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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
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I got through to the AC around 2 weeks ago. But i think they have so many ACs they might still be looking through applications.
Does anyone know if I'm eligible for March 2025 TCs if I have yet to start the SQE? Is the next SQE intake for Sept 2024 or is there an earlier start? @Jessica Booker
Thank you!!
my 3 points are the work (practice area+awards), training contract (global reach/no mandatory seats) and culture (1 Diversity initiatives).
if they ask about practice area as a question i will talk about a deal they done in this practice area and how it reflects innovation as they were given an award for innovation last year.
I haven't spoken on any Pro bono at all and i do not plan to.... is this something i should research just in case they ask?
re
received PFO post-test, stating they are "at capacity"
Hi Axel, thanks so much for the reply and for your advice! It's incredibly helpful.
If you don't mind on your second point on the case study/article interview section, where you recommend making considerations to the links that can be made to the legal sector from the article, how do you go about doing this? How do you identify the links that can be made and understand the impact the article would have on a law firm? Did you have a preferred framework for doing this?
Also I wanted to ask, in a case study/article interview where you don't necessarily choose the commercial topic, how should
you build your commercial awareness for this? I've seen posts advising to pick a few topics and follow those, but what if the topics you choose aren't related to the article given on the assessment day. My top law firm provides an article and asks you to discuss it hence why I'm focusing particularly on this style of interview. Thanks for your help.
When did you get this if you don't mind me asking? Another firm that has decided to ghost me lol
- Sep 14, 2023
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GUIDE TO VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
Video interviews are some of the hardest forms of assessments that you have to face when applying to law firms as it is so hard to understand how to succeed at them. Let me tell you, I had a lot of video interviews last year and struggled to understand how to conduct myself when doing them. It feels very unnatural to talk to a camera for some reason, but I am here to share top tips that might help you feel less nervous:
Treat it as a real interview
I think this is the best advice I’d received when I was applying because it made me feel like the preparation that I was supposed to do was not too different from the real interviews I was preparing for. I think it is important to pretend to be speaking to someone on zoom. In fact, when you do that, you will see how different your performance will be when you speak in front of the camera. You will feel more natural and you will try to impress the viewers as you would with a partner interviewing you. Talking to some graduate recruitment at law fairs made me understand how pretending to be talking to someone was so beneficial and that was something that they recommended heavily.
Do your research on the video interview
As for real interviews, you want to tackle the process as prepared as possible. A way to feel like you know what you are getting yourself into is reaching out to people who have done the same video interviews who can share their experiences on them. When I was preparing for my video interviews, I found it really helpful to reach out to people who were future trainees at the firm or did the scheme at the firm to hear their perspectives and their experiences. More often than not they will share more tangible and effective tips you can work on!
Prepare your answers to the potential questions
There are a list of questions online that video interviews might include such as: why did you decide to be a lawyer? Why this firm? Why commercial law? what are the skills of a successful trainee? These are some of the most typical ones. What I used to do is preparing a concise answer for each question so that if it came up, I knew exactly what to say. This will save you a lot of time for other video interviews you might get along the application cycle so do not lose your answers!
Be succinct with every sentence!
This tip is fundamental. It is important for you to be mindful of the fact that most of the time the video interview will have a time limit of 1 to 3 minutes and so there is no much time to actually answer the question in the most exhaustive way. This means that being succinct and going straight to the point will be key. If you have to mention a list of reasons as to why you want to join the firm for example, pick a couple, describe them and link them back to your experience in a couple of sentences and move on to the next reason and do the same. You do not want to list a lot of reasons but not being able to describe them. Here, less is more.
Dress to impress
This goes hand in hand with the ‘treat it as a real interview’ tip. Since you have to pretend to be speaking to a partner or a member of graduate recruitment, I would dress the part too. This will allow you to feel very confident and secure in yourself, and it will also make you look professional. It is important for you to dress to impress and show your professionalism on the screen.
Bring the energy to the video!
One thing that a lot of people forget to put in the video interviews is their own selves!! I was advised to smile a lot and make the viewer engage with the recording as it will feel more genuine and exciting to look at. You basically have to pretend to be a youtuber and be extremely confident in front of the camera, that is how I see it! What I did to practice being comfortable in front of the camera is recording myself answering why I wanted to be a lawyer and why I was applying to that firm. It was massively helpful to analyse how people would perceive me whilst watching me answering these answers and I was also able to understand how to change my intonation when speaking and what to put more emphasis on.
I hope these tips are helpful to everyone and I hope you have success in your application journeys!
Video interviews are some of the hardest forms of assessments that you have to face when applying to law firms as it is so hard to understand how to succeed at them. Let me tell you, I had a lot of video interviews last year and struggled to understand how to conduct myself when doing them. It feels very unnatural to talk to a camera for some reason, but I am here to share top tips that might help you feel less nervous:
Treat it as a real interview
I think this is the best advice I’d received when I was applying because it made me feel like the preparation that I was supposed to do was not too different from the real interviews I was preparing for. I think it is important to pretend to be speaking to someone on zoom. In fact, when you do that, you will see how different your performance will be when you speak in front of the camera. You will feel more natural and you will try to impress the viewers as you would with a partner interviewing you. Talking to some graduate recruitment at law fairs made me understand how pretending to be talking to someone was so beneficial and that was something that they recommended heavily.
Do your research on the video interview
As for real interviews, you want to tackle the process as prepared as possible. A way to feel like you know what you are getting yourself into is reaching out to people who have done the same video interviews who can share their experiences on them. When I was preparing for my video interviews, I found it really helpful to reach out to people who were future trainees at the firm or did the scheme at the firm to hear their perspectives and their experiences. More often than not they will share more tangible and effective tips you can work on!
Prepare your answers to the potential questions
There are a list of questions online that video interviews might include such as: why did you decide to be a lawyer? Why this firm? Why commercial law? what are the skills of a successful trainee? These are some of the most typical ones. What I used to do is preparing a concise answer for each question so that if it came up, I knew exactly what to say. This will save you a lot of time for other video interviews you might get along the application cycle so do not lose your answers!
Be succinct with every sentence!
This tip is fundamental. It is important for you to be mindful of the fact that most of the time the video interview will have a time limit of 1 to 3 minutes and so there is no much time to actually answer the question in the most exhaustive way. This means that being succinct and going straight to the point will be key. If you have to mention a list of reasons as to why you want to join the firm for example, pick a couple, describe them and link them back to your experience in a couple of sentences and move on to the next reason and do the same. You do not want to list a lot of reasons but not being able to describe them. Here, less is more.
Dress to impress
This goes hand in hand with the ‘treat it as a real interview’ tip. Since you have to pretend to be speaking to a partner or a member of graduate recruitment, I would dress the part too. This will allow you to feel very confident and secure in yourself, and it will also make you look professional. It is important for you to dress to impress and show your professionalism on the screen.
Bring the energy to the video!
One thing that a lot of people forget to put in the video interviews is their own selves!! I was advised to smile a lot and make the viewer engage with the recording as it will feel more genuine and exciting to look at. You basically have to pretend to be a youtuber and be extremely confident in front of the camera, that is how I see it! What I did to practice being comfortable in front of the camera is recording myself answering why I wanted to be a lawyer and why I was applying to that firm. It was massively helpful to analyse how people would perceive me whilst watching me answering these answers and I was also able to understand how to change my intonation when speaking and what to put more emphasis on.
I hope these tips are helpful to everyone and I hope you have success in your application journeys!
Jessica Booker
Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
- Aug 1, 2019
- 14,655
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It depends on the firm's policy of how much of the SQE you need to complete/pass before starting a TC, and also what form of prep course you go on.
You technically could start a flexible SQE prep course now, sit SQE1 in July 2024, and then SQE2 in November and have your results around mid-March 2025.
@axelbeugre Please could I quickly get your opinion on this.
I did a practice interview with someone from my uni's careers service and I explained that sometimes I exaggerate or make up examples for STAR answers and she said it's best to respond with "haven't been in that situation, but a similar position I have been in....I responded with..." or "I haven't experienced that yet, but this is how I would react in that position..."
What do you make of this? Thank you!!
I did a practice interview with someone from my uni's careers service and I explained that sometimes I exaggerate or make up examples for STAR answers and she said it's best to respond with "haven't been in that situation, but a similar position I have been in....I responded with..." or "I haven't experienced that yet, but this is how I would react in that position..."
What do you make of this? Thank you!!
Same... does this mean that we are essentially guaranteed to get a PFO now?
Jessica Booker
Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
- Aug 1, 2019
- 14,655
- 20,349
I wouldn't completely make up answers - this is pretty risky approach, especially in an industry where integrity is everything.
I agree with the careers advisor - its best to apply your most relevant/appropriate answers rather than making them up.
Unsure, sometimes it’s just how a firm responds eg Bird & Bird said that in my rejection but people got WG invite the same day. Suppose we just hold out hope??
Nah I’ve never done this myself. My answers are always completely real and never made up on the spot
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I am a shtty liar, okay? 😂😂 Also, when I said I make up stuff, I mean I spice up existing experiences 😂😂
Can't really say a time I disagreed with someone was the time when my toxic retail manager was lowkey manipulative and psycho, now can I? 😭 So I like to go on a daydream exercise where I imagine she didn't follow some ethical procedure and we had a polite discussion about it 💅
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