TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[ashwright]

I have a direct TC offer from Freshfields, which I plan to accept! I will be turning down my VS at W&C (moved to spring) and HSF (winter), so there may be spots for two people on those schemes. Good luck to everyone, and please feel free to PM me if you have questions.

Incredible stuff!! Congratulations - that is an amazing result. You should be super proud of yourself 🫶 ❤️

 

[Parsorandini]

Not OP but could I check if you guys know if the opposite is true? Do they tell you soon after if you failed? Thank you

Sorry, I'm not sure! How long has it been since you took the test?

 

[ashwright]

Sorry, I'm not sure! How long has it been since you took the test?

No worries at all! I haven't taken the test yet but just wanted to brace myself for failure, to be honest 😅

 

[Tcvspfo]

OMG I won't say the firm name but they said I have to do their test even though I have been by pass from that same test by other firms. I have a neurodiversity and it is really annoying some firms still won't accommodate to make it fair for everyone and considering I spent 6 days on their application. I am just really annoyed with this and bet others will be feeling the same as me in this situation.

 

[Parsorandini]

I would generally include all of them. Sometimes it is possible to group entries together, particularly things like open day or legal clinic work, and it’s not a problem to do this as long as you are clear about the precise dates of each activity in the description. You don’t have to group them together though - 12 entries is not going to be excessive if you are only writing 200-250 words per entry on average (or less).

Thank you very much! One last thing (as I have heard contrasting opinions on this), should I link to 'why law'/why the firm in the work experience section? Also should I explicitly state skills I have learned? Wondering whether I do all of that or just stick to the facts of my role, its responsibilities, and maybe an outstanding achievement etc.

 

[Tintin06]

I haven't done CC's Watson Glaser yet. I got 65% on a practice test today. I'm not feeling hopeful. I've already justified not passing the test owing to the firm's C score for work life balance on the Legal Cheek Junior Lawyer Survey. It's amazing how you can justify anything to yourself if you want to. This might be why I don't have a TC yet.

 

[Deleted member 37508]

I haven't done CC's Watson Glaser yet. I got 65% on a practice test today. I'm not feeling hopeful. I've already justified not passing the test owing to the firm's C score for work life balance on the Legal Cheek Junior Lawyer Survey. It's amazing how you can justify anything to yourself if you want to. This might be why I don't have a TC yet.

A tip I got from an junior at a US firm was that.

A US firm Lawyer and a MC lawyer will be on the same case against each other. If the US lawyer is finishing at 11pm then the MC most likely will be to. It’s just that the US lawyer gets paid more. Yes the US lawyer has greater responsibility being in a team of 3 compared to the MC lawyer being in a team of 7 but their experience/exposure will succeed those at the MC firm. I wouldn’t focus too much on the hours between US and MC given that most of your applications are to US firms. I was also told by a partner that if hours are your focus go in house. As for CC Watson Glaser. the test is very similar to other Watson Glaser tests like CMS and Linklaters.

 

[Tintin06]

A tip I got from an junior at a US firm was that.

A US firm Lawyer and a MC lawyer will be on the same case against each other. If the US lawyer is finishing at 11pm then the MC most likely will be to. It’s just that the US lawyer gets paid more. Yes the US lawyer has greater responsibility being in a team of 3 compared to the MC lawyer being in a team of 7 but their experience/exposure will succeed those at the MC firm. I wouldn’t focus too much on the hours between US and MC given that most of your applications are to US firms. I was also told by a partner that if hours are your focus go in house. As for CC Watson Glaser. the test is very similar to other Watson Glaser tests like CMS and Linklaters.

My focus is on money, mostly. I was being sarcastic. Any advice for passing the test?

 

[Deleted member 37508]

My focus is on money, mostly. I was being sarcastic. Any advice for passing the test?

Don’t use your brain. 🧠
Read it aloud as if you’re saying it to someone then contradict with the statement it’ll either make sense or not. Writing mind maps also helps. I’m not a Watson Glaser pro but these helped me.

 

[NCTC2025]

Does anyone know how many days HSF gives to do its SJT after submitting an application?

 

[axele]

Any good WG practice sites? Bought the one on assessment day so looking for a better source. Thanks!

 

[Tcvspfo]

Any good WG practice sites? Bought the one on assessment day so looking for a better source. Thanks!

My personal opinion is job test prep and TCLA course are better and more helpful than assessment day.

 

[axele]

My personal opinion is job test prep and TCLA course are better and more helpful than assessment day.

Did you have experience with job test prep? Or anyone? How similar are they to CC/Linklaters/HSF?

 

[RSK]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thank you very much! One last thing (as I have heard contrasting opinions on this), should I link to 'why law'/why the firm in the work experience section? Also should I explicitly state skills I have learned? Wondering whether I do all of that or just stick to the facts of my role, its responsibilities, and maybe an outstanding achievement etc.

Hey @Parsorandini I think you should generally just stick to the facts. If you are sufficiently specific in your description of your tasks, it should be easy for recruiters to infer associated skills and attributes without your writing becoming very repetitive. However, you can also make a link explicit if (i) a given work experience has particularly strong connections with your motivations for why commercial law or why the firm; or (ii) if a given work experience has made you develop particularly relevant/unique skills. Nonetheless, I will emphasize that my advice is to only do so sparingly. The more links you explicitly draw, the less impactful will each particular connection seem.

 

[Tcvspfo]

Did you have experience with job test prep? Or anyone? How similar are they to CC/Linklaters/HSF?

Job test prep boosted my score for Links from 2 percentile to 60 percentile and helped me reach DLA VI.

 

[User5678]

How was the phone interview? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Hello, I was just sent a telephone interview invite too. Did you manage to get an insight or give the interview yet?

 

[Deleted member 37508]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

Selfless act. 👍 we need more people like you.

 

[axele]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

Hey, I‘ll message you

 

[Andrei Radu]

I haven't done CC's Watson Glaser yet. I got 65% on a practice test today. I'm not feeling hopeful. I've already justified not passing the test owing to the firm's C score for work life balance on the Legal Cheek Junior Lawyer Survey. It's amazing how you can justify anything to yourself if you want to. This might be why I don't have a TC yet.

Hey @Tintin06 try not to feel too disheartened. WG scores vary a lot between tests, as the difficulty levels of different tests also varies a lot. Furthermore, there is a significant chance element to this. While learning and internalizing the fine technical rules and distinctions of each test section definitely helps, you will still have many questions where you have two equally plausible options and will have to make judgement calls based on your intuition. Sometimes, you can get a lot of those right, while at other times you can get a lot of those wrong, with no other explanation besides chance.

I have seen this variation in my own results, scoring 98th percentile in some tests and not passing the benchmark in others. Also, a friend of mine who did well enough in the Linklaters WG to get the open day invite scored under 50% in another WG practice test. Point is, you should definitely hold yourself accountable and aim to improve your skills as much as you can, but you should not let one single bad result get you down.