pure radio silence and I'm worried they haven't seen my confirmation email lols

Hey @Deobicaratexol0804,

Yes this is absolutely normal. I had to follow up a couple of times with GR about this! I know others who had the same experience. My advice is to keep persevering

I have an anxiety disorder and this has really been affecting my performance at ACs.. think I should give up ahaha

Hey @ellie66,

I am so sorry that your experience of ACs has pushed you to the point of thinking that you should give up. Anxiety is awful and I wish that your anxiety disorder had not been exacerbated by your applications.

I think that @Ambs123, @ar2r and @Abii have really summed up what the TCLA community is about. I think that they have given you some fantastic support on this (all of which I think a lot of users would benefit from too!) 🙌

My advice really is to do all you can to prepare in advance. I found that once I had thrown my all into preparing (i.e., going through this list), my stress levels, although heightened, was manageable. I particularly liked @Ambs123's point about improving with experience. Keep persevering if you can.

Please do reach out if you ever need it. I would be delighted to help wherever possible 😊

Hey everyone!

I have a vacation scheme starting on Monday and it is thankfully a hybrid scheme in which some days are virtual days. This works out great for my normal work schedule as I will have to commute back and forth from Edinburgh a few times during the scheme.

They have released the schedule and the days end at 5:30, but out of everyone's experience here, will there likely be informal/'you should go' dinners/drinks after? For example, I can take a flight at 9pm on Wednesday, but was curious as to whether I should wait until Thursday morning (before work of course).

Thanks!

Hey @oldafstudent,

I found that this was restricted only to drinks with other vacation schemers. Unless post-work drinks have been explicitly planned in advance, unless your supervisor/buddy puts time aside for you (which, although lovely, I think is rare), I do not think that there will be anything you should worry about missing out on!

Do HSF run one or two summer vacation schemes?

Hey @aspiringlawyer123_,

If it is the same as last year, they run two summer schemes! Mine ran for the first three weeks in June if that helps!

Is there any point of applying/ going to a vacation scheme if you have no real intention of becoming a trainee at the firm? In other words, just using the vac scheme to build experience?

Hey @Mxkry,

I know that Jess has responded to this already, but I thought I would give my thoughts on this too.

Some people will feel strongly that you should only do a vacation scheme if you do intend on accepting - as otherwise you are potentially depriving someone who does intend on accepting, from having a place. In my opinion, I think vacation schemes can be a fantastic means to develop professionally (and personally). You will be gifted the opportunity to be exposed to a whole range of people and experiences. A wider network and gaining valuable experience will benefit you in some way.

So yes, I do think that completing a vacation scheme in this case has merit!

Generally speaking, is it beneficial to go into your vac scheme department with a solid understanding of an area or is this not necessary to do well? For example, I don’t know much at all about tax law but if I were to choose this department in a VS, would my lack of knowledge put me at any disadvantage?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Hey @LawfulRust00!

I would not worry too much about gaining a trainee-level understanding about the department that you are sitting in.

That being said, it does help. If you want to demonstrate enthusiasm, it helps to have (at least) a basic understanding of any given practice area. This will allow you to ask relevant questions and to express an interest from the start of your scheme. I found that when I did this, my supervisor and buddy would make a specific effort to connect me with people involved in that area, in addition to trying to give me work related to it too. This is helpful because I think we all work better when we are working on things that we are genuinely interested in.

Getting up to speed ahead of your scheme also demonstrates proactivity which is definitely a positive thing!

Any advice on how to not be a nervous wreck on your vac scheme? I think it’s my barrier to not doing well. Seriously thinking of taking a shot of vodka each morning at this point just to stop the jitters

Hey @Law1099,

My advice is to be honest with your supervisor and buddy. Treat them like real people and be honest that you are feeling nervous. They will understand. I found that having an open and honest relationship with my supervisor and buddy made the scheme much more enjoyable and less anxiety-inducing. Ultimately the people those assessing your performance are not (in my experience) trying to catch you out. They aren't robots either and they will appreciate you having the confidence to be honest, despite the stress of the scheme.

Let me know how it goes! Always here to answer any questions if you need!

If you don’t find out your seats till the VS starts, is there anything to actually prep in advance, except brushing up on your knowledge of the firm?

Hey @summer207,

I would ensure that you remain familiar with the experiences that you have listed on your CV and what you mentioned on your application (both came up in the first couple of meetings with my supervisor on my first scheme).

I would also have a think about the areas that genuinely interest you too. If you can specify a particular industry or type of task/work that you would like to get involved with at the start of your scheme, your supervisor and buddy may try to connect you with lawyers in that area or give you related tasks. As I mentioned above in my reply to @LawfulRust00, this could lead to some exciting opportunities during your time at the firm!

I hope that helps ☺️

 

[Hele25]

I love the WBD Dickinson tests, I wish some of the games were a normal app and I could play them again lol
.. in saying that, I am always slightly sceptical of how accurate the results are/ how the games are designed to tell you these things.
I got: decision making, emotion and fairness as my 'unique' results, which are different to last year.

 

[George Maxwell]

@Adrian_S and others who have recently received some successes this cycle, if you have any stories to share, please do get involved with this thread!

Some of the post on there already are great bedtime reading so do add to it if you can 🙌

 

[John Travoni]

No, their website says that they'll get back to applicants one month after the deadline so I assume by next week, we should hear something

Did you, by any chance, hear back today?

 

[lolamcd1]

I have been offered an interview for a legal role within a small tech start up (I a recent law graduate who has not completed the LPC), I thought that this would count as legal work experience. However, I was told by a friend today that they didn't think this would help my direct TC applications. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Abii]

I have been offered an interview for a legal role within a small tech start up (I a recent law graduate who has not completed the LPC), I thought that this would count as legal work experience. However, I was told by a friend today that they didn't think this would help my direct TC applications. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Getting the interview alone won’t help. But getting/doing the role will - if it’s a legal role it will count as legal work experience and it will have transferable skills involved even if it isn’t legal. But just getting the role alone won’t help if you can’t leverage it in an application and actually show how and why it makes you a stronger applicant.

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi everyone, just a friendly reminder that you have only a few more hours until 11:59pm tonight to respond to this Starred Thread and be in contention to win a free month of TCLA Premium!

Look out tomorrow for a new starred thread

 

[AspiringTrainee]

If you don’t find out your seats till the VS starts, is there anything to actually prep in advance, except brushing up on your knowledge of the firm?

I would say the best thing to do is identify who you want to meet for a potential coffee or something. That way come the first day when you have you timetables etc you can start sending emails and arranging times to fit around your schedules (even if they are not in the seats you are doing in your vac scheme)

 

[YUKI1201]

Just wanted to ask when your AC was and when you got the invite? Still waiting on their response after VI for their Summer VS!

My AC was on 7th March, invite was 2nd March and I did my VI on 28th Feb

 

[Sugarcookies]

Did you, by any chance, hear back today?

Yes, I received the WG test. You?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I have been offered an interview for a legal role within a small tech start up (I a recent law graduate who has not completed the LPC), I thought that this would count as legal work experience. However, I was told by a friend today that they didn't think this would help my direct TC applications. Does anyone have any thoughts?

I can’t see how it won’t help TC applications. You’ll get a better understanding area of an important growth area of the sector and are likely to develop transferable skills

 

[James Carrabino]

Hey, I graduated in 2021 and this vacation scheme cycle really hasn't gone well for me as it is looking like I will come out with no offers. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on to do next, I have found the past month to be a massive struggle mentally and have been trying to apply for paralegal roles and not having much success now too. Is it useful to get more legal experience now? In applying for the next cycle, am I too old now that I would be over a year after I've graduated? I didn't know if this is the right place to ask this but have been stressing for a while and don't really know who else to ask. I am feeling pretty stuck at the moment (this was my first cycle too)

Hi @green124 I would not worry at all about your situation as there are many applicants who graduated from university 5+ years ago, plus there are still a lot of firms you can apply to this cycle (especially for direct TC)! Check out @AvniD's thread about things to consider when applying directly for TCs.

Both @AvniD and I received our TC offers through the direct route it is especially important to mention that I have several friends who received direct TC offers with no legal work experience, including one who was rejected from every vacation scheme they applied to.

Try not to stress out too much and find something that you enjoy doing in the meantime, whether that is a paralegal role, another course of study or something else altogether!

I am sure we will be congratulating you on your TC offer soon enough

 

[James Carrabino]

I am completing an application for a summer work placement at a local regional firm. Rather than being online, the application process requires you to fill out an application form (education/work history) and email it. I was wondering whether it would generally be recommended to also include a cover letter for such an application (the application website does not mention one)?

Hi @A494,

If the application does not ask for a cover letter, then I would be inclined not to include a formal cover letter attachment, but instead you could use the body of the e-mail to write a short 'cover e-mail' in effect, where you outline your interest in the position and experiences.

I hope that is helpful

 

[kr253]

I love the WBD Dickinson tests, I wish some of the games were a normal app and I could play them again lol
.. in saying that, I am always slightly sceptical of how accurate the results are/ how the games are designed to tell you these things.
I got: decision making, emotion and fairness as my 'unique' results, which are different to last year.

Are they the sort of thing it's better to do on a phone rather than a laptop do you reckon? I know you can do them on either