TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Shandy101]

Hi everyone! Hope this week brings lots of good news for you. I wanted to share some insight. Please don't be intimidated by video interviews. You've done the research, drafted (thus far) successful applications (so motivational questions ✅) and have a wealth of resources on TCLA and other online platforms for practising VIs and answering competency-based questions, which are easy because they come from your life, work and educational experiences and follow a basic STAR format. I would say if you are struggling with CA questions for VIs then you are probably not ready for an AC. That doesn't mean you can't get there, and fast, but you have to put the work in. Anyway, that's my unsolicited two cents- don't spend it all at once!

 

[fcac98]

hey, is this normal I didn't receive an email confirmation after applying to Norton rose Fulbright - when I clicked back on it says you have applied, says submitted and that my application is in progress. When I look at my application it only shows my personal info?? I'm guessing I should have got a conformation email but im not sure why I haven't received one ?? any help would be great !!

This has happened to me before with Kennedys and I just emailed to ask for confirmation my application went through, they responded within a day

 

[Victor87]

Hi everyone, For W&C, has anyone that did their VI before the WVS and received the holding email heard any news since? Should we anticipate a PFO?
Wishing everyone a fantastic week and year ahead!

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Hi everyone, For W&C, has anyone that did their VI before the WVS and received the holding email heard any news since? Should we anticipate a PFO?
Wishing everyone a fantastic week and year ahead!

I haven’t heard from W&C post WV app!!! Defo a PFO

 

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

Willkie PFO

 

[CHLTC]

Hello All,

As assessment centres are starting to come thick and fast, I wanted to come here to ask for some tips.

I attended 2 AC's last year (Silver circle and US), and unfortunately both gave me the same feedback - I did not perform well in the case study interview.

I always knew I was going to find this bit the hardest.

Has anyone got any tips on where / how to practice case studies for law firm assessment centres? Are there case study books you can buy?

From my experience, some were more focused on mathematical calculations, some more on company structures, but overall, they always tended to involve some sort of merger or acquisition.

Do people have a specific method for answering these? I have always thought it is very hard to prepare for them, as each firm have their own type of way of doing AC case study interviews.

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen @axelbeugre

 

[AfVio24]

hey, is this normal I didn't receive an email confirmation after applying to Norton rose Fulbright - when I clicked back on it says you have applied, says submitted and that my application is in progress. When I look at my application it only shows my personal info?? I'm guessing I should have got a conformation email but im not sure why I haven't received one ?? any help would be great !!

I got an email the next day confirming app received and also the RARE form - went to my junk initially though!

 

[baj5]

Willkie PFO. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong

 

[Law queries]

Willkie PFO

Same

 

[Applebanana425]

HSF AC for Spring just received

 

[Smart water 0403]

We’d love to know why you are motivated to pursue a career in a commercial law firm, in particular Squire Patton Boggs? (200 words max) *

Is this a why commercial law question or why the firm question or both ? (there is also another question asking about practice areas of interest)

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, @Jessica Booker. I was just wondering how much of a problem it would be on a pre employment reference check if a work experience was listed as one week but it was only 3-4 days across that week? Thanks.

Highly unlikely to be an issue - but I would make sure it is listed on applications/CVs as 3-4 days either by using appropriate dates or by saying something like “this 3 day programme” in the description.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello All,

As assessment centres are starting to come thick and fast, I wanted to come here to ask for some tips.

I attended 2 AC's last year (Silver circle and US), and unfortunately both gave me the same feedback - I did not perform well in the case study interview.

I always knew I was going to find this bit the hardest.

Has anyone got any tips on where / how to practice case studies for law firm assessment centres? Are there case study books you can buy?

From my experience, some were more focused on mathematical calculations, some more on company structures, but overall, they always tended to involve some sort of merger or acquisition.

Do people have a specific method for answering these? I have always thought it is very hard to prepare for them, as each firm have their own type of way of doing AC case study interviews.

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen @axelbeugre

This thread is a really good starting point for case studies:

Thread 'Definitive Guide to Law Firm Case Studies! *Monday Article Series*'
https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....firm-case-studies-monday-article-series.3232/

 

[LegallyStressedOut]

anyone heard back from Jones Day for the summer VS?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Willkie PFO. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong

What I would stress is that sometimes it is not about doing something “wrong” - it is just about fine margins in very subjective areas. It can easily be that one firm is looking for slightly more specific evidence about their work and why it appeals to you, while the next firm may want more evidence of team working.

Just because one firm says no to you, it does not mean you are doing something wrong - it is just they have found candidates more aligned to what they are looking for.

 

[baj5]

What I would stress is that sometimes it is not about doing something “wrong” - it is just about fine margins in very subjective areas. It can easily be that one firm is looking for slightly more specific evidence about their work and why it appeals to you, while the next firm may want more evidence of team working.

Just because one firm says no to you, it does not mean you are doing something wrong - it is just they have found candidates more aligned to what they are looking for.

Thank you Jessica, it’s the right mindset to keep!

 

[charlotte1704]

SJT for withers spring!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hello All,

As assessment centres are starting to come thick and fast, I wanted to come here to ask for some tips.

I attended 2 AC's last year (Silver circle and US), and unfortunately both gave me the same feedback - I did not perform well in the case study interview.

I always knew I was going to find this bit the hardest.

Has anyone got any tips on where / how to practice case studies for law firm assessment centres? Are there case study books you can buy?

From my experience, some were more focused on mathematical calculations, some more on company structures, but overall, they always tended to involve some sort of merger or acquisition.

Do people have a specific method for answering these? I have always thought it is very hard to prepare for them, as each firm have their own type of way of doing AC case study interviews.

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen @axelbeugre

Hi @CHLTC I really empathize with your struggles, as case studies/written tasks were always the hardest part of ACs for me as well. I don't think there is a specific method you can prepare, since as you mentioned, they come in a wide variety of formats. In my view, the only way to prepare is by developing the underlying skills every case study will seek to test: time-management and work under pressure, clarity of writing and structure, commercial awareness and analysis, ability to digest large amounts of information, etc.

To do that, I think it is useful to both practice actual case studies and to read more widely about the commercial matters that might be relevant for them. A particularly helpful resource for me was the course offered by TCLA on the matter (which you can find here). It includes a number of mock PE and M&A case studies, recordings of two hour long sessions explaining how to think through written/interview style M&A case studies, and a number of questions that are analyzed in depth by the TCLA team. To link a few useful free resources on TCLA:

• An amazing guide for M&A case studies by @Jacob Miller, which includes both a mock case study and a model answer with detailed explanations of how you should think through the materials (which you can find here).
• A mock written case study offered by TCLA here.
• An excellent article written by @Jaysen Sutton, which explains the process, types, structures, and general terms of an M&A transaction (which you can find here).
• A glossary of M&A terms by @Amma Usman here.

Besides these, I have also found a few external resources you may want to take a look at:

• A great LSE article giving an overview of case studies and preparation methods for each element
• An article with tips from the Oxford Careers Service
• A Next City Lawyer case study available on a fee basis

Finally, I quoted bellow a recent post I wrote which I think you could find useful - it includes my top tips for any written task:

While I think different strategies apply for different formats, there are a couple of pointers which I would say are generally applicable for all or almost all types of written exercises:

1. Time-management: You might have heard this so many times already, but I have to stress that most written exercises are incredibly time-pressured. I remember I was always told this, but it is very easy to forget during the actual assessment. In the first 20-30 minutes I have always to an extent or another allowed myself to be tempted by thoughts such as 'Oh it won't take me that long to read/write that part, I will just speed up a bit later' and I would thus justify being less efficient than I could have been in the first half of the exercise. As I would be entering the second half and nearing the end, I would invariably then find that it was very difficult to increase my working pace to make up for lost ground and my work product would suffer as a result. Thus, my advice is to be on your guard against that and to try to spread out your efforts evenly across the allocated time. Take one or two minutes in the beginning to make a plan and divide your workload, allocate portions of your time to completing the different parts, and try to make yourself to stick to those time limits.
2. Efficient reading: In a substantial number of written exercises you will be given a large number of documents containing overlapping information and also big sections of text containing technical details which are not of great importance to your task. Once again, there is a temptation to ignore the time constraints and to try to read everything closely to ensure you are not missing anything. However, in my experience the main task of the assessment very rarely or never hinges on easy to miss details. As such, my advice for you is to try to quickly read and skim through the documents, and only once you have a big picture go back and look at the relevant sections in more detail.
3. Analysis: Almost all written assessments have an analysis part, in which you are asked to weigh different considerations and make a judgement. I would advise you not to focus too much on trying to "blow away" the reader with the depth of your analysis or creativity of your arguments. Given the time constraints and nature of the tasks, there is rarely scope for that and if you focus to much on this kind of goal you might miss explaining much simpler points that should have been included in your analysis. As such, concentrate on considering the position of all relevant stakeholders (if you have issues doing this, drawing out diagrams can be very useful), having all the main pros and cons properly laid out, and weighing which set of considerations should you give priority to. If you can further support your opinion by making any links to current news stories or commercial trends, try to do so.
4. Clarity and structure: Finally, ensuring your answer is very easy to follow is a point whose importance I cannot overstate. A essential skill for a prospective trainee is an ability for clear communication, both verbally and in writing, and this type of assessment is how they test the later. As such, you should focus on having a simple writing style and structure as much as you focus on the substantive points you are trying to communicate.

 

[mx.jsn]

This thread is a really good starting point for case studies:

Thread 'Definitive Guide to Law Firm Case Studies! *Monday Article Series*'
https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....firm-case-studies-monday-article-series.3232/

To add to this- this podcast from Baker McKenzie contains some really insightful examples on how to approach case studies. Particularly useful in exemplifying how to structure/articulate points at interview.

 

[Andrei Radu]

We’d love to know why you are motivated to pursue a career in a commercial law firm, in particular Squire Patton Boggs? (200 words max) *

Is this a why commercial law question or why the firm question or both ? (there is also another question asking about practice areas of interest)

The natural reading seems to include both elements, so I would try to address both - either as separate points, or, if you can, in a more narrative format. I would not interpret the question about practice area interest as replacing the broader why the firm or why commercial law question, though I would take my response there into account to avoid being repetitive. For instance, you might not want to focus on practice area strengths as your main 'why the firm' reason when answering the first question.