TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[User5678]

Hii

Does anyone know of free resources I can use to prepare for the cognify test (Ashurst)

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And for those who have completed the test, did it just include additions, or did they have those shape questions too etc??

It had shape questions - there was a diagram puzzle and then they had written a statement below ex: rearrange the puzzle if it was rotated and then you had to create that with the pieces

 

[Smart water 0403]

if an application questions asks how a commercial news story impacts a firms clients, how should one approach this? Should i focus solely on the clients business or how this creates work that the firm can help the client with?

 

[fingersarecrossed]

It had shape questions - there was a diagram puzzle and then they had written a statement below ex: rearrange the puzzle if it was rotated and then you had to create that with the pieces

omg thank you so much!

 

[lookingforaTC]

For HSF - does anyone know if we did the test last year and passed - then we do not have to re take it? Thanks.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

 

[Tsitsipas10S]

If you would be able to attend the open day at least one or two weeks before the application deadline and if this is a firm you are particularly attracted to, I think you should wait. While firms who recruit on a rolling basis place different levels on emphasis on the time at which you submit your applications, I know many candidates (including myself) who progressed despite submitting very close to the deadline. As such, I think it makes sense to prioritize the quality of your application more than the timing. Since for most firms attending an open day will significantly improve your chances of progressing past the application stage in a VS/TC application, I think it is worth waiting for.

However, there are some caveats to this. Firstly, I do not believe it is feasible to implement this approach with a high number of firms. The reason is that most firms with competitive open day application processes will host the event in late October/November/early December. Most firms also have VS application deadlines in December/early January. As such, if you try to attend open days at many firms before writing your applications, you might end up completely overloaded come December, with several deadlines every week. This will likely mean you will have to compromise on the time you spend on each application and therefore on the quality of your research and writing - and my view is that quality of writing and research is the one thing you should not compromise on if you want to maximize your success chances. To ensure you can submit a high number of high quality applications, I think it is better to try to space out your efforts throughout the next three months. Thus, it is only feasible to change your application writing schedule around maybe 4-5 open days. This is why I would only wait for the open day outcome if this is one of those 4-5 firms that you would like to prioritize.

Secondly, there are some firms that are outliers in terms of how seriously they take the timing at which you submit your application - anecdotally, firms like Jones Day and Gibson Dunn would be among them. Therefore, I think before you decide on whether to wait for the open day application deadline or not, it is worth having a look around this forum to see if the firm you are interested in is in this category. You should simply type the name of the firm in the TCLA Forum search bar, alongside some key terms like 'offer', and see if last year there were any people being progressed despite submitting the application later in the cycle. Alternatively, if you are comfortable sharing the name of the firm, you can post this question about it here. Someone who has had experience with applying for that firm might know more about the issue and get back to you directly.

Thank you for the comprehensive response! It really is very helpful. I'll try to narrow down the 4-5 firms I'm particularly keen on and focus on those for open days.

Is anyone aware of Baker McKenzie accepting people late in their cycle?

 

[l789]

Are the Mayer Brown tests automatic? I applied 5 days ago and haven't received anything.

Does anyone know what the application questions are for Mayer Brown this year… or what info is on the application form that we need to fill out?

 

[Parsorandini]

I think I made a silly mistake. The application question for White & Case 'Please use the space below to provide details of any careers events you have attended e.g. insight days, workshops, presentations etc. These do not need to be White & Case specific.' I answered by just giving bullet points of which events I have attended. Since submitting my application, I realise they probably wanted me to highlight what I learned from each event. I worked so hard on the cover letter and other application question. Have I just sabotaged myself and blown any chance I had? @Jessica Booker @Andrei Radu Guessing I can't just email grad rec to ask this either as looks kinda bad?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I think I made a silly mistake. The application question for White & Case 'Please use the space below to provide details of any careers events you have attended e.g. insight days, workshops, presentations etc. These do not need to be White & Case specific.' I answered by just giving bullet points of which events I have attended. Since submitting my application, I realise they probably wanted me to highlight what I learned from each event. I worked so hard on the cover letter and other application question. Have I just sabotaged myself and blown any chance I had? @Jessica Booker @Andrei Radu Guessing I can't just email grad rec to ask this either as looks kinda bad?

A list of events is not an issue for this question. They haven’t explicitly asked you to detail what you learnt from the events.

 

[lawyerdreams]

if an application questions asks how a commercial news story impacts a firms clients, how should one approach this? Should i focus solely on the clients business or how this creates work that the firm can help the client with?

I would focus on how the story impacts the firm's clients in order to follow the wording of the question. And then you could mention how the firm could help at the end but I wouldn't go into too much depth, as the focus of the question seems to be your understanding of the story itself and its implications for clients.

 

[Zi48]

Does anyone know the answer to this?

You have to retake the test unless you did their first year scheme this year or are one of their campus ambassadors

 

[Donuttime]

What are HSF's questions? is it just me or i cant find where to apply
on their website

 

[Gg2001]

Hii

Does anyone know of free resources I can use to prepare for the cognify test (Ashurst)

-
And for those who have completed the test, did it just include additions, or did they have those shape questions too etc??

So I would say cognify had 3 parts: shapes (3 games i think) + maths (not just addition but division, minus, multiply at harder level) + english (pointing out spelling/punctuation mistakes in paragraphs)

for all three you need to practise it in timed conditions. Time for all the questions is very short and I could barely read the entire paragraphs for the verbal reasoning when timer would go off, very different than other tests i have done for other firms

 

[BonanzaBih_]

Got an email from Taylor Wessing saying they’ll get back to open day candidates in October after the closing date if anyone was wondering

 

[safari3]

Is DLA’s WG automatic?

 

[0livia.pope]

same i got the rare one but not the artic shores

Have you received it yet?

 

[nliro85]

NRF pfo so guess they were rolling.

 

[SamiyaJ]

NRF pfo so guess they were rolling.

Sorry to hear that. When did you apply?

 

[legalxp2]

NRF pfo so guess they were rolling.

Sorry to hear that! can I ask how long after completing the tests did you hear back?

 

[Tintin06]

NRF pro post Arctic Shores test. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[Apple]

@Jessica Booker I was just curious, as a general rule of thumb, do you know if vacation schemes at US firms are typically more competitive to convert, as opposed to doing a VS at a magic circle firm with a huge intake? Just the actual conversion, not securing the scheme itself.