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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
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Hey, congrats of getting though the process! Can I ask if you have any advice for the VI? And is there a time limit to prepare for each question then around 2 minutes to answer? With the VI I've done so far, the only consistency is that I've had 2 minutes to answer - but some had 90secs, 2 minutes or even untimed prep time, so finding it hard to gauge for this one.
mishcon VI! I applied end of sept and this is for the spring scheme 
im quite hit or miss with VI's so any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you!!
im quite hit or miss with VI's so any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you!!Hi, I did this last month! You have to answer three questions, and you have 15 seconds between reading the answer to having to record your answer which is up to a maximum of 45 seconds. You can't re-record your answers.mishcon VI! I applied end of sept and this is for the spring scheme
I don't think you can prepare beyond nailing your motivations for applying. There is a numerical and verbal reasoning element, a situational judgement element, two VI questions that are motivational, and a written case study. I don't know if they're practice situational judgement test that you can do in advance, but essentially just think about how you would act in professional situations. It is quite a long assessment: they say an hour, but it's untimed and I took almost 90 minutes.
Can someone confirm if these are the DLA Qs:
At DLA Piper, we believe great business can make a better world. We believe in being bold, driven, compassionate, and collaborative. We are keen to hear what inspired your application. Why are you interested in starting a legal career at DLA Piper? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
At DLA Piper, we believe great business can make a better world. We believe in being bold, driven, compassionate, and collaborative. We are keen to hear what inspired your application. Why are you interested in starting a legal career at DLA Piper? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
* If successful in securing a training contract after the Summer Internship, what do you anticipate will be the key challenges of the International Training Programme for you? How would you approach these challenges, and what resources or support do you believe you would need to overcome them? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
At DLA Piper, we believe great business can make a better world. We believe in being bold, driven, compassionate, and collaborative. We are keen to hear what inspired your application. Why are you interested in starting a legal career at DLA Piper? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
At DLA Piper, we believe great business can make a better world. We believe in being bold, driven, compassionate, and collaborative. We are keen to hear what inspired your application. Why are you interested in starting a legal career at DLA Piper? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
* If successful in securing a training contract after the Summer Internship, what do you anticipate will be the key challenges of the International Training Programme for you? How would you approach these challenges, and what resources or support do you believe you would need to overcome them? (Max 200 words/1,500 Characters)
- Sep 14, 2023
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Hey @HMB,
I applied to the firm last year and some tips I would share is:
- The firm really values a strong academic performance so make sure you do have that to maximise your chances (both in high school/A-Levels and university)
- For the cover letter, use the why law, why the firm and why me structure. Mine was 700 words and I also talked to other people who applied to the firm last year too and they all wrote 700 words more or less.
- Make sure to highlight the strengths of the firm like the general practice which is unique to them and their excellence in corporate M&A, their most important transactions, and always make sure you link these back to why you are interested in them.
- Reach out to future trainees on LinkedIn as they will be able to tell you what made them successful in the process. Talking to future trainees was essential to make sure I understood how to write the cover letter in an effective and efficient manner.
Hey, just wondering if you got your reply and how long it took for TW to get back to you?
Hi, congratulations for getting VI invite!
Yes there is time limit for prep. If I remember correctly 1 minute prep for the first 2 questions and 3 minutes for the last. It's been a while so I am not 100% on this.. also I would recommend focusing on your skills for this VI!
Hi everyone,
I am new here on TCLA and this is my first application season. So far I have applied to only 3 firms and am feeling overwhelmed in applying as I only decided to go for vac schemes in September this year (2 months ago).
A little about myself, i'm from the UK but completed an LL.M in Germany after studying a non law degree at a Russel group uni. I have been working now for a year as a Legal Specialist at a tech company in Germany and decided I wanted to head back to the UK to qualify.
Is there any advice on the first application season? I feel a bit disadvantaged as I am researching firms during this season itself instead of knowing what firms I will apply to beforehand.
Also, given my experience, would I apply to TCs or Vac schemes? I have attended 2 open days so far but this is about it for my UK legal experience.
Thank you
I am new here on TCLA and this is my first application season. So far I have applied to only 3 firms and am feeling overwhelmed in applying as I only decided to go for vac schemes in September this year (2 months ago).
A little about myself, i'm from the UK but completed an LL.M in Germany after studying a non law degree at a Russel group uni. I have been working now for a year as a Legal Specialist at a tech company in Germany and decided I wanted to head back to the UK to qualify.
Is there any advice on the first application season? I feel a bit disadvantaged as I am researching firms during this season itself instead of knowing what firms I will apply to beforehand.
Also, given my experience, would I apply to TCs or Vac schemes? I have attended 2 open days so far but this is about it for my UK legal experience.
Thank you
Jessica Booker
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- Aug 1, 2019
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Welcome to the forums! I would apply to a mixture of vacation schemes and direct TCs. Some vacation schemes will make sense for the firms who recruit trainees solely or heavily from vacation schemes, but direct TCs will make sense for firms where this ain’t the case and where you may not be eligible for their vacation scheme programme or the dates of their schemes do not work for you.
It depends on the firm, I would suggest looking at the firm's graduate website and complying with their guidance.
- Sep 14, 2023
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Hi @Ash2323,
Congratulations on your LL.M in Germany and for your experience working in tech, I am sure this is going to be extremely valuable for application to law firms. I guess we do have something in common as I was a non-law student who studied in Italy and came to the UK for a master at a Russel Group university and decided to apply to law firms quite late (I applied to all my law firms in December 2022).
Some tips that I have for you are:
- Connect to as many people as possible that are future trainees, trainees, associates or even partners at the firms that you are applying to. When I first started applying this was extremely fundamental to my journey as the people I met opened my eyes to so many different aspects of the profession, practice areas, and also shared good application tips.
- As much as you will feel disadvantaged, I feel like you already have a good profile and will not have any issues in being successful! However, how I managed to believe in myself whilst I thought I would have never been successful as a non-law student from outside the country is using my differences strengths to my advantage in the application process. Being from abroad and knowing multiple languages ended up being one of the main things that really helped me stand out amongst the rest of applicants. Additionally, my internship as well as academic experiences in different countries helped too as they showed my open-mindedness and why I valued the international aspect of many firms. So, use your differences and what you think is a disadvantage to your advantage, because I promise you they are not!
- Do thorough but efficient research for all the firms you are applying to. When I first started applying I find it hard to do this as I applied to 25 firms. However, by the time I arrived to my 10th application, I developed a really efficient strategy for myself that allowed me to do an in-depth research of a law firm in less than a day. What I did was creating a table with 4/5 websites to check such as Legal 500, Chambers Student etc. I then combined them with the firm's website and youtube videos on the firm, I took the most relevant information and I linked the most interesting ones to my background to emphasise why I wanted to join a particular firm. This template really saved me.
- I did not know which firms I should apply to, so I decided to apply to a lot of firms as I knew that I was interested in so many different practice areas and opportunities. This advice might be controversial but I was not willing to apply again the following year if I did not get a training contract offer and so I decided to apply to a large number of firms. What I found out during this process was that I started to come across more firms that I did not know initially, and these ended up being a better fit for me than the most known in the market.
- Do not feel like you have to interact with a firm to be successful in securing a vacation scheme or a training contract. I did not attend any events with Goodwin and Gibson Dunn but managed to secure these vacation schemes, and the same thing was true for many people I met on the schemes.
- Expect rejections. Unfortunately, these are part of the process and they really help you grow. So, welcome them and analyse yourself and your applications if you receive one. They are just learning opportunities.
DLA WG invite! here comes the hardest part 😭
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