TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[billyonthespeeddial]

How long did they take to tell you after the interview?

One day

 

[elizabethkate]

HSF test benchmark met - surprised as my feedback said I wasn’t great at anything but one area.

how long did it take to hear back from HSF post report? I got the report instantly. is that a bad sign

 

[James Wakefield]

I’ve applied to Eversheds Sutherland and noticed the form asked you to submit evidence of your degree module grades alongside your application. However, there was nowhere to upload a transcript.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, and is it worth an email to their Early Talent Team? Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, just wondering how long we should be speaking for in an interview when answering just one question e.g. why this firm? or why commercial law?

There really isn't an answer to this unfortunately - for some people it may be less than 60 seconds, for somone else it may be over 4 minutes.

If an interview is an hour long, you will actually only be interviewed for about 40 minutes of the hour (need time to settle in, intros, time for you to ask questions at the end etc), and then you have to factor in the time they ask the questions. They will more than likely ask around 10 or more questions and so you can easily see how individual interview questions can be roughly 2-3 minutes long.

 

[BonanzaBih_]

Taylor Wessing Written Assessment Invite!!

 

[3000to1shoteverytime]

I’ve applied to Eversheds Sutherland and noticed the form asked you to submit evidence of your degree module grades alongside your application. However, there was nowhere to upload a transcript.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, and is it worth an email to their Early Talent Team? Thanks!

Go back into allgradhires after submission and you can add it as additional information

 

[aether]

Anything from DLA yet? I’m assuming they’ll send something out if there’s an AC next week?

 

[James Wakefield]

Go back into allgradhires after submission and you can add it as additional information

Thanks, but the additional information section is just a textbox it seems, and I can’t upload anything to it.

 

[bella98]

Taylor Wessing Written Assessment Invite!!

Omgg congrats!!!!🤩🤩 is this for the spring or summer scheme?

 

[Jessica Booker]

*TCLA in December*

We want to flag this now so people have plenty of notice and can plan application reviews, 1-2-1 calls, and general support over December.

The TCLA office will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 through to Wednesday 1 January 2025.

Therefore the last date for application review submissions before the Christmas office closure is 19 December 2024 at 4.00pm. As we expect there to be a pre-Christmas rush, any applications submitted on 19 December may be returned on Monday 23 December.

You will not be able to submit applications between 4.01pm on Thursday 19 December until 10.00am on Thursday 2 January due to the office being closed. Other services like mock interviews and written exercises will also not be available during this period.

Please take this into consideration when planning not only your application reviews, but also any 1-2-1 calls and if you think you may need any additional services like mock interviews.

I expect the 18/19/20 December and the 2/3/5/6 of January to be very busy times for the team, so please consider this when thinking about the support you will need.

I will be on WhatsApp and the forums over the Christmas/New Year period for general support usually provided by these methods.

Any questions regarding this, please let me know.

 

[Ricky]

I asked W&C if this was the case and they confirmed:

"If you have not heard back with a update on your application, this is because we are still considering your application for spring and summer as you also stated these schemes as preferences."

 

[safari3]

Do law firms look unfavourably on non-law GRADUATES who apply, as opposed to final year non-law students? I was rejected from Bird and Bird post application questions but before the WG test or VI. I got to the K&E AC last year with less experience but slightly better answers to their commercial awareness/ firm specific qs. I'm quite surprised I was so flat out rejected by BB is this likely down to
- being a graduated non-law student currently doing a mix of random shift work and a full-time but non-law related short course currently?
- slightly worse answers to their questions?
- applying mid november to a rolling recruitment system which began in septmber?
- not having gone to a BB open/insight day (I went to a KE one before applying)

Hi (non-law graduate progressed to VI)
Sorry to hear you got rejected post app. I understand how frustrating that can be. To answer your questions:
- B&B are super open to non-law, particularly if you are STEM (which I am not), so I don’t think that could be a reason;
- I attended an insight day with them prior to submitting my app and they did mention that they are very picky at the application stage. I think this is because they only require a 2:1 grade overall (not too fussed with academics), so weigh the content of the written answers very heavily. They would’ve marked your answers against the firm’s competencies which are available on the early careers hub;
- They also mentioned to apply before the beginning of Nov to ensure your app gets screened, so that may be where you fell short, but even then I can’t confirm if that was the case this year. For reference, I applied towards the end of Oct.

Hopefully this gives you a bit more clarity. Again, I am very sorry about the outcome and wish you the best in your other applications

 

[SamiyaJ]

*TCLA in December*

We want to flag this now so people have plenty of notice and can plan application reviews, 1-2-1 calls, and general support over December.

The TCLA office will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 through to Wednesday 1 January 2025.

Therefore the last date for application review submissions before the Christmas office closure is 19 December 2024 at 4.00pm. As we expect there to be a pre-Christmas rush, any applications submitted on 19 December may be returned on Monday 23 December.

You will not be able to submit applications between 4.01pm on Thursday 19 December until 10.00am on Thursday 2 January due to the office being closed. Other services like mock interviews and written exercises will also not be available during this period.

Please take this into consideration when planning not only your application reviews, but also any 1-2-1 calls and if you think you may need any additional services like mock interviews.

I expect the 18/19/20 December and the 2/3/5/6 of January to be very busy times for the team, so please consider this when thinking about the support you will need.

I will be on WhatsApp and the forums over the Christmas/New Year period for general support usually provided by these methods.

Any questions regarding this, please let me know.

Thanks for the heads up Jessica. Also thanking you and the team for all the support!

 

[BonanzaBih_]

Omgg congrats!!!!🤩🤩 is this for the spring or summer scheme?

Thank you and for Spring!

 

[Aspiringsolicitor01]

CRS Open day PFO

 

[lolasparks]

Hey - I'm not sure if there can be any advice or tips for this but I've realised I kinda struggle with meeting the word count on applications. I always go above it slightly and then have to cut down. There's nothing wrong with that but I was wondering if anyone has any tips, structures or things that have helped them I guess feel like they've included enough and ticked all the boxes!

 

[LawLawLawLawLaw]

im doing a TC application for a firm and they want a personal statement and interests and hobbies. then a CV. i was wondering how long should the personal statement and hobbies sections be as there is no guide word limit. also how should I structure the personal statement section? there's no guidance on their website either

 

[Andrei Radu]

thank you so much! this is definitely really helpful!

just wanted to know if you would recommend putting my address and the firm's address in the start of the cover letter or directly starting it with "Dear Graduate Recruitment"?

While it's always good to check for any extra information about this in FAQs sections, think most firms nowadays are happy with starting directly with 'Graduate Recruitment Team', especially for one-page cover letters. However, my personal preference is to also include addresses at the start - I think it just makes it look so much more like an official document. However, I think you cannot go wrong with either. If you feel you would be able to substantially improve the quality of your written answer by using the extra space that you would have otherwise used for the addresses part, you should go for it.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey - I'm not sure if there can be any advice or tips for this but I've realised I kinda struggle with meeting the word count on applications. I always go above it slightly and then have to cut down. There's nothing wrong with that but I was wondering if anyone has any tips, structures or things that have helped them I guess feel like they've included enough and ticked all the boxes!

This post might be helpful.

How to get your applications within their word limits

After reviewing applications over the last 7-8 months, one of the most common issues for candidates is getting their answer within word limits. Often people find it difficult to cut their answers down, and in doing so usually cut out interesting content or points to ensure the answer meets any...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

I will have a think about updating this over the Christmas period as there are probably a whole load of other phrases I could add to this.

 

[lolasparks]

This post might be helpful.

How to get your applications within their word limits

After reviewing applications over the last 7-8 months, one of the most common issues for candidates is getting their answer within word limits. Often people find it difficult to cut their answers down, and in doing so usually cut out interesting content or points to ensure the answer meets any...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

I will have a think about updating this over the Christmas period as there are probably a whole load of other phrases I could add to this.

Thank you so much!!