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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

SamiyaJ

Legendary Member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Apr 16, 2024
195
532
reed smith vi said there's unlimited prep time before answering each question, but all questions must be completed in one sitting once the vi process is started? does it mean i can take a break between each question if i don't close the window? appreciate any insights on what it's really like. tia!
Yup, unlimited time between each question! So they show you the question and when you’re ready to answer, you press record.
 
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pepsicola96

Distinguished Member
Jul 11, 2024
52
92
quick q, does anyone know how many offices/in how many countries freshfields has? I've briefly mentioned it as 33 because that's what legal cheek says, but now i've seen 28 reported on a different website, and i checked FF website, and counted their offices and got 30, but that included Manchester, which Idk if it counts as an office, or if there's others like that etc 😭

it's not that important so I might just remove it, unless anyone knows for sure.
 

Chill_solicitor

Star Member
Dec 26, 2024
38
28
quick q, does anyone know how many offices/in how many countries freshfields has? I've briefly mentioned it as 33 because that's what legal cheek says, but now i've seen 28 reported on a different website, and i checked FF website, and counted their offices and got 30, but that included Manchester, which Idk if it counts as an office, or if there's others like that etc 😭

it's not that important so I might just remove it, unless anyone knows for sure.
You could just say ‘a plethora or offices…’ or like ‘with over 20 offices…’
 

Cool pigeon

Distinguished Member
Nov 18, 2023
65
96
Hi @Andrei Radu and all,

I have a pre recorded VI with a US firm. I'm not too worried about the questions themselves but I have a tendency to speak in a monotone voice when I am nervous during video interviews. For some this may be perceived as a lack of enthusiasm and confidence.

Will this be marked against me if my answers are still clear, concise and well structured? Basically I'm trying to find out what the criteria is for a video interview? If anyone has any insights I would appreciate it.

Thanks
I think firms differ.
White & Case for example, grad rec said they purely listen to the content of your answer. She said she often listens to it as a podcast not even looking at the screen. But then others I know they want you to make direct eye contract with camera etc. I would just say if possible, try to use hand gestures and emphasise words. No harm in trying to make it more dramatic i guess.
You could just say ‘a plethora or offices…’ or like ‘with over 20 offices…’
I think its better to be specific. Plethora can be copy and pasted between every law firm. I dont know the answr sorry. but do try find it if you want to mention it
 
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trainee4u

Legendary Member
Sep 7, 2023
233
505
Anyone done the NRF Arctic Shores? Same as Gowling's?
My feedback from Gowling was:

"How you understand others": 4/4 - I always do well on emotion recognition games
"How you respond to change" 1/4 - I'm sure this is from reacting too slowly or wrongly in the press x/y type games
"How you attend to tasks & decisions" 1/4 - I'm not sure what this relates to specifically
"How you approach challenges" 3/4 - I think this is spending too long on the game at the end.
"How you identify patterns & rules" 4/4 - I will have performed very well on the maths stuff

So my concern is that research proves that reaction times decline with age and I'm 40+.

NRF have asked "If you have require any reasonable adjustments please do let us know as soon as possible and we can look at what adjustments cant be made."

I'm slightly confused by this because they say on their form that "We’re positive about employing disabled people and are an accredited Disability Confident Employer. As a Disability Confident organisation we offer interviews to disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for our roles."

On that basis I therefore disclosed that I have ASD (although I don't have a formal diagnosis, I would likely get one), so I'm a bit confused now about this, in that I've already disclosed a disability so there's some second-guessing perhaps on whether I should request an adjustment. In addition, I don't think that the people at Arctic Shores have considered that their games are age discriminatory specifically, and it says on the Arctic Shores page only that any of the following may warrant an adjustment and/or additional time:

"▶ ADHD ▶ Autism ▶ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ▶ Dyscalculia ▶ Dysgraphia ▶ Dyslexia ▶ Dyspraxia ▶ Epilepsy ▶ Mental Health Issue ▶ Multiple Sclerosis ▶ Physical Disability"

but age is not listed there.

I'm very much in doubt that it would be a good idea to email NRF and say "hey, your testing discriminates on the basis of age, which is illegal", even though it's obvious that it does. So maybe I just email and say "I'd like more time for the split-second games on the basis of ASD meaning I have slower reactions" [even though this is probably scientifically much less certain than the age issue, lol]? Anyone with experience dealing with this?!
 
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Reactions: The-PFO-Collector

johnnysins

Star Member
Aug 7, 2024
34
52
I thought the invites were for Spring
I am pretty sure they are for spring, CIP for my Weil application I received the invite a week after everyone else and I am pretty sure it was because I applied stating I was okay with both spring and summer and they pushed my application to Summer. The same should be for Goodwin since especially since I applied 14 minutes before the deadline closed - or so shall I convince myself to cope 🥲
 

jta227

Legendary Member
Nov 10, 2024
144
280
Anyone done the NRF Arctic Shores? Same as Gowling's?
My feedback from Gowling was:

"How you understand others": 4/4 - I always do well on emotion recognition games
"How you respond to change" 1/4 - I'm sure this is from reacting too slowly or wrongly in the press x/y type games
"How you attend to tasks & decisions" 1/4 - I'm not sure what this relates to specifically
"How you approach challenges" 3/4 - I think this is spending too long on the game at the end.
"How you identify patterns & rules" 4/4 - I will have performed very well on the maths stuff

So my concern is that research proves that reaction times decline with age and I'm 40+.

NRF have asked "If you have require any reasonable adjustments please do let us know as soon as possible and we can look at what adjustments cant be made."

I'm slightly confused by this because they say on their form that "We’re positive about employing disabled people and are an accredited Disability Confident Employer. As a Disability Confident organisation we offer interviews to disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for our roles."

On that basis I therefore disclosed that I have ASD (although I don't have a formal diagnosis, I would likely get one), so I'm a bit confused now about this, in that I've already disclosed a disability so there's some second-guessing perhaps on whether I should request an adjustment. In addition, I don't think that the people at Arctic Shores have considered that their games are age discriminatory specifically, and it says on the Arctic Shores page only that any of the following may warrant an adjustment and/or additional time:

"▶ ADHD ▶ Autism ▶ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ▶ Dyscalculia ▶ Dysgraphia ▶ Dyslexia ▶ Dyspraxia ▶ Epilepsy ▶ Mental Health Issue ▶ Multiple Sclerosis ▶ Physical Disability"

but age is not listed there.

I'm very much in doubt that it would be a good idea to email NRF and say "hey, your testing discriminates on the basis of age, which is illegal", even though it's obvious that it does. So maybe I just email and say "I'd like more time for the split-second games on the basis of ASD meaning I have slower reactions" [even though this is probably scientifically much less certain than the age issue, lol]? Anyone with experience dealing with this?!

Reaction time is also partly genetics anyways - some people of the same age will have worse than others with little potential for improval. Not sure if those margins are enough to make a difference in Arctic Shores but I'd guess yes. I really don't believe reaction time is very useful as a city law predictor anyways and moreso think they just want a method to cut candidates down, but then again I'm not their GR and Arctic Shores claims their research is sound.

Regarding ASD, I remember hearing of a candidate that was exempt from the face part of Arctic Shores because of Autism, can't remember which firm though. Always worth asking them (lack of diagnosis might be an issue? they might not ask for proof at test stage but if you get a TC they might). Gowling's didn't have a face section IIRC, NRF has quite a few more sections than Gowling.

Btw for Gowling I got 4/4 in everything and one 2/4 but didn't get a VI, NRF I got notably worse than that and got through.
 

trainee4u

Legendary Member
Sep 7, 2023
233
505
Regarding ASD, I remember hearing of a candidate that was exempt from the face part of Arctic Shores because of Autism, can't remember which firm though. Always worth asking them (lack of diagnosis might be an issue? they might not ask for proof at test stage but if you get a TC they might). Gowling's didn't have a face section IIRC, NRF has quite a few more sections than Gowling.

Btw for Gowling I got 4/4 in everything and one 2/4 but didn't get a VI, NRF I got notably worse than that and got through.
Hmm,
Gowling told me

Assessment length
5 tasks, ~5-10 mins each

NRF have told me

Assessment length
4 tasks, ~5-10 mins each

AIR for Gowling I got:
* curve/straight + odd/even reaction time game
* arrows reaction time game
* place and rotate the shapes so that they resemble the previous shape rotated 90 degrees
* fit the tetris pieces
* face recognition
* safe cracking
* maths reactions: pop the bubbles that sum to -42, etc.

that seems to be more than 5 tasks, but IDK.
 

ren1110

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2022
24
29
no, they should send them out tomorrow 99.9999% sure; because I emailed them about it and they told that they will do their best to send them by 10th of January...
Thank you for response - I was wondering how long they took to reply to your email, I emailed them regarding something about my application a week ago but they still have not responded.
 

jacksollaf

Legendary Member
Dec 17, 2024
269
539
Thank you for response - I was wondering how long they took to reply to your email, I emailed them regarding something about my application a week ago but they still have not responded.
I sent them an email on the 9th of December, to which they replied on the 12th of December... It was a really long email too; they'll respond soon I'm sure, they're probably still catching up with new year/holidays emails... Interestingly, when I interned with them this summer, they emphasised that they have a three-day response policy, by that I mean that they should reply to emails within three days of receipt... Idk if this only applies to solicitors though
 
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jta227

Legendary Member
Nov 10, 2024
144
280
Hmm,
Gowling told me

Assessment length
5 tasks, ~5-10 mins each

NRF have told me

Assessment length
4 tasks, ~5-10 mins each

AIR for Gowling I got:
* curve/straight + odd/even reaction time game
* arrows reaction time game
* place and rotate the shapes so that they resemble the previous shape rotated 90 degrees
* fit the tetris pieces
* face recognition
* safe cracking
* maths reactions: pop the bubbles that sum to -42, etc.

that seems to be more than 5 tasks, but IDK.
Yeah I don't remember either of them having only 4-5 tasks. Maybe by "task" they actually mean area of assessment in the report, since my Gowling report has 5 sections and my NRF one has 4 (although each section has many subheadings)
 

pepsicola96

Distinguished Member
Jul 11, 2024
52
92
Last question from me i promise guys 😭 you're all so helpful

I'm still filling in the freshfields app. It only seems to be possible to add one degree. I changed my course after a few months of first year, so I usually Add it as a second degree, and put details in mitigating circumstances sections.

Should I a) add it as a year of my second degree, e.g 1) Politics 1st Year grades: xxxxx( even though this is my last course) 1) Politics 2nd Year grades: xxxxx (these would be first year grades of my politics course). And then detail the situation in mitigating circumstances.

Or should I b) just explain the situation in the mitigating circumstances box.

Don't want to mislead or leave out any information and have it come back to bite me, but also feels equally odd to put the grades for a different degree under my current degree.
 

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