TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

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airyfairy123

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Sep 1, 2022
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I know it is difficult to cut words but 1,6 pages I feel like it is a bit too much especially due to the fact that so many people apply to the firm. You do not want to give them a reason to disregard you immediately based on the fact that your cover letter is too long. So, what I would say is cut down everything that does not show you as a perfect candidate or does not relate to the firm specifically. There are always a lot of sentences or words we use in cover letters or personal statements that we feel are relating to the firm but in reality are just very generic. Try to see if you have something like this in your cover letter and potentially reduce these general sentences. I am sure that you can also shorten some sentences or cut unnecessary words or adverbs in your cover letter that will help the word count to go down. I would say that 800 might be good, I know people who got through the process with 800 too so if you feel like you cannot cut anything, then trust yourself! (For context, I applied to the firm last year and I receive the video interview and my cover letter was 670 words!)

I hope this is effective and I am sure you wrote an amazing piece of work, good luck with your application!!
I was told that the W&C cover letter should not exceed 1k words. I wrote 950 words for my cover letter, which in hindsight, I regret not shortening. Do you think it is possible that it will be rejected based on that alone?
 
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amrita6399

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  • Jul 13, 2023
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    Hey @amrita6399,

    This is something that I have been asked when I was interviewing last year quite a lot. What I found worked really well was trying to be super honest in terms of expressing my examples from my previous experiences. One of the examples I should to talk about for instance was being part of a group project in one of my previous internships about generation trauma and how that affected marginalised communities. Being the only person of colour in my group, it was really important for me to be able to share my experience and make that relatable to the other group members who might have not been able to understand the question fully. This was able to influence them into following a certain research structure I suggested which ended up being extremely appreciated by the managers and we won the competition.

    This was received really well and I think that as a story it not only answers the questions but it also tells a lot about my values, personality and values, which I think it is the point of a great example. An effective example will answer the question but also make you shine in other areas and show what an invaluable asset to the firm you would be too. So I would suggest try to find an example in your life that you can talk about similar to the one I shared.

    I hope this is helpful and good luck!
    Thank you so much!
     
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    axelbeugre

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    i reached out to grad rec after submitting an application and made a typo in my email (none in my app itself though) -- is this going to leave a bad taste in grad rec's mouth and send my app straight into the bin? 😭😭😭
    This is not a big deal so I would not worry too much! I know it must feel like the end of the world but everyone understands small typos here and there and as you pointed out, it was not your application anyway so nothing will happen! Do not worry!
     

    axelbeugre

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    I was told that the W&C cover letter should not exceed 1k words. I wrote 950 words for my cover letter, which in hindsight, I regret not shortening. Do you think it is possible that it will be rejected based on that alone?
    It is hard to tell but I would not jump into conclusions, there are so many other factors that go into a rejection or acceptance that are out of your control so do not focus too much on that. I would say that if a firm highlights the length of an answer or a cover letter, it should be important to respect that since they might use it to cut people off immediately (but this is something that we will never know unless we get told)!
     
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    futuretrainee2025

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  • Dec 2, 2022
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    It is hard to tell but I would not jump into conclusions, there are so many other factors that go into a rejection or acceptance that are out of your control so do not focus too much on that. I would say that if a firm highlights the length of an answer or a cover letter, it should be important to respect that since they might use it to cut people off immediately (but this is something that we will never know unless we get told)!
    If there is no max length specified, is 900 words okay?
     
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