TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi everyone!

Can your work experience section be more or less the same when applying to the same firm's open day and vacation scheme? Thanks!

Howdy @KBanana

Yes, I think that's completely fine. The key is to ensure that your experiences are presented clearly and tailored to highlight relevant skills and insights for both types of applications. Good luck!

 

[Andrei Radu]

If you apply for virtual open days, is it worse or

oh no i didn't mention my grades as i thought they didnt care about grades

I wouldn't worry about it too much. As they do not ask directly, I really doubt this would be grounds for rejecting you. My advice to include them originates in a "all other things being equal, you should" or "too err on the side of caution" type of thinking. Although I would advise including them in the future, I doubt this is a factor that will play a significant role in the application outcome.

 

[fingersarecrossed]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. As they do not ask directly, I really doubt this would be grounds for rejecting you. My advice to include them originates in a "all other things being equal, you should" or "too err on the side of caution" type of thinking. Although I would advise including them in the future, I doubt this is a factor that will play a significant role in the application outcome.

thank you! is it recommended we do a breakdown of all our modules for year 1, year 2 and year 3 in our CV or only 2nd & 3rd year as they count towards our final grade?

 

[Jessica Booker]

How do recruiters view our applications?
e.g., eligibility first, then application answer then work experience? certain sections before deciding accept/reject an applic?

or

do they go straight to a specific section first or is it just a comprehensive overview of the whole application in chronological order?

There is no set answer to this unfortunately!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Andrei Radu - do you have any thoughts? Thank you 😊

Since they emailed you that they will not be progressing the application because the places had been filled rather than rejecting it, I would also say there is a good chance they have not actually reviewed it. However, the application answers might still have been saved in the system and although no one has read them, the similarity might still be flagged when you apply again. This might be an issue and I would therefore agree with @Jessica Booker's advice to try to change them in some way or another.

However, I do not think you need to completely rewrite the application. You might just rephrase some sections or change some of the examples you use to illustrate your points. To reduce the time it takes to do this, you could use some AI tools - I have heard they are especially good at reorganizing and reformulating points. I think if you were happy with the quality of the initial application, you do not need to achieve much more besides making just enough changes so that it doesn't look like you have copy and pasted it.

That said, if you are very short on time and/or this is not a firm you are that interested in, you could also just submit the initial application as is and run the risk of it becoming an issue if flagged.

 

[dollydaydream]

Does anyone know if Ashurst is sending out interview invites in batches? Or do I just assume a rejection if I haven’t heard back till now 🥲

Also wondering the same! I’m assuming PFO as I think they sent out ACs over the course of a couple of days last year

 

[Andrei Radu]

thank you! is it recommended we do a breakdown of all our modules for year 1, year 2 and year 3 in our CV or only 2nd & 3rd year as they count towards our final grade?

I'd say a full breakdown is ideal and if you want you can also include in brackets that year 1 doesn't count and then the weighing distribution between year 2 and year 3.

 

[B2025]

Clyde & Co test was so relaxing. Anyone taking the test be prepared for VI questions or written answers anytime during the test.

 

[VacSchemes2024]

Jones Day AC post interview! Anyone got any insights?

Congrats, when did you interview?

 

[lolololol]

does anyone know what the written element is for Pinsent Mason test

 

[Trying4aJob]

I have been invited to a Taylor Wessing open day, however it is on the 21st October. Do you think I should wait until the open day to submit my vacation scheme application? The only reason I ask is because applications for their vacation schemes are on a rolling basis and are already open

 

[BonanzaBih_]

Taylor Wessing open day invite

 

[Tintin06]

Taylor Wessing open day invite

These are a real tonic actually. When you're feeling disaffected, they help. I got Latham's a year ago. They're very fun things to attend. You get to dress up also. I might wear a double-breasted suit. What are people's thoughts on that?

 

[BonanzaBih_]

These are a real tonic actually. When you're feeling disaffected, they help. I got Latham's a year ago. They're very fun things to attend. You get to dress up also. I might wear a double-breasted suit. What are people's thoughts on that?

Honestly taking little wins when I can 🤣🤣.

The dress code says smart casual but better to overdress than under so wear your suit if it makes you feel good!

 

[sammm10101]

Honestly taking little wins when I can 🤣🤣.

The dress code says smart casual but better to overdress than under so wear your suit if it makes you feel good!

The Hogan Lovells one I'm going to says full 'business attire', no 'casual' even mentioned...😂😂 I'm a uni student, idk where I'm gonna conjure up this formalwear from but I will !

 

[0livia.pope]

What do people do about vac schemes happening during term time

 

[Andrei Radu]

I have been invited to a Taylor Wessing open day, however it is on the 21st October. Do you think I should wait until the open day to submit my vacation scheme application? The only reason I ask is because applications for their vacation schemes are on a rolling basis and are already open

My short answer is yes. Even for firms recruiting on a rolling basis, most people only send their applications in the last two-three days, so you can still distinguish yourself from the crowd. Furthermore, I'd say the advantages of having an open day to discuss outweighs and disadvantage from submitting at a later date. I recently discussed this issue when responding to a similar query, I think you might find this post useful:

I completely agree with @Jessica Booker's advice - waiting to attend an open day and then mentioning that in the application is very unlikely to hurt your chances. Firms generally prefer applicants who attended open days and as such, although the application process might be rolling, they will not hold the later submission date against you. That would undermine the purpose of the open day, since an open day at this time of the year is organised to provide applicants with insight for this application cycle, not the next.

The only other thing I'll add is that while I think waiting to attend open days for each firm does generally lead to better odds for the success of each individual application, it does not necessarily translate into better odds at overall success in securing a TC. The reason for this is that employing this strategy for a high number of firms can make your application schedule administratively difficult.

Let's say you aim to apply to 20 firms this cycle, and let's say you would want to attend an open day at each before submitting a VS application. Firstly, this means that besides 20 VS application, you will need to take the time to write 20 open day applications, which is a significant increase in workload. Secondly, and more importantly, most open days you can apply to now will only be held between November-December. That is the exact period for most VS application deadlines. While there might be at least a two-week gap between the date of the open day and the deadline for VS applications at each individual firm, these periods are likely to overlap for different firms. Thus, if you do not submit some applications early, you could find yourself in a situation where you have 5 deadlines in a week. This can lead to a significant decrease in the amount of time you can invest in writing each application, which will in turn lead to a significant decrease of your chances of success. Alternatively, should you not want to compromise on quality, you may be forced to forego applying to some firms you wanted to apply to - which once again will reduce your overall chances of securing a TC. Hence, my advice would be to only wait to attend open days at a small number of firms you are particularly attracted to - around 4-5 is what worked for me.

 

[Andrei Radu]

What do people do about vac schemes happening during term time

Home students I think will generally attend the scheme regardless and perhaps send an email/speak with people in the faculty to explain the situation. For international students, it is a bit more difficult because of the visa requirement of a 20-hour working hours cap during term time. However, sometimes there are ways around this - if you are in this situation, I'm happy to discuss further what options you might have.

 

[0livia.pope]

Home students I think will generally attend the scheme regardless and perhaps send an email/speak with people in the faculty to explain the situation. For international students, it is a bit more difficult because of the visa requirement of a 20-hour working hours cap during term time. However, sometimes there are ways around this - if you are in this situation, I'm happy to discuss further what options you might have.

Thanks for the reply! I somehow miscalculated term dates and wanted to double check

 

[Mariyam_M]

My short answer is yes. Even for firms recruiting on a rolling basis, most people only send their applications in the last two-three days, so you can still distinguish yourself from the crowd. Furthermore, I'd say the advantages of having an open day to discuss outweighs and disadvantage from submitting at a later date. I recently discussed this issue when responding to a similar query, I think you might find this post useful:

@Andrei Radu I had a similar doubt for my Bird & Bird application. Their VS application deadline is Dec 19th. However, their open days and office drop-ins are scheduled for the latter half of October. Do you think it would be worth it to wait till after the Open Day? I have previously interacted with the firm at other events (like the Legal Cheek law fairs). At the same time, I don’t want to risk it too much since my VS application last year was rejected for being too late.