TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[coldmilc]

Hi, does anyone know what Gibson Dunn expects when they ask for " an outstanding personal achievement which added value to either your academic or working environment", and how is it different from "any other noteworthy achievements that will support my application"?

For context, I talked about my experience organise a refugee outreach programme with my student society, and this set a precedent for the successors of my society to get involved in similar programmes (thereby adding value). However, I have gotten some mixed feedback, with the main criticism being that I should focus more on a personal achievement that shows my personality.

For the other achievements, I plan to just write about my awards and previous society positions.

Any help on what the firm is expecting when they ask something like this? Thank you!

 

[bollingdale]

It happens to the best of us unfortunately

Does anyone know how they view some typos, the application encourages you to write as much as possible, but when you actually paste your responses into the boxes it cuts it off at around 600 words, so the actual stuff in the boxes I didn't check as closely as the text i had on my drafting page. Like, the rest of it is very strong in terms of 'telling a story' like they said and demonstrating skills through examples; im just hoping they wont go "oh well...there's a typo" and throw it out. I spotted it by getting an ai to read it back to me and there are 3 small typos.

 

[bangarangbass39]

"Nature of the activity you have undertaken or achievement you have been awarded. If you are referring to an activity please remember to specify dates and the typical number of hours per week spent on this activity. (200 words max)"

This is for Mishcon De Reya's achievement and activity section. The application only allows for a max of 4 work experiences to be listed. I listed one legal internship, my bar work during uni, my current researcher role for an NGO and my volunteer work as an academic mentor. For this section can I mention other legal internships I completed? For achievements, all I can think of is a Full Master's Scholarship and Bursary I received for underrepresented/low-income students.

 

[bollingdale]

Just wanted to flag some potential stumbling blocks for the a&o shearman application process


Firstly, I noticed that while we were encouraged to write without strict word limits, there appears to be a hard limit around 616 words in the submission boxes (at least for me there was). This wasn’t immediately obvious, as the full text doesn’t display without scrolling. For those drafting externally, this could unintentionally cut off text, impacting your submissions at the last moment. Draft with this in mind, and don't make my mistake of editing on the fly inside the boxes, which doesn't let you see everything you are doing at once, you are more liable to introduce typos etc...

Secondly, during the situational judgement test, there was a pie chart question where the key used similar red and pink shades. This made it difficult to distinguish between them, particularly on different screen settings. Be aware of this and make sure your brightness settings are normal and full brightness.

 

[fingersarecrossed]

Do US law firms accept non-russel group students?

 

[fingersarecrossed]

I graduated LLB from non-russel group university. I got first class. Do you recommend I do a masters in russel group chance to have better chance or will it not make much difference?

 

[zara elles]

Just wanted to flag some potential stumbling blocks for the a&o shearman application process


Firstly, I noticed that while we were encouraged to write without strict word limits, there appears to be a hard limit around 616 words in the submission boxes (at least for me there was). This wasn’t immediately obvious, as the full text doesn’t display without scrolling. For those drafting externally, this could unintentionally cut off text, impacting your submissions at the last moment. Draft with this in mind, and don't make my mistake of editing on the fly inside the boxes, which doesn't let you see everything you are doing at once, you are more liable to introduce typos etc...

Secondly, during the situational judgement test, there was a pie chart question where the key used similar red and pink shades. This made it difficult to distinguish between them, particularly on different screen settings. Be aware of this and make sure your brightness settings are normal and full brightness.

Thanks for this! Do you know if you are recorded during the assessments or just the VI sections? Want to know whether I’ll need to put on a smart top right at the beginning or not😂

Also, I did not realise there was a written excersize. Their website says: The assessment will include situational questions, verbal and numerical reasoning items, and two short motivation questions to complete via video. They mentioned it should take 45-60 minutes. If you don’t mind me asking how long would you say the assessment actually took/ how long did you spend on the written aspect

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, does anyone know what Gibson Dunn expects when they ask for " an outstanding personal achievement which added value to either your academic or working environment", and how is it different from "any other noteworthy achievements that will support my application"?

For context, I talked about my experience organise a refugee outreach programme with my student society, and this set a precedent for the successors of my society to get involved in similar programmes (thereby adding value). However, I have gotten some mixed feedback, with the main criticism being that I should focus more on a personal achievement that shows my personality.

For the other achievements, I plan to just write about my awards and previous society positions.

Any help on what the firm is expecting when they ask something like this? Thank you!

To me, I take the “added value to your academic or working environment” as something that should be benefitting others, not just you solely, so I think your example is a great one to use.

 

[bollingdale]

Thanks for this! Do you know if you are recorded during the assessments or just the VI sections? Want to know whether I’ll need to put on a smart top right at the beginning or not😂

Also, I did not realise there was a written excersize. Their website says: The assessment will include situational questions, verbal and numerical reasoning items, and two short motivation questions to complete via video. They mentioned it should take 45-60 minutes. If you don’t mind me asking how long would you say the assessment actually took/ how long did you spend on the written aspect

I think you are misunderstanding me, the written section im referring to is the experiences section. For the situational section, the sjt leads into the video questions, but you can leave and reopen at anytime before the deadline (at least thats what they told me). They record you throughout the sjt but I didn't dress in any particular way, they are just using that to monitor for cheating and weird behaviour.
I spent a lot of time on the experiences section, i was told this is a huge factor as they can only really use this section to get an idea of you as a whole person, your experiences, tell a story!

 

[bollingdale]

Was asked about checking for typos using ai

Be very careful, I used chatgpt, but you can't fully rely on it, for example it changed a company name I worked at from Sandersons to Sanderson. Also SPECIFY UK ENGLISH (assuming you are english) because it will look weird if there is irregular spelling conventions (eg honor at one point, and colour at another, or analyse vs analyze). The most effective way to check is to have ai read it back to you, on word there is a feature that does this. You pick up way more problems with flow, repetition, typos. Reading it, if you are an advanced reader, you tend to mentally take shortcuts

(an example of this )
your brain will miss things if you just read it, you are already familiar with what you read and what you meant, make it unfamiliar to yourself (hence having it read back to you, or printing it out)

 

[JLaw56]

Jones Day Interview! (applied: 06/09, heard back: 13/09)

 

[lawyersum]

"Nature of the activity you have undertaken or achievement you have been awarded. If you are referring to an activity please remember to specify dates and the typical number of hours per week spent on this activity. (200 words max)"

This is for Mishcon De Reya's achievement and activity section. The application only allows for a max of 4 work experiences to be listed. I listed one legal internship, my bar work during uni, my current researcher role for an NGO and my volunteer work as an academic mentor. For this section can I mention other legal internships I completed? For achievements, all I can think of is a Full Master's Scholarship and Bursary I received for underrepresented/low-income students.

Would love to have some insight on how to approach this question too! @Jessica Booker

 

[Jessica Booker]

I graduated LLB from non-russel group university. I got first class. Do you recommend I do a masters in russel group chance to have better chance or will it not make much difference?

Your first-class honours degree from a non-Russell Group university is sufficient. A masters at a Russell Group university should only be pursued if it is something you want to pursue for your own personal reasons rather than in the hope it will help your chances of securing a role.

 

[bollingdale]

Would love to have some insight on how to approach this question too! @Jessica Booker

my thought is that 200 words isnt a lot of space, i would really flesh out 2 experiences, but I might be wrong

 

[Tintin06]

Jones Day Interview! (applied: 06/09, heard back: 13/09)

They don't mess about, do they?

 

[rvvacscheme]

This might be a silly question, but does anyone know if CMS offers a vac scheme for penultimate year law students in England? All I can see on their website are direct training contract applications and an insight scheme for non law and 2nd year Scottish law students. Not sure if I’m missing something!

 

[l789]

HSF SOCIAL MOBILITY OPEN DAY INVITE- my first application for this cycle and it’s a success!

WOOHOO!

I’d like to give credit to @Jessica Booker for her advice on this thread, for which I would have not been successful had I not taken on board her feedback she has given generally on this forum.

Thank you Jessica!

I’m happy to share any tips and advice!!

 

[0livia.pope]

Does anybody know if the A&O Shearman feedback report expires? I can't seem to open it anymore

 

[Jessica Booker]

HSF SOCIAL MOBILITY OPEN DAY INVITE- my first application for this cycle and it’s a success!

WOOHOO!

I’d like to give credit to @Jessica Booker for her advice on this thread, for which I would have not been successful had I not taken on board her feedback she has given generally on this forum.

Thank you Jessica!

I’m happy to share any tips and advice!!

Fantastic news and congratulations on securing the open day spot! Also delighted to hear I have been of some help (posts like this make my day!)

 

[gazdgazd11]

is 950 words too long for a cover letter?