TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[futuretrainee2025]

I do not understand why law firms would assess to see whether a candidate has 'practiced' competencies. In my opinion, this does not really test anything.

What happens if a candidate cannot come up with an example to a competency question because they have never been in that situation? Would a candidate be marked down for not being able to provide an answer?

throughout your TC, you'll be working with different teams, be thinking on your feet, will need to be proactive etc and if a candidate has never done this before then they might have a harder time adjusting. communication, public speaking etc are all skills developed over time and firms likely want candidates who have already demonstrated these in the past.

im not an authoritative source but I would say yes to your second question. if another candidate can provide examples for the competencies they are looking for whereas another cannot, then the former might be more likely to land the role (depending on whether they also have good answers for motivational, commercial questions etc). you could always give an example of a similar scenario and I reckon that's okay, just as long as you don't just give up and move onto the next question. unfortunately, firms have thousands of applicants and they want those that have the soft skills like teamwork, communication etc and if a candidate can't demonstrate that at this stage then perhaps they need to gain a bit more experience first. I'm not in grad rec and my experience is limited so I could be completely wrong but these are just my thoughts.

also apologies for the SPAG errors! answering as I cook dinner lol (late I knowww)

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you for all the helpful messages I'm receiving on the grades v extra-curriculars debate.

@axelbeugre @Jessica Booker I'm interested please to hear your thoughts on this too please? Would I be disadvantaged if I talk about my role of responsibility as something I completed in the past?

No - this won’t be a problem. It’s fairly common for people to step back from responsibilities in their final year.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Competency style questions are common in law firm interviews. What is the purpose behind them?

In a real life problem, I tend to tackle a problem based on the facts presented to me rather than think back to a time in the past I have faced a similar situation. I am sure that most lawyers will do the same in practice. In my opinion, it is unlikely that a trainee solicitor will think back to the time they worked well in a team or a time when they solved a complex problem if faced with a similar situation in practice.

Most people haven’t worked at the level of a trainee in a law firm so wouldn’t have experience to tackle a real life situation they would face as a trainee (not that you’d have one of those in an interview).

So relying on past experience from any environment could be a more consistent way of assessing people.

Some people will argue differently and will suggest using situational based questions in an interview would be a better way to assess candidates.

 

[therealslimshady]

throughout your TC, you'll be working with different teams, be thinking on your feet, will need to be proactive etc and if a candidate has never done this before then they might have a harder time adjusting. communication, public speaking etc are all skills developed over time and firms likely want candidates who have already demonstrated these in the past.

im not an authoritative source but I would say yes to your second question. if another candidate can provide examples for the competencies they are looking for whereas another cannot, then the former might be more likely to land the role (depending on whether they also have good answers for motivational, commercial questions etc). you could always give an example of a similar scenario and I reckon that's okay, just as long as you don't just give up and move onto the next question. unfortunately, firms have thousands of applicants and they want those that have the soft skills like teamwork, communication etc and if a candidate can't demonstrate that at this stage then perhaps they need to gain a bit more experience first. I'm not in grad rec and my experience is limited so I could be completely wrong but these are just my thoughts.

also apologies for the SPAG errors! answering as I cook dinner lol (late I knowww)

Thank you for your response.

Although I do not always think that having good answers for motivational and competency questions is correlated to actual performance in the job.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Has anyone who’s done a vac scheme while in full time employment (through booking off the time as holiday) ever experienced complications? A law firm I have an offer with has requested that I send written approval from my current employer to show I have permission to take on the work experience.

While I have the time off already approved, I don’t really feel comfortable telling my employer it will be for legal work experience, as that would basically be indicating I’m thinking of quitting way before I was planning to give notice (if I’m successful in getting a TC).

@Jessica Booker is this standard practice with most law firms? I definitely know of people who’ve done vac schemes while in employment who didn’t have to give explicit approval from their employer

This isn’t standard practice but it is very normal. They need to ensure there are no conflict issues and that your current employer is okay with you working their law firm.

Many people have to give explicit consent as most employment contracts would have a term in it that yours have to declare other forms of employment - this is especially seen in regulated industries or the public sector.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you for your response.

Although I do not always think that having good answers for motivational and competency questions is correlated to actual performance in the job.

Interviews (of all kinds) tend to be one of the least likely assessments to predict performance in the role! But no one has really found an alternative way of assessing people fairly that people like doing (whether it’s the candidates or the interviewers), especially assessments that don’t need a business psychologist to conduct them!

 

[Happycloud100]

Has anyone who’s done a vac scheme while in full time employment (through booking off the time as holiday) ever experienced complications? A law firm I have an offer with has requested that I send written approval from my current employer to show I have permission to take on the work experience.

While I have the time off already approved, I don’t really feel comfortable telling my employer it will be for legal work experience, as that would basically be indicating I’m thinking of quitting way before I was planning to give notice (if I’m successful in getting a TC).

@Jessica Booker is this standard practice with most law firms? I definitely know of people who’ve done vac schemes while in employment who didn’t have to give explicit approval from their employer

Hey I work at a PE firm and I had to complete a full conflicts check around deals and clients before a vac scheme at a US PE focused firm so I’d keep that in mind if you work in a regulated industry. No complications or anything but yes

 

[Happycloud100]

I do think the conflicts thing is highly unlikely and unusual as a practice for vac schemes though but it is important to keep in mind if you work in an adjacent area

 

[Jessica Booker]

I do think the conflicts thing is highly unlikely and unusual as a practice for vac schemes though but it is important to keep in mind if you work in an adjacent area

I can count how many people it’s stopped from attending the vacation scheme on one hand - I’d say there’s probably 4-5 times that amount where the vac scheme law firm have had to think carefully about which department to allocate the student to.

However, a fair number of the firms I previously worked for only took students (rather than graduates) on their schemes, which may mean this is more common than I have experienced.

 

[therealslimshady]

In the past, I have done a vacation scheme with an international law firm where I had the opportunity to sit within two departments. In one department, I developed an excellent rapport with my supervisor and received glowing feedback in my work. In another department, I had a good start with my supervisor. However, when I was asked which university I had attended to complete my law conversion course and professional legal studies (both non-Russell group universities), I was given a cold shoulder. Any subsequent emails with this supervisor received no response and I received no feedback on my work.

When HR offered feedback after my rejection, they lied to my face and made soo many things up. When I challenged any points that I disagreed with, the response from HR was that they could not comment as they were not present and that the decision is final. Has anyone experienced this?

 

[MrHubertLouis]

Do you still need help with this? If so, please feel free to PM me with your name/email address and I can ask the team to contact you.

Thank you, Jessica. I’ve managed to resolve this now.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you, Jessica. I’ve managed to resolve this now.

Glad it is sorted!

 

[Jessica Booker]

In the past, I have done a vacation scheme with an international law firm where I had the opportunity to sit within two departments. In one department, I developed an excellent rapport with my supervisor and received glowing feedback in my work. In another department, I had a good start with my supervisor. However, when I was asked which university I had attended to complete my law conversion course and professional legal studies (both non-Russell group universities), I was given a cold shoulder. Any subsequent emails with this supervisor received no response and I received no feedback on my work.

When HR offered feedback after my rejection, they lied to my face and made soo many things up. When I challenged any points that I disagreed with, the response from HR was that they could not comment as they were not present and that the decision is final. Has anyone experienced this?

What kind of things did they lie about?

 

[jnice]

You mention time is literally money and that lawyers have schedules to keep to.

In my opinion, I would still think that a lot of time is unnecessarily wasted in meetings due to reductions in productivity. At the end of the day, lawyers are human beings and not machines so I highly doubt that a lawyer is productive all of the time.

As a lawyer, you are rarely working as an individual; you will be working as part of a team therefore you need to have meetings. Of course time is wasted, no one is productive 100% of the time, that’s very unrealistic. But as a lawyer, you record your time/time needs to be accounted for. When I say time is money, I mean for example, I work as a paralegal and even a 5 minute call costs money.

 

[kmo20]

Is anyone still waiting for a PFO from linklaters summer vac scheme?

 

[Watsonmyroll]

3 cycles later and a Burges Salmon Vacation scheme offer!

 

[futuretrainee2025]

Thank you for your response.

Although I do not always think that having good answers for motivational and competency questions is correlated to actual performance in the job.

even though I can see why firms ask competency questions, I completely agree with you. my issue with competency questions is that a lot of people tend to massively inflate their experiences. I know people who have fabricated scenarios just to answer the questions.

 

[therealslimshady]

even though I can see why firms ask competency questions, I completely agree with you. my issue with competency questions is that a lot of people tend to massively inflate their experiences. I know people who have fabricated scenarios just to answer the questions.

I definitely agree with your statement. Which now goes back to my question - surely it is better to fabricate a scenario to answer a competency question where you have never been in such a situation so as to avoid being marked down for not being able to come up with a genuine example?

 

[neonorange]

even though I can see why firms ask competency questions, I completely agree with you. my issue with competency questions is that a lot of people tend to massively inflate their experiences. I know people who have fabricated scenarios just to answer the questions.

Agreed. I think it also feels like we must have impressive answers for competency questions because the process is so competitive. I'm lucky enough to have a few years of work under my belt so I can draw on real examples for 90% of questions, but do wonder how second year university students are supposed to have enough life experience to answer a lot of the sort of questions that get asked in a way that feels sufficient (if not fabricated).

 

[therealslimshady]

What kind of things did they lie about?

I cannot remember exactly because the scheme took place some time ago. I did however follow up with the first supervisor to share my feedback and talk about how I could improve, and they were surprised by some of the comments.