TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Andrei Radu]

im doing a TC application for a firm and they want a personal statement and interests and hobbies. then a CV. i was wondering how long should the personal statement and hobbies sections be as there is no guide word limit. also how should I structure the personal statement section? there's no guidance on their website either

1. Word limit: there's no absolute figures to cite here, but for me think the "acceptable" word count range would be anywhere from 400-500 to 1000-1200 for the personal statement and anywhere from around 200 to 600 for the hobbies section. Ultimately, what matters here is (i) extracting as much value from the application form answers as possible by explaining as many of your impressive experiences and achievements is sufficient depth; while also (ii) ensuring you are not overloading the answers with so much information that it makes it difficult to navigate and makes individual points less impactful; and (iii) ensuring you write in as concise and to-the-point manner as if you had restrictive word limits. As long as you respect all three requirements, your answer will be fine regardless of how many words you end up writing. The aforementioned ranges are simply what I think is the case for most answers that observe these criteria, but I am in no way affirming that in individual circumstances it would not be possible to so while writing more/less than suggested.

2. How to structure the personal statement: unless you have the time to reach out to graduate recruitment or other people from the firm, it may be difficult to find out exactly what the firm wants from a personal statement. In this situation, my approach has always been to err on the side of caution and try to do more rather than less. Thus, the way I would structure it is like a cover letter (but without the letter formalities and perhaps more of a focus on your journey): 1. Why commercial law; 2. Why the firm; 3.Why you.

 

[3000to1shoteverytime]

Thanks, but the additional information section is just a textbox it seems, and I can’t upload anything to it.

OK. I remember that one now and typed full transcript available on request if required or similar.

 

[Andrei Radu]

What is the benefit of law firm's with a sector-focused approach for clients?

Hey @legal18 so I think there are a number of associated benefits of a sector-focused approach from both a client and an employee perspective:

Benefits for clients:

1. Ease of service: essentially, a sector-focused firm will deliver legal services in a way that is a lot easier for the client to use. Firstly, if a firm organizes teams more around sectors than practice areas, it looks and is a lot more similar to the client's business. Businesses perceive themselves as players in a certain industry and do not neatly separate their legal needs between the different workstreams of different practice areas. Thus, the legal service of sector-focused firms seems a lot more tailored to the client. Secondly, industry-focused firms tend to have partners with significantly broader expertise. Hence, the firm can provide a 'one-point-of-contact' system to clients, which is easier to navigate administratively.
2. Strategic advice: the idea is that if you spend years and years working on matters in a single industry, by the time you become a more senior practitioner you will have almost as much technical expertise in the sector as the client themselves. Having this kind of deep insight and knowledge of the industry will not only mean that you can give better advice to clients on particular mandates, but it will also mean you will be in a better position to form a client-lawyer relationship which goes beyond that. This way, you will have a good chance of getting to know all the insides of the client's business and becoming their go-to strategic advisor. Thus, the client gets the benefit of exceptional business and legal advisory services simultaneously.
3. Industry reputation: if the firm generally does a lot of high-end work in a particular sector, it will become very reputable with businesses in that sector. The fact that firm will simply be a very well-known name definitely helps in terms of shaping advantageous negotiations dynamics with opposing counsel. A great example of this is Kirkland in the PE sphere. Simply because of the firm's reputation in this area, it is able to obtain advantageous terms for clients by insisting they are "market terms". Because nobody does as many deals as they do in PE, it is sometimes difficult for the other side's counsel to counteract Kirkland's claims.

Benefits for employees:

1. Learning more about the intricacies of the sector as a benefit in itself: if you have a prior interest in a given sector of the economy, working for a firm that has a focus on that sector will enable you to get a lot more exposure to it, which can be a benefit in and of itself. Just as you might have a general interest in commercial law because you have a general interest in learning more about and working with businesses, you might also have a specific interest in sector-focused firms because you have a specific interest in learning more about the sector. This reasoning will be especially persuasive if you have some previous work or other relevant experience related to the sector. Personally, I have seen candidates write persuasive answers based on this type of question in regards to sectors ranging from tech and financial services to energy, pharma and transportation.
2. Becoming a true strategic business advisor: this is similar to the line of reasoning you mentioned but is focused on long-term career prospects. As mentioned before, repeated experience in a single industry means you will in time become very technically proficient in your understanding of it. This puts you in a great position to become a true strategic adviser, which is potentially a more interesting role than just dealing with their legal requests.
3. More high-end mandates: if the firm can generally provide better service than its competitors because of its sector focus, this also means that the firm will be better placed to win the top of the market mandates from that industry. This might be naturally attractive to you, as these mandates tend to be the among the most complex and consequential.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hey - I'm not sure if there can be any advice or tips for this but I've realised I kinda struggle with meeting the word count on applications. I always go above it slightly and then have to cut down. There's nothing wrong with that but I was wondering if anyone has any tips, structures or things that have helped them I guess feel like they've included enough and ticked all the boxes!

Hey @lolasparks firstly I want to say I completely relate to your struggles. My first application draft would always be substantially above the word count and I would spend hours and hours to think of ways as to how to reduce it. In some ways however that was not bad, as it forced me to think a lot more closely about what is and is not valuable in an application and thus refined my general application writing skills.

As for concrete advice, the first way to reduce your word count is to rethink the substantive points you are making. For any given sentence and word, ask yourself: is this truly necessary for supporting the central point I am making with this paragraph? If I cut this sub-point, will the recruiter's understanding of my main point be substantially reduced? If the answer is no, you can safely cut.

The second and usually more important way to reduce word count is to rethink your style of writing. My top tips besides having a general focus on writing in a to-the-point manner would be:

• Cut down on the adjectives and adverbs - they normally do not add much substantive value, but just more just literary 'flavor', which is not necessary in a law firm application.
• Write shorter and more indepent sentences. You will find that a lot of your natural tendencies towards more verbose expression originates in a tendency to write long sentences with multiple clauses.
• For every sentence and word, once you have already ascertained it adds substantive value, ask yourself: is there any way I can express this point a more concise manner? If yes, take a few minutes considering what you can cut and how you can rephrase.

 

[jojo23]

Do you guys think it's too late to start applying for schemes with early jan deadlines that are rolling?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Do you guys think it's too late to start applying for schemes with early jan deadlines that are rolling?

Absolutely not - it’s still early.

 

[ttyl]

So sorry to hear this! When did you apply. I applied around 5th and haven’t heard back

I applied oct 19

 

[SoonToBeTrainee]

So sorry to hear this! When did you apply. I applied around 5th and haven’t heard back

I think I applied around this time, maybe even the end of September, and I also haven’t heard from Slaughter and May. Very strange

 

[NCTC2025]

That HSF SJT report was the opposite of every selection I made during the test. 😭

 

[kokoprep]

Our application window runs yearly from 1 September to 1 December.

Does this mean it’s end of day on December 1, 2024 or would it close at 12AM on December 1, 2024.

This skadden, please help!

 

[Gday33]

That HSF SJT report was the opposite of every selection I made during the test. 😭

I had the same experience

 

[mfuturetrainee]

is the BM website crashing or is it just my laptop being weird?

 

[legal18]

Hey @legal18 so I think there are a number of associated benefits of a sector-focused approach from both a client and an employee perspective:

Benefits for clients:

1. Ease of service: essentially, a sector-focused firm will deliver legal services in a way that is a lot easier for the client to use. Firstly, if a firm organizes teams more around sectors than practice areas, it looks and is a lot more similar to the client's business. Businesses perceive themselves as players in a certain industry and do not neatly separate their legal needs between the different workstreams of different practice areas. Thus, the legal service of sector-focused firms seems a lot more tailored to the client. Secondly, industry-focused firms tend to have partners with significantly broader expertise. Hence, the firm can provide a 'one-point-of-contact' system to clients, which is easier to navigate administratively.
2. Strategic advice: the idea is that if you spend years and years working on matters in a single industry, by the time you become a more senior practitioner you will have almost as much technical expertise in the sector as the client themselves. Having this kind of deep insight and knowledge of the industry will not only mean that you can give better advice to clients on particular mandates, but it will also mean you will be in a better position to form a client-lawyer relationship which goes beyond that. This way, you will have a good chance of getting to know all the insides of the client's business and becoming their go-to strategic advisor. Thus, the client gets the benefit of exceptional business and legal advisory services simultaneously.
3. Industry reputation: if the firm generally does a lot of high-end work in a particular sector, it will become very reputable with businesses in that sector. The fact that firm will simply be a very well-known name definitely helps in terms of shaping advantageous negotiations dynamics with opposing counsel. A great example of this is Kirkland in the PE sphere. Simply because of the firm's reputation in this area, it is able to obtain advantageous terms for clients by insisting they are "market terms". Because nobody does as many deals as they do in PE, it is sometimes difficult for the other side's counsel to counteract Kirkland's claims.

Benefits for employees:

1. Learning more about the intricacies of the sector as a benefit in itself: if you have a prior interest in a given sector of the economy, working for a firm that has a focus on that sector will enable you to get a lot more exposure to it, which can be a benefit in and of itself. Just as you might have a general interest in commercial law because you have a general interest in learning more about and working with businesses, you might also have a specific interest in sector-focused firms because you have a specific interest in learning more about the sector. This reasoning will be especially persuasive if you have some previous work or other relevant experience related to the sector. Personally, I have seen candidates write persuasive answers based on this type of question in regards to sectors ranging from tech and financial services to energy, pharma and transportation.
2. Becoming a true strategic business advisor: this is similar to the line of reasoning you mentioned but is focused on long-term career prospects. As mentioned before, repeated experience in a single industry means you will in time become very technically proficient in your understanding of it. This puts you in a great position to become a true strategic adviser, which is potentially a more interesting role than just dealing with their legal requests.
3. More high-end mandates: if the firm can generally provide better service than its competitors because of its sector focus, this also means that the firm will be better placed to win the top of the market mandates from that industry. This might be naturally attractive to you, as these mandates tend to be the among the most complex and consequential.

Thank you so much for such a detailed response!

 

[0livia.pope]

That HSF SJT report was the opposite of every selection I made during the test. 😭

really frustrating as my report ended up with more negative feedback than positive😔

 

[Audric_T]

Anything from DLA yet? I’m assuming they’ll send something out if there’s an AC next week?

Most Candidates I have spoken with and my own experience is that you find out if you have a place on the A/C two weeks prior to have enough time to prepare. I wouldn't worry about it as they also have an A/C in Jan so there is still a chance

 

[Zaraa.x]

There really isn't an answer to this unfortunately - for some people it may be less than 60 seconds, for somone else it may be over 4 minutes.

If an interview is an hour long, you will actually only be interviewed for about 40 minutes of the hour (need time to settle in, intros, time for you to ask questions at the end etc), and then you have to factor in the time they ask the questions. They will more than likely ask around 10 or more questions and so you can easily see how individual interview questions can be roughly 2-3 minutes long.

With interviews that are 30mins with grad rec how many questions do they tend to ask and will it mainly be motivational/competency based questions?

 

[Amjaya]

I have already done my test for HSF last year - do I need to redo?

 

[studentdelaw786]

Hi all,

i’ve just stupidly found out that DDM (pre-2016 BTECs) equate to ABB and not AAB as I thought this whole time. I have 128 UCAS points which should be fine for most firms, but could put me out of contention of applying for very specific firms.

I am now seriously considering taking an extra A-Level, but would anyone kindly provide some insight into whether is worth doing, or should I essentially deal with what I have?

@Jessica Booker
@Jaysen - would appreciate if you guys also have thoughts too.

Thanks everyone!

 

[axele]

Hi @Jessica Booker sorry to bother you on a weekend - I emailed some follow up questions to you following my application review. Can i know when to expect a reply? Just have to send the app off this weekend

 

[tholds]

Hiya @tholds

I think it’s absolutely fine to apply again (and I'd highly recommend you do so)! It’s great that you’re already planning to update your cover letter - that’s always my recommended first step! You don't have to revise all sections of your application, but it might be worth doing so if you think you can add a bit more depth or better showcase the skills you've used during work experiences. While your current work experience entries don’t need to change drastically, I'd encourage you to think about how you can refine or expand on these other aspects of your application.

One important thing to note is that applications for White & Case’s direct training contract are not reviewed on a rolling basis (unlike their vacation scheme). This means you can take your time over the next few months to build your profile further. Whether it’s volunteering, taking on a part-time role, getting involved with societies, or attending legal events, these small additions can round out your application and make a positive difference.

Finally, I’d encourage you to keep going with your other vacation scheme applications too. Many people have been in your shoes! One former community assistant at TCLA, for example, was rejected from a vacation scheme with White & Case, but ended up securing a training contract with them after completing schemes with other firms. I’ve no doubt that you can do the same! Best of luck, and feel free to reach out if you need more help!

Thank you so so much for this insight and advice! Truly appreciate it, and especially given your point regarding building up more experience prior to submitting my app - I'll definitely be doing so.

Thanks again! Really encouraging to hear all of this, thank you for taking the time to reply

@Worldstar223 it was actually a rejection for their winter VS! Somewhat late, I suppose. And thank you for the good luck wishes - same to you!