TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[simplyfaith]

anyone thats doing a VI, how do you remember all this information?

I'm preparing for all types of questions but find it hard to remember in such a short time too

I know it's a no go to read off a screen, any advice?

I found that once you've gone through a question bank of, say, 50 questions, you've covered 99% of what you might ever get asked. Anything else and you can usually figure something out on the spot, based on what you already know.

For me, the hard part was making sure I had an example for each question, as the sound of 50 answers for 50 questions was overwhelming. If you asked me, I'd go blank, even though I have tonnes of experiences. In reality, they don't all need to be unique, as long as you don't repeat examples to the interviewer. You just rehash the same dozen or so to fit by highlighting the relevant skills for the question.

With that in mind, you could try making a bank of personal examples, highlighting 2 or 3 skills or question type use cases (competency, motivational, situational, etc) for each. With a confident grasp of your examples, you can fit them to most scenarios. That's my take, at least!

 

[sapphireoreos]

Hi, I have an AC coming up next week. I wanted to get some thoughts on how to prepare for a CV-blind and application-blind interview. In such a case, can I recycle my answers from my applications, or is it unwise to do that? Similarly, how much in-depth research should I do into the firm? It's my first AC, and I'm really keen to get the VS. @Andrei Radu @Amma Usman any tips would be appreciated!

 

[theruleofno]

anyone heard from FF about TC AC post WG?

 

[Hskajab]

Hi everyone - anyone have any advice for the Goodwin interview? Any tips helpful as I'm struggling to find info on it

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Amma Usman ,@Andrei Radu and @Ram Sabaratnam hope you guys doing well. I got upcoming VS (my first ever offer). Just wondering if you my have tips/ trick for VS (ideally to convert it to TC)? Appreciate your suggestion !

Hi @Lalis, to list a few of my top VS conversion tips:

• Speak with people at the firm (particularly graduate recruitment, recruitment partners, and trainees) to find out what are the most important assessment criteria for conversion. Different firms have different policies - for instance, in my case conversion at Slaughter and May was 100% determined by the final TC interview and written task, at Willkie it was mostly determined by the quality of your work and your integration in the firm's culture, at Milbank it was a combination of the final assessment and the impression you left on people on your team. To maximize conversion chances, you should modify your approach to match the factors emphasized by each firm.
• Take notes: as you go through the vacation scheme, at the end of each day, write down a short summary of what you did: who did you meet and what did you learn from them, what tasks did you work on, what sessions did you attend etc. As you approach the final interview, this will help you with being reflecting about the experience and showing that you have taken all the opportunities the firm offered.
• Try to meet as many people as possible, particularly in your department, but do not overdo it. Of course, it is great to integrate yourself as much as you can and to make as many people as possible notice you. However, you should not be spending every second of the day inviting people for coffee chats. Firstly, there are many other things you should be doing, like getting involved in different workstreams, attending sessions, and deepening your relationship with people you have already met, such as your supervisor. Secondly, as you will know, lawyers are often very stressed and have very little free time on their hands. Most will accept coffee chat requests, but they will appreciate if you do not waste their time by asking to meet only with a view of getting them to potentially put in a good word for you. Thus, I would advise you to always have a genuine reason for meeting someone. That does not need to necessarily be work-related - you can simply ask for a coffee chat because you want to introduce yourself and get to know people in the firm - but you should be upfront about it. Furthermore, try to get an idea from your supervisor as to who is more and less busy at the moment and avoid targeting the former.
• Mirror the attitude of those around you, and know when to be more relaxed: a crucial element of succeeding in many vacation schemes is to be able to build rapport with a few important people - particularly your supervisor, one or two lawyers you will get to work more with, and the recruitment partners. Try to read the attitude and expectations of those people and do not always attempt to impress them. In my experience, the people who ended up not converting tended to be the slightly overbearing ones who wanted to be constantly seen. Sometimes, such as at an event over drinks or at a lunch, people will want to simply relax a bit and forget about work. Other times, they may be too busy and stressed to want to engage with you about something serious. They could and also many times do want to take a slightly more lighthearted approach when talking about their work, so try not to seem like you are taking yourself too seriously. From what I have seen, people more often fail in adapting to these circumstances rather that when adapting to more formal dynamics.

 

[g.cl.2020344]

Orrick WG!

 

[helloj]

Orrick WG - applied the day of deadline for anyone wondering!

 

[EA95]

Has anyone heard from Linklaters re Spring vac scheme and Latham re Summer vac scheme?

 

[S7321]

Orrick WG!

 

[tomaspessanha]

Anyone heard from linklaters for summer vs post WG?

 

[NJS]

Any advice for goodwin interview would be appreciated (can share Macfarlanes, eversheds, Vinson, Jones day, NRF, SPB)

 

[Andrei Radu]

That’s great! So they wouldnt rescind your offer if you say you need more time to do other vac schemes?

I doubt they would ever rescind it for merely asking for a longer time to sign, but they may insist that the offer's expiry date is fixed. If you do decide to tell them about this, I would however be careful to not phrase my intentions as wanting to do other vacation schemes because I had not yet decided that I wanted to sign a TC with the firm (as then they may wonder if they are wasting their time keeping a slot open for you). Rather, I would speak of it in terms of the other vacation schemes being an invaluable opportunity to make connections and learn about commercial law.

However, unless there is anything in your TC contract prohibiting you from attending other vacation schemes, I am not sure this is worth doing. In some cases at least you should be able to sign the TC and attend other VS without triggering any contractual issues.

 

[tcfighterrr]

Any advice for the virtual Osborne Clarke AC? I can exchange for Fieldfisher or White & Case AC advice.

 

[theruleofno]

Any advice for goodwin interview would be appreciated (can share Macfarlanes, eversheds, Vinson, Jones day, NRF, SPB)

Did you just hear back today?

 

[user9809]

Any advice for goodwin interview would be appreciated (can share Macfarlanes, eversheds, Vinson, Jones day, NRF, SPB)

When did you complete your VI?

 

[AS24]

Hi @AS24 I hope you have enjoyed your weekend as well ! For the first part of the task, I would focus on making the practical answer the client is seeking very clear. If possible, provide actionable steps that the client can take relating to the issue at hand. Furthermore, if you have the opportunity, try to connect the reasoning in your answer with the underlying business rationales driving your client's decision-making, even if those are not explicitly stated in the question itself.

The one thing you should avoid is getting bogged down in legal jargon and technicality. Every lawyer I have spoken to has told me clients hate this. They need to be able to understand the advice you are giving them, and for that you must speak their language. If your answer does require more substantial technical analysis and you have to show how you have reached your conclusions, split it between an "Executive Summary" section, where you simply state the practical conclusions and the steps to be taken/decision options the client has, and a "Legal/Commercial Analysis" section, where you go on to substantiate exactly why that is the case.

For your second part, I think you could once again benefit from splitting your answer into two. I used to have a "Summary" section, where I briefly laid out the uncontroversial facts, and an "Analysis" section. You should avoid spending too much time in the former by including unnecessary detail - simply write a one or two paragraphs or a few bullet points immediately after you are down reading. In my experience, you will automatically remember everything important enough to include in the Summary section, so I would not waste time on going back and checking the articles for more information to add; the majority of your time should be invested in providing the best analysis you can. Depending on the context, I would potentially use further subheadings for the different types of considerations you will be looking at. Finally, to provide a persuasive argument for your view, I think you should make an explicit case as to which of the relevant factors should be weighed the most.

Thank you so much @Andrei Radu

 

[tcfighterrr]

Hi guys, should I give up on HL? Haven't heard back since the WG.

 

[ysr567]

Been more than a few weeks since I did the Fielfisher test. Has anyone heard back or is still waiting?

 

[member7830]

Sidley interview! Applied on 9th Jan. It's my first ever AC so if anyone has any insight would love to hear

congrats! is it an in person AC?

 

[STEM Student]

Just did my NRF interview. I’m a non-law. how do I gauge whether or not I did well. I feel like i rambled/stumbled over myself a bit at times, but overall it was decent I think but idk. Like some answers were quite Strong, some had strong parts but also some very weak parts, 1 I just really struggled with. I hate interviews.