TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[axele]

My personal opinion is job test prep and TCLA course are better and more helpful than assessment day.

Did you have experience with job test prep? Or anyone? How similar are they to CC/Linklaters/HSF?

 

[RSK]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thank you very much! One last thing (as I have heard contrasting opinions on this), should I link to 'why law'/why the firm in the work experience section? Also should I explicitly state skills I have learned? Wondering whether I do all of that or just stick to the facts of my role, its responsibilities, and maybe an outstanding achievement etc.

Hey @Parsorandini I think you should generally just stick to the facts. If you are sufficiently specific in your description of your tasks, it should be easy for recruiters to infer associated skills and attributes without your writing becoming very repetitive. However, you can also make a link explicit if (i) a given work experience has particularly strong connections with your motivations for why commercial law or why the firm; or (ii) if a given work experience has made you develop particularly relevant/unique skills. Nonetheless, I will emphasize that my advice is to only do so sparingly. The more links you explicitly draw, the less impactful will each particular connection seem.

 

[Tcvspfo]

Did you have experience with job test prep? Or anyone? How similar are they to CC/Linklaters/HSF?

Job test prep boosted my score for Links from 2 percentile to 60 percentile and helped me reach DLA VI.

 

[User5678]

How was the phone interview? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Hello, I was just sent a telephone interview invite too. Did you manage to get an insight or give the interview yet?

 

[Deleted member 37508]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

Selfless act. 👍 we need more people like you.

 

[axele]

Hey, I have about a week and a half left of my jobtestprep subscription and probably won't need to use it - if anyone wants to practice the WG LMK and I'm happy to let you use my login details.

Hey, I‘ll message you

 

[Andrei Radu]

I haven't done CC's Watson Glaser yet. I got 65% on a practice test today. I'm not feeling hopeful. I've already justified not passing the test owing to the firm's C score for work life balance on the Legal Cheek Junior Lawyer Survey. It's amazing how you can justify anything to yourself if you want to. This might be why I don't have a TC yet.

Hey @Tintin06 try not to feel too disheartened. WG scores vary a lot between tests, as the difficulty levels of different tests also varies a lot. Furthermore, there is a significant chance element to this. While learning and internalizing the fine technical rules and distinctions of each test section definitely helps, you will still have many questions where you have two equally plausible options and will have to make judgement calls based on your intuition. Sometimes, you can get a lot of those right, while at other times you can get a lot of those wrong, with no other explanation besides chance.

I have seen this variation in my own results, scoring 98th percentile in some tests and not passing the benchmark in others. Also, a friend of mine who did well enough in the Linklaters WG to get the open day invite scored under 50% in another WG practice test. Point is, you should definitely hold yourself accountable and aim to improve your skills as much as you can, but you should not let one single bad result get you down.

 

[Brandon93]

Please use the space below to describe the reasons you want to be a solicitor.
Outline what first prompted your interest in the profession, your research on the profession, and particular areas of law that interest you. Max 300 words

Can anyone provide guidance on how to approach this question? Is this 'why commercial law' in disguise or do I need to just focus on the law aspect and leave out the 'commercial' bit?

 

[Parsorandini]

Hey @Parsorandini I think you should generally just stick to the facts. If you are sufficiently specific in your description of your tasks, it should be easy for recruiters to infer associated skills and attributes without your writing becoming very repetitive. However, you can also make a link explicit if (i) a given work experience has particularly strong connections with your motivations for why commercial law or why the firm; or (ii) if a given work experience has made you develop particularly relevant/unique skills. Nonetheless, I will emphasize that my advice is to only do so sparingly. The more links you explicitly draw, the less impactful will each particular connection seem.

Thanks, that is really helpful

 

[unknownnn7372]

do u think it would be safe to assume a PFO from white & case post-AC, given the scheme starts really soon?

 

[Andrei Radu]

For the NRF question how has your understanding of the role of a commercial lawyer developed, and motivated you to pursue a career at Norton Rose Fulbright? (350 words)*, how did people go about answering the first part about your understanding of commercial law developing? Any insights would be appreciated!

Hi @helloj I do not think there is a right or wrong way of approaching that question, but here's the way I would go about it:

1. Give a historical 'narrative' explanation of my engagement with commercial law - when did I start considering this field, which firm events did I attend, what Forage experiences, courses, and related work experiences/internships I did.
2. Within this explanation, integrate the substantive points you have learnt about the profession at various points - the type of work commercial lawyers do, why they are valuable for businesses, about how the commercial law landscape and what clients demand from commercial solicitors has changed over the years, and/or about the differences between the biggest practice areas. You do not need to mention all of these, but try to explain at least one or two that you feel you have gained most insight into.
3. If NRF does not ask this question explicitly in another part of the application form, how and why what you have learnt has motivated you to pursue a career as a commercial lawyer.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi,

Does anyone know if the duration you take to complete the SJT assessment from Linklaters matters? They say there is no limit but was just wondering.

@Ram Sabaratnam @Amma Usman @Jessica Booker

I do not know much more about this, other that when firms say there is no time limit, I believe the time you take to complete a test is generally not either recorded or taken into consideration when assessing your application. In my own experience, although not with Linklaters, I have taken several hours to complete SJTs/WGs at some firms and still ended up progressing.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Finally received tests from Mayer Brown! Any tips for them?

While I do not remember so much from the test since I only did it last year, I will mention two distinctive features and my related advice.

1. The Mayer Brown test was significantly longer and more varied than other firm psychometric assessments. I was honestly surprised of how much time and effort it took me to complete it. I would therefore advise you to choose a time and place to complete it when you are very well rested and comfortable with at least an hour or two of focused effort.
2. The test had a significant component of tasks assessing your attention to detail under time constraints, again a lot more than in other firm assessments. As such, I would take some time to practice online attention to detail practice tests. You can find an example of a free practice test here.

 

[Andrei Radu]

I applied to Slaughter and May last month (Oct 19) for the direct TC and still haven't heard back. Do I take that as a PFO since they recruit on a rolling basis and I don't believe they wouldn't have seen my application by now...

While I have only applied to Slaughter and May's VS, I think you should not assume a rejection just because of the long wait time. I applied earlier in October and only received an AC invite around the middle of December.

 

[Apyw]

hi @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam @Amma Usman

how would you go about answering this in an interview/app question?

"Imagine you have a lot of conflicting deadlines coming up, how would you prioritse and manage your time?"

 

[Andrei Radu]

Is being a campus ambassador for a law firm considered a position of responsibility or work experience? Or can it be both, allowing me to be flexible in my answers? Thanks!

I think it can qualify as both. It is a position of responsibility because you get to represent a firm on campus and assist them with their recruitment and marketing efforts - your name is thus associated with the firm's brand. It is also a work experience, as you are providing services to a business and in many cases are paid for it.

 

[Soprano]

Hello, I was just sent a telephone interview invite too. Did you manage to get an insight or give the interview yet?

Hey, my interview is on the 25th. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[andrecsaa]

Holding myself accountable again (another app).

CC* ✅
HSF ✅📝❌
NRF ✅📝❌
Weil ✅❌
Akin ✅
Sidley ✅❌
Orrick ✅
Willkie ✅🎥❌
Cooley ✅
Latham ✅
Milbank ✅
Kirkland ✅
Dechert ✅❌
Skadden ✅
Goodwin ✅
Covington ✅❌
Linklaters* ✅📝❌
Paul, Weiss ✅
Slaughters* ✅❌
Gibson Dunn ✅
Macfarlanes* ✅📝
White & Case ✅
Morgan Lewis ✅
Hogan Lovells* ✅
Cleary Gottlieb ✅❌
A&O Shearman ✅📝❌
Vinson & Elkins ✅
Arnold & Porter ✅
Baker McKenzie ✅
King & Spalding* ✅
Winston & Strawn ✅
Morrison Foerster ✅
Sullivan & Cromwell ✅

Key: ✅ = application submitted; 📝 = test received; 🎥 = video interview; ❌ = rejection.

*Training Contract applications

What did you think about the difficult of the NRF and Linklaters tests? Similar to CC WG practice?

 

[Tintin06]

What did you think about the difficult of the NRF and Linklaters tests? Similar to CC WG practice?

NRF pretty much felt impossible, honestly. Linklaters uses Cappfinity. I quite like that test actually. Akin and Macfarlanes also use it. I've never passed a single test since I started applying in 2017, I don't think. Although I did get passed Latham's VI. All my interviews have been at firms that don't use tests. That may change this year.