Latham & Watkins are essentially non-rolling. They prioritise their open days first. I'd strongly suggest applying for one. I got the AC following one. They seemingly prioritise Open Day attendees. Doubt I'd have reached AC otherwise.
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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
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Jessica Booker
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It wouldn't be a barrier to not being considered, but I would expect a lot more goes into the decision to secure an AC than just the assessment score.
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I scored in the 93rd percentile last year for Linklaters and did not progress. I have been told there is a greater importance placed on the SJT. I've also heard of people progressing with lower than 89 in the WG as their SJT was strong, so providing your SJT is good then yes.
For White and Case, do you have to apply for the Open Day and Vacation Scheme separately? The website will not let me select both
- Sep 9, 2024
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89th percentile is a very good score, and this will definitely not hold back your application. While different firms have different policies for assessing WG scores, anecdotally the highest cut off points do not seem to ever go beyond the 70-75th percentile. However, while your score sits at a comfortable distance to that, it does not necessarily mean you will be progressed to the AC. A great WG result does help set you apart, but the firm will likely asses you application holistically. As such, whether you progress or not will also depend on the quality of your written answers, your work experience and extracurriculars, grades, and how you perform in the firms' Capp Online assessment.
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This is most likely so - whenever I was applying for both open days and FYS/VS at firms, I had to make two different applications. This is because the open day and VS/TC application forms will generally have different questions and a different application process. Since VS/TC applications are significantly more competitive, they tend to have a higher number of questions which require longer written answers on your part. For the same reason, they also tend to have an application process with more steps, such as WG tests, video interviews, and ACs. However, there is sometimes overlap between the questions on the Open Day and VS forms - for instance, it is common for both to include a variant of the 'Why the firm?' question. Thus, while you might have to complete two different application forms, you will not necessarily have to write answers to completely different application questions.
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I think it depends on the specific of the work experiences you have and on what you have included in the cover letter. My strategy was to start by focusing on writing the best possible cover letter, and then write my work experience section while taking into account the information I had already written in the cover letter to avoid repetition.
When writing the work experience section, I did not focus on always reaching the 250 word limit. Instead, I tried to write in the same concise and structured style as I did in the cover letter. For work experiences which included many responsibilities and tasks, I would therefore generally end up writing around 200 words. However, for simpler roles, I would sometimes write less than 100. I think the best strategy is to try to include all substantive information which adds value to the application, instead of adding extra information for the sake of reaching the word limit - recruiters will likely notice that and will not appreciate it. Also, the more you write and the more information the recruiter has to sift through, the more difficult will it be for the points of key importance to stick with them after they finish reading - so sometimes, being concise is more helpful to make a lasting impression.
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While your total wordcount may be on the lengthy side, I don't think it is necessarily overkill. When I was applying for a firm with no word count limit on the cover letter and some other questions, I think I wrote in total over 2500 words, to which I added roughly another 1000 in the work experience section - and my application ended up being progressed. What I think does matter is to write in a concise, structured manner and to avoid repetition. If everything you have written in the section adds substantive value to your application, puts the recruiter in a better position to understand your work experience, and is not verbose, I don't think you have to worry. However, I would advise you to scrutinize your written work experience for lack of conciseness - and to be just as self-critical as you would be when reviewing a cover letter/motivation question written answer.
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The question as to the ideal number of applications is a rather controversial one, and I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to it. Some top recruiters and top applicants advise to be 100% focused on producing the highest possible quality of applications and to therefore only choose around 6-8 firms. Others argue that applications are more of a number's game, where luck is a very significant factor, and that you should therefore aim for applying to as many firms as possible - sometimes in excess of 50 or 60.
I have know candidates who have been successful with both approaches, and I think there is some truth to both perspectives. On the one hand, as we well know, the VS application process is extremely competitive, so there is not much of a point in submitting an application which does not have high quality written answers - it will have virtually no chance of being progressed. I have known people who were initially writing applications very quickly, and got rejected 20 or 30 times consecutively, and upon changing their strategy to a quality-focused one, they progressed with half of the firms they subsequently applied to. On the other hand, it seems to me it is undeniable that luck is also a very significant factor, and that you should therefore aim to maximize your chances by submitting a higher number of applications. In my own experience, some of the applications I had spent most time and effort on, and which I thought had some of my best writing, ended up being rejected at first stage. At the same time, some of the applications which I knew had some room for improvement ended up being progressed and eventually secured me TC offers. In my opinion, this could not be accounted by anything other than the role of luck - if anything, the firms that ended up progressing me tended to be the firms which I would have expected to be more selective than the ones which rejected me. As such, I don't think you can ever write to a high enough standard that you eliminate the luck factor. Graduate recruitment teams review dozens and sometimes hundreds of application per day, they have to reject the vast majority, and there is no objective metric to assess your application on. Some recruiters might place more emphasis on grades, some on your work experience, some on how convincing your motivations are and the quality of your written answers, some on WG/SJT scores, some on your university and degree, some on your extracurriculars and prizes, and so on. When comparing two strong applications that score well in all these categories, there is an unavoidable element of subjectivity in the recruiter's choice as to what criteria to prioritize. Since you don't know beforehand what a particular recruiter's attitude will be on the day they review your application, there is a strong argument to be made to apply to as may firms as possible to maximize your chances of having your application assessed by a recruiter who places more emphasis on the criteria you score best in. From my personal experience, the very best of candidates (who do very well in all the aforementioned categories) only end up with a VS offer for every 1/3-1/4 applications.
What is my concrete advice? I think the best strategy is to aim to send as many high quality applications as possible. That is, you should never submit an application just for the sake of a theoretical chance of progressing if you have not spent a sufficient amount of time researching the firm, and then writing and reviewing the application. At the same time, you should not spend 50 hours of work on every application to ensure you get to that absolute 100% level of quality your are capable of. I think sending 20 applications with 95% level of writing quality is better than sending 4 applications at 100%. Thus, I think you should focus on starting to write high quality applications, and then try to write as many as you can. You might find that at the beginning it takes you longer to write great answers, but as you go through the application process and you improve your research and drafting skills, your pace might significantly improve. Initially, it took me around 2-3 weeks to have a great application, but by January I could write an application at the same level of quality in 1-2 days. You will have to assess your own pace to estimate how many applications you can aim to submit. However, I think submitting 20-30 high quality applications should be achievable for most dedicated candidates, and I have also seen some especially driven people ending up with 40-50 good applications in a single cycle.
Jessica Booker
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I wouldn't provide details of your work experience in a cover letter. Your cover letter should focus more on your motivations and highlight a small number of your key strengths rather than detailing what you have done in the past. You don't have to use all 250 words for your work experience if you feel you have covered your key responsibilities and achievements/impact in the role sufficiently.
just received an invitation today
Any jones day interviews? I applied Sunday
They did say what questions there are on the Insight event, but probably not the exact text. They are: What challenge did you have and how did you overcome it and how did you demonstrate resilience? Why do you want to be a corporate solicitor and what skills will make you the best solicitor?
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