TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[gazdgazd11]

I havent heard back from DLA since passing Watson Glaser. The email said to be patient. Anyone else in this position?

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker i have looked to book train tickets to an open day and the ticket prices are £200. 200 great British pounds ridiculous. I live in the UK. The email the firm sent regarding reimbursement states they’ll only reimburse up to £150. Is it best to decline my space on the open day. I have looked at flights which in itself is crazy seeing as I’m in England. Flights are £300.

No - don't decline it outright.

You should ask the firm whether there is any flexibility with the costs of travel in the first instance rather than straight declining the offer. Most firms will reimburse more than the originally stated amount, especially if people are travelling further distances like Durham/Newcastle/Edinburgh or Exeter.

The other thing to do before speaking to the firm is look at whether a train the night before and with a cheap hotel in zones 3-4 in London might be cheaper than the £200. If it is, also present this as an option to the firm, but explain you would need the overnight stay also reimbursed. Travelodges near easily commutable stations like Clapham Junction, Walthamstow, Brent Cross, Finchley, Croydon, and City Airport tend to be cheaper (e.g. £40-80 per night) depending on dates and I have seen plenty of people do this instead because a train the night before is a fraction of the price of travelling first thing in the morning.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I applied to King & Spalding’s in person insight day but was rejected (I applied literally on the night of the deadline so can’t complaint) - in their email they’ve invited me to their virtual one on the 16th. Do you reckon they liked my application but couldn’t offer me a place in person due to capacity, or this is a template invite they would send to most rejected applicants?

Definitely wouldn't have offered this to everyone. I would take this as a good sign as they clearly want to engage you on some level but just couldn't with the in-person open day.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Quick question for @Andrei Radu if it's alright - I think you mentioned in a post that you made a Watson Glaser guide for yourself when taking the test. Would you by any chance be able to share that with us? Thank you

Hi, I have copied my WG Short Guide bellow . Just wanted to add before that (i) this was partly based on the excellent course on WG tests by the TCLA here which I highly recommend watching for a more complete understanding; and (ii) that this is meant to be a quick tool to use for revision/during the test, not a comprehensive guide in itself - it simply includes what I think are the most important rules to keep in mind when making a more difficult judgement.

1)Arguments section

• Always treat the statement as true.
• Cast out individual opinions and biases.
• Ensure the argument is directly relevant to all the most important aspects of the question. è to do so, see whether the argument directly addresses the aim of the question and the means of obtaining it (see some/all distinction).
• Correlation does not mean causation.
• Ensure that the argument backs up its position with benefits or disadvantages.

2)Assumptions

• Do not apply your own general knowledge or moral standards that are not included in the statement.
• Do not generalise.
• This section tests whether the statement in question assumes something, not whether you can assume something from the statement.
• Take words used in the statement at face value.
• Don’t conflate ‘assumable’ with ‘probable’.
• The test:
• Identify the premises and the conclusion.
• Does the conclusion logically follow from the premises?
• If not, does the assumption offered validate the conclusion? Is it a necessity for the assumption to be true in order that the conclusion of the statement logically follows from the premise?
• Apply the ‘Inverse Test’: negate the assumption and if the conclusion is damaged, the assumption is correct.

3)Deductions:

• Pay attention to what is included in the statement specifically.
• Do not conflate generalised and existence statements.
• Select your answer solely from the information presented, do not use general knowledge or be affected by your own biases and prejudices.

4)Inferences:

• If you don’t know the meaning of a word, try and figure out from its context.
• Notice the difference between qualifiers (e.g. some, most) and extreme qualifiers (always/none).
• Test:
• True: The inference is explicit in the passage; if the inference is inferable from the passage (solely from the passage and without broader reference to general knowledge).
• Probably True: If the statement does not directly suggest the inference is true, but suggests it is likely (>50%) to be the case; or if the inference is based on common knowledge + information in the passage.
• More information required: Information you are asked is simply not given in the passage, with no grounds for correctly inferring the likelihood of the truth or falsity of the statement; also, generally if the inference is opinionated.
• Probably false: if the statement does not directly suggest the inference is false, but suggests it is likely (>50%) to be the false; or if the inference is false based on common knowledge + information in the passage.
• False: The inference directly contradicts something mentioned in the statement, or if the inference misinterprets the statement.

5)Interpretations:

• Don’t interpret generalisation from an existent statistic.
• Judge each conclusion independently from each other.
• Differs from deducing in that a conclusion will follow if it’s beyond reasonable doubt (as opposed to logically necessary).
• Don’t confuse correlation with causation.
• Test: does the conclusion follow logically? If not, does it follow beyond a reasonable doubt?

 

[Jessica Booker]

The thing is I must leave the morning of the open day. I have work the day before and training the day after so I can’t stay an extra night. Very annoying. More at the fact that tickets are so expensive.

Explain that to the firm - I am sure they would be able to consider increasing the amount they reimburse. Its stupid if they don't because the flowers in their reception will cost more than your train ticket!

 

[Jessica Booker]

does anyone have any insight as to how to structure the slaughter cv? i am quite confused.

This template is a pretty traditional format that is suitable for Slaughter and May - https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/cv-templates.2296/post-27243

 

[Jessica Booker]

for freshfields' open day, ive written the personal statement but I don't know how to format this in the document for them - should I put the title as Freshfields Open Day, should I format it like a cover letter? also my cv is 4mb and I don't know how to make it smaller as they only accept ones that are 1mb or smaller

If your CV is 4MB it is likely created on some form of software that uses more imagery or has a lot of information imbedded into it. I would only expect a CV to be 100s of KB rather than MB, so it might be worthwhile putting it into a more traditional word document.

For the personal statement, there is no need to include cover letter formalities. The personal statement format allows you to go straight in with your opening sentence.

 

[Amehta1]

When did you hear? When did you do the VI?

Heard today evening and did the VI two weeks ago. All the best!

 

[member3804]

Does anyone know if A&O sends AC invites in batches?

 

[Nine]

DLA AC for London! Any insights would be really appreciated

Congratulations! Any tips for the application and WG? Thanks in advance

 

[Amehta1]

Congratulations! Any tips for the application and WG? Thanks in advance

Application wise it’s two very short 200 or 250 word questions (I don’t remember exactly) so focus on conciseness and cut the fluff that doesn’t relate much to your motivations for joining the firm. If you keep it simple concise and impactful you should do great!

The WG is pretty much a standard test although I did personally find DLA Piper’s one to be slightly harder but that’s just luck of the draw. Honestly struggled with WG till I just kept doing a load of practice ones over and over. The WG this time is also untimed so you really have time to think about your answers.

 

[l789]

HOLY COW! CC invite

After submitting my application and passing the watson glaser test (which I found out about yesterday)

I have just been offered a place on Clifford chances insight day conference event.

Happy to share application advice

 

[Andrei Radu]

Does anyone have any insight into A&O S AC? It's my first one and would appreciate any advice / guidance!?

Hi @wowcha and first of all huge congratulations on the AC 🥳 !! I have not applied for A&O but when I was preparing for my other ACs, one resource from TCLA was particularly useful to me. For a number of firms, TCLA has in depth information and advice about the AC process directly from candidates who did the AC in the past. Fortunately, we have one for A&O as well, which you can access here. You can also find here a more recent similar post, for the 2023/24 recruitment cycle.

Besides that, I have recently wrote a comprehensive guide for the competency interviews specifically. This includes a step-by-step preparation approach which led to me getting a VS offer from atop US/MC firm 4/4 times I implemented it last year. You can access that here.

Finally, I have here three amazing guides written by @Jacob Miller:

• One for case studies
• One for negotiations
• One for general interview preparation.

 

[wowcha]

Hi @wowcha and first of all huge congratulations on the AC 🥳 !! I have not applied for A&O but when I was preparing for my other ACs, one resource from TCLA was particularly useful to me. For a number of firms, TCLA has in depth information and advice about the AC process directly from candidates who did the AC in the past. Fortunately, we have one for A&O as well, which you can access here. You can also find here a more recent similar post, for the 2023/24 recruitment cycle.

Besides that, I have recently wrote a comprehensive guide for the competency interviews specifically. This includes a step-by-step preparation approach which led to me getting a VS offer from atop US/MC firm 4/4 times I implemented it last year. You can access that here.

Finally, I have here three amazing guides written by @Jacob Miller:

• One for case studies
• One for negotiations
• One for general interview preparation.

Thanks so much for your help!! I'm very grateful.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thanks so much for your help!! I'm very grateful.

Absolutely no worries and best of luck in the AC! You got this 💪!!

 

[BBsharkk]

Latham & Watkins Open Day Invite, the fact we had to do a test, application questions and VI. I'm about to make the most out of this😂

In case anyone is wondering, got my invite today. For the test I got strengths in analytical/complex thinking and self motivation, weakness in effective communication

Do you mind sharing what the VI question is about? Thanks!

 

[Nine]

Application wise it’s two very short 200 or 250 word questions (I don’t remember exactly) so focus on conciseness and cut the fluff that doesn’t relate much to your motivations for joining the firm. If you keep it simple concise and impactful you should do great!

The WG is pretty much a standard test although I did personally find DLA Piper’s one to be slightly harder but that’s just luck of the draw. Honestly struggled with WG till I just kept doing a load of practice ones over and over. The WG this time is also untimed so you really have time to think about your answers.

I’m worried I haven’t interacted with the firm as much - do you think this would affect my chances? Especially because I don’t intend on applying to the London office

 

[AS24]

Bristows IP workshop VI invite! If anyone has done it before, I would appreciate your help!

 

[Andrei Radu]

I just got an AC at DLA!!!!!! Can anyone please help with tips for the day. I am surprised it is in two weeks too lol.

Hi @Pola123 and @Amehta1 and huge congrats on your AC, it is an amazing achievement 🥳! Regarding DLA Piper-specific interview preparation resources, I thought to link the TCLA Interview Experiences page we have for the firm. It was written by other people who completed the AC in the past and gives you both a detailed description of the experience and some advice. This resource was particularly useful for me when I was preparing for ACs at other firms, so I do advise you to take a look - you can access it here. You can also find a more recent added post on this for the 2023/24 cycle here.

Besides that, I thought it may be useful to also link some more general preparation resources for you. I have recently wrote a comprehensive guide for the competency interviews specifically. This includes a step-by-step preparation approach which led to me getting a VS offer from atop US/MC firm 4/4 times I implemented it last year. You can access that here.

I also have here three amazing guides written by @Jacob Miller:

• One for case studies
• One for negotiations
• One for general interview preparation.

 

[nodustollens]

Bristows IP workshop VI invite! If anyone has done it before, I would appreciate your help!

same here! Good luck!