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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)
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Hi, best of luck with everything!! Here's my take on your qs:Hi all! I'm a recent non-law graduate (graduated this year) with no VCs or Open Days for anything so far as I'm just now trying to break through to law. A question before I submit the VC app to NRF:
I'm not overly confident about my work experience and cover letter combination as although you can submit a cover letter, work experience needs to all fit within 2 limited text boxes and then there's a 200 word max supplement text box for "anything else".
The thing is, I've done a lot of volunteering, society work, extracurriculars, let alone having part-time work right now as a waitress which is technically my current job but obviously not as related to law as other experiences I could list (such as a month working as a paralegal in a small London immigration firm last year, and shadowing a boutique commercial solicitor). Does volunteering even count as 'work' experience if I did it for free, and society stuff?
Additionally, in the Cover Letter I think I want to explain why I want to work with NRF which is related to my interest in IP Law and life sciences, and how I've lived in many different countries so the global scale of their transactions is particularly appealing etc. So... my Q's are:
- Should/can I put volunteering as work?
- Is it advisable to not mention anything from the 'work experience' sections in the cover letter to expand my reach?
- In the "anything else" textbox... bulletpoint-style?
Bonus question, mitigating circumstances... I am just explicitly listing "X happened to me and also Y the month after" instead of talking about how I persevered against the odds, or whatever. That's what you're supposed to do, right?
Thank you so much in advance! I don't know if this is allowed (if this isn't allowed I retract the second part of this) but if anyone wants to talk privately about NRF apps and things I'm free to do so as well
1. Yes definitely mention your volunteering. All work experience is worth mentioning and I'm sure you got some "transferable skills" out of it
2. I believe the vibe is only mention it in your cover letter if you're going to expand on it and talk about why its relevant to whatever you're writing - don't just chuck it in the cover letter as a repeat of the work experience section
3. I think bullet points are fine but I'm not 100% sure
Bonus q - yep just tell them the circumstances and how it affected you. No need to do a perseverance spiel.
Hope that's helpful! Good luck
Seems like no movement one way or another since that run of PFOs the other day. Not expecting any news til next week at this point.
Do you mind me asking, how soon you were informed that you had passed the interview stage?
it would have been too simple for the run of PFOs to = better news for the rest of us...
You're right! Another week of waiting to come
I take it as good news, inasmuch we we're still in the running until we're told the we aren't.
very true & they said on the open day that it's only one interview before they make a decision.
Jessica Booker
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Hi @kapao88Hi all! I'm a recent non-law graduate (graduated this year) with no VCs or Open Days for anything so far as I'm just now trying to break through to law. A question before I submit the VC app to NRF:
I'm not overly confident about my work experience and cover letter combination as although you can submit a cover letter, work experience needs to all fit within 2 limited text boxes and then there's a 200 word max supplement text box for "anything else".
The thing is, I've done a lot of volunteering, society work, extracurriculars, let alone having part-time work right now as a waitress which is technically my current job but obviously not as related to law as other experiences I could list (such as a month working as a paralegal in a small London immigration firm last year, and shadowing a boutique commercial solicitor). Does volunteering even count as 'work' experience if I did it for free, and society stuff?
Additionally, in the Cover Letter I think I want to explain why I want to work with NRF which is related to my interest in IP Law and life sciences, and how I've lived in many different countries so the global scale of their transactions is particularly appealing etc. So... my Q's are:
- Should/can I put volunteering as work?
- Is it advisable to not mention anything from the 'work experience' sections in the cover letter to expand my reach?
- In the "anything else" textbox... bulletpoint-style?
Bonus question, mitigating circumstances... I am just explicitly listing "X happened to me and also Y the month after" instead of talking about how I persevered against the odds, or whatever. That's what you're supposed to do, right?
Thank you so much in advance! I don't know if this is allowed (if this isn't allowed I retract the second part of this) but if anyone wants to talk privately about NRF apps and things I'm free to do so as well
I would stress that many non-law applicants will have a similar profile to you at your stage of academics. Just because you don't have any open days or VS now doesn't mean you won't in the next six months!
I would not include your society experiences in work experience - these are typically classed as extracurriculars rather than work experience. Volunteer roles are a grey area and could fall into either work experience or extracurriculars - it tends to be much more what the role was that may determine its category rather than the definition of volunteer.
I would avoid any repetition across the application, so if you cover something in a work experience section, I wouldn't cover the same experiences in a cover letter. However, you could talk about your responsibilities in your work experience section and then what you enjoyed about the work or how it has shaped your career motivations in your cover letter - this would mean you are not repeating detail as the purpose of each section is different.
For mitigating circumstances, focus on very brief factual elements on how the circumstances impacted your abilities. E.g. did they mean you missed lectures or did they mean you could not attend an exam? Someone could have the same circumstances but it could impact them in very different ways. Try to be specific with timeframes and how they impacted more so than the detail of what the circumstances were.
Hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions or need clarity on any of the above points!
Hey, thanks for the response mate and congrats on the TC offers!
Appreciate the kind words, thank you! and congrats on getting there in the end!
Jessica Booker
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- Aug 1, 2019
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A lot of recruiters tend to avoid processing candidates on a Friday, so this wouldn't surprise me.
I'm equally surprised as my AC was last Tues and I still have not heard anything...
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After I had an email this week to say they will inform us by the end of the week, which is only the case for some it seems. I have literally just got of the phone with them and they said they are sorry for delays etc etc. everyone will know the outcome on Monday or Tuesday
Has anyone heard from Simmons and Simmons after the VI for WVS?
Thank-you for calling! This situation is strange - surely it makes more sense to notify people in the order in which they were interviewed?
As you know, the wait after interview is so draining! Really hope we get some good news next week!
Cleary Winter VS offer! Thanks everyone here for your help.
I also wrote White & Case earlier this week to ask them if they were still giving out ACs post the VI, they wrote me back today saying they are still reviewing and they aim to notify all AC participants by the end of next week.
I also wrote White & Case earlier this week to ask them if they were still giving out ACs post the VI, they wrote me back today saying they are still reviewing and they aim to notify all AC participants by the end of next week.
For me it was 4th time lucky, so fingers crossed it will be for you too!
Thank you Nicole!Very strange!
Thank you so much, that is very kind of you. Wishing you all the best with your app as well as your other applications!
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