TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Jessica Booker]

If my application has been succesful last year, can I copy and paste it again?

You can, but I think this is a risky approach to take.

You can’t assume because your application was successful last year, it will be again.

It also means that there is no recent evidence of the things you have done. You will want to show you have been actively pursuing the career and/or developing your skills since your last application.

I would always recommend people update and refine their application. Even reviewing what you have written previously with a fresh pair of eyes will potentially identify how you would write something differently.

The point I used to make to people was if your application form is identical, there is a strong chance the outcome will be identical as well. And the overall outcome last time was that you weren’t successful, so you want to try and present why it would be different this time around.

 

[CN04]

I know this question ahs been asked already but has anyone heard back from Sidley Austin about their WVS yet?

 

[Gday33]

Apologies if this has been asked before but does the ‘on hold’ application status with Linklaters mean it has been submitted? Completed the Watson Glaser but not option to ‘submit’, just went to on hold

 

[VMS]

BCLP and I are having a falling out. 500 words? Not even I can prattle about a time I showed courage for that long, come on 😭

 

[bollingdale]

Curious about SJT A&O feedback, what kind of things did people get, is it possible to get a perfect score in terms of the assessment qualities?
I'd be curious to know what people are able to get?
Below is each section with the relevant quoted section from the feedback. Also, I have demonstrated some of the skills that the SJT said i'm weak at elsewhere in the application, so I'm just curious to get a sense of how its assessed. Do I still have a chance of getting through to the next stage?

Strengths​

• Applied Verbal Intellect: "This is an area where you excelled, demonstrating a natural ability to work with the verbal information presented to you."
• Applied Numerical Intellect: "This is an area where you excelled, demonstrating a natural ability to work with the numerical information presented to you."
• Collaboration: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential. In doing so, you worked with others in an approachable and open manner, communicated in a timely manner when work might not have been delivered on time, as well as making some good judgements about when input was needed from others."
• Intellectual Curiosity: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential across the situations presented to you. In doing so, you looked at the wider context in order to understand why things are done, and in most instances, asked intelligent questions to close gaps in your understanding as well as challenging yourself to get to grips with new areas of law."
• Resilience: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential across the situations presented to you. In doing so, you thought clearly and kept an objective perspective in the face of the deadlines presented to you as well as, in some instances, moving forward with composure after certain challenges came your way."

Areas for Development​

• Adaptability: "This is an area that you would really benefit developing further in. The situations you experienced were an opportunity for you to quickly switch your focus depending on the developing situation, as well as obtaining information on your own before asking for help. In the responses you selected, you missed several opportunities to demonstrate these key capabilities."
• Drive and Motivation: "This is an area that you would really benefit from developing further in. The situations presented to you were an opportunity to take ownership of the element of the project you were involved in, delivering work to an excellent standard in terms of content and presentation, as well as taking personal responsibility to deliver work on time. In the responses you selected, you didn’t always demonstrate these key capabilities."
• Organisation: "This is an area where there is a clear opportunity for you to develop further. The situations you encountered were a real opportunity for you respond positively in relation to short time frames by planning your approach, as well as creating effective plans to complete your work, including putting review points and contingency plans in place. In the responses you selected, you missed several opportunities to demonstrate these skills."

 

[SoonToBeTrainee]

Curious about SJT A&O feedback, what kind of things did people get, is it possible to get a perfect score in terms of the assessment qualities?
I'd be curious to know what people are able to get?
Below is each section with the relevant quoted section from the feedback. Also, I have demonstrated some of the skills that the SJT said i'm weak at elsewhere in the application, so I'm just curious to get a sense of how its assessed. Do I still have a chance of getting through to the next stage?

Strengths​

• Applied Verbal Intellect: "This is an area where you excelled, demonstrating a natural ability to work with the verbal information presented to you."
• Applied Numerical Intellect: "This is an area where you excelled, demonstrating a natural ability to work with the numerical information presented to you."
• Collaboration: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential. In doing so, you worked with others in an approachable and open manner, communicated in a timely manner when work might not have been delivered on time, as well as making some good judgements about when input was needed from others."
• Intellectual Curiosity: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential across the situations presented to you. In doing so, you looked at the wider context in order to understand why things are done, and in most instances, asked intelligent questions to close gaps in your understanding as well as challenging yourself to get to grips with new areas of law."
• Resilience: "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential across the situations presented to you. In doing so, you thought clearly and kept an objective perspective in the face of the deadlines presented to you as well as, in some instances, moving forward with composure after certain challenges came your way."

Areas for Development​

• Adaptability: "This is an area that you would really benefit developing further in. The situations you experienced were an opportunity for you to quickly switch your focus depending on the developing situation, as well as obtaining information on your own before asking for help. In the responses you selected, you missed several opportunities to demonstrate these key capabilities."
• Drive and Motivation: "This is an area that you would really benefit from developing further in. The situations presented to you were an opportunity to take ownership of the element of the project you were involved in, delivering work to an excellent standard in terms of content and presentation, as well as taking personal responsibility to deliver work on time. In the responses you selected, you didn’t always demonstrate these key capabilities."
• Organisation: "This is an area where there is a clear opportunity for you to develop further. The situations you encountered were a real opportunity for you respond positively in relation to short time frames by planning your approach, as well as creating effective plans to complete your work, including putting review points and contingency plans in place. In the responses you selected, you missed several opportunities to demonstrate these skills."

This is interesting. I mostly got “good level of potential” and “some good level of judgement”. They didn’t split mine up into strengths and areas for development like yours.

 

[cjwx]

A&O Shearman SJT feedback basically said I have mid drive, motivation, and resilience.

I’ve been pursuing this career for like 5 years. Maybe after 10 years I’ll get ‘good’ ratings lol…do

Did it say you had som good responses but there were areas you could improve on? Surely if you excelled and did well in other areas you should be fine? I’m saying that because I got that response for organisation, adaptability and collaboration so I’m hoping it doesn’t ruin my chances

 

[bollingdale]

What were the questions like for the A and O Shearman VI?

I think for some of them its a bit ambiguous and there isn't a clear 'correct' answer. I get the feeling that these ones are so they get a sense of your personal key assessment qualities, like "will you show adaptability here, or resilience, or organisation, or drive and motivation'

Im not sure if its possible to perfectly represent all of the skills in the multiple choice section.

 

[bollingdale]

Did it say you had som good responses but there were areas you could improve on? Surely if you excelled and did well in other areas you should be fine? I’m saying that because I got that response for organisation, adaptability and collaboration so I’m hoping it doesn’t ruin my chances

I think, as i said above, this is for recruiters to get a sense of which areas you lean into, im not sure if its possible to get a perfect score for the traits section. I would assume they look for the weaknesses suggested by this section and then see if they are shown as strengths elsewhere.

 

[bollingdale]

This is interesting. I mostly got “good level of potential” and “some good level of judgement”. They didn’t split mine up into strengths and areas for development like yours.

could you share what responses you got for yours, i want to get a picture of what range of responses it is possible to receive on the feedback.

 

[bollingdale]

how long after submitting an application for a+o shearman were people sent the SJT?

immediately after completing the videos, its automatically graded

 

[cjwx]

This is interesting. I mostly got “good level of potential” and “some good level of judgement”. They didn’t split mine up into strengths and areas for development like yours.

Same here, but owell I need to stop torturing myself now there is nothing more I can do. On to the next application.

 

[bollingdale]

Same here, but owell I need to stop torturing myself now there is nothing more I can do. On to the next application.

could you post what range of responses you got, i want to see if i can reconstruct a grading scale and if any strengths in one area were mirrored by a weakness in a different area (indicating that the questions had more of a personality test sort of approach for these questions; which is my suspicion)

This is to anyone who has done the a&o, don't need to send your name, i just want to see the responses that its possible to get

 

[bollingdale]

This is interesting. I mostly got “good level of potential” and “some good level of judgement”. They didn’t split mine up into strengths and areas for development like yours.

they didn't for mine either, i did that by feeding it to chatgpt and asking it to give me my strengths and weaknesses with quotes from the feedback sheet

 

[Gday33]

BCLP and I are having a falling out. 500 words? Not even I can prattle about a time I showed courage for that long, come on 😭

Yes I think some of their questions are pushing it 😂

 

[lawyersum]

Describe a time when you had to drop everything and really 'raise your game' in order to keep a promise you had made to someone else. How did you manage both this and your other commitments?

This is for Hogan Lovell’s application. What sort of example are recruiters looking for @Jessica Booker? The way the question is phrased it seems like they are looking for a quite impressive situation…I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to manage competing deadlines, come in last minute to make amendments to documents - is this along the right track?

 

[bangarangbass39]

I’d write in full prose rather than bullet points, but the descriptions don’t need to be more extensive than your CV in terms of what you are highlighting, it just needs to be joined up a little more.

I wouldn’t expect many work experience entries to be 600 words. I’d say an average is 250-300 but some short placements or roles with limited responsibilities would probably need less than 150.

I applied for a paralegal position very recently. I did a mixture, of 2-3 bullet points outlining some tasks I completed in the work experience and then a few sentences underneath explaining what I learnt and relevant skills. Would you advise going into full prose for my vac schemes/tc applications or does my structure work fine?

 

[3000to1shoteverytime]

BCLP and I are having a falling out. 500 words? Not even I can prattle about a time I showed courage for that long, come on 😭

How about "I have never experienced adversity and therefore I am showing courage by not giving an answer to this question."

Seriously it is such a terrible question, isn't it?

 

[Lola2025]

If we were to put open and insight days down in the work experience section and group them under 'various', how would we go about outline what we learned from there? Are we expected to talk about sessions we listened in on? Any examples and/or advice would be appreciated! @Jessica Booker

 

[AlegalA]

I've seen on a couple applications forms (I think, don't quote me on this!) that they want the experience written in full prose. However, I have never come close to 600 words per an entry, and mine are much closer to the 50-100 words. For bigger roles I think I have written up to 175 words-ish. Someone feel free to correct me though!

I’d write in full prose rather than bullet points, but the descriptions don’t need to be more extensive than your CV in terms of what you are highlighting, it just needs to be joined up a little more.

I wouldn’t expect many work experience entries to be 600 words. I’d say an average is 250-300 but some short placements or roles with limited responsibilities would probably need less than 150.

Amazing, thank you so much!