TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

Ram Sabaratnam

Legendary Member
Staff member
Future Trainee
Gold Member
Premium Member
Sep 7, 2024
241
442
Hi @Jessica Booker and anyone who can help!

I had a quick query regarding one of the questions in my application. The question reads:

“Please detail all your positions of responsibility, including title, date, and a brief description. Please separate each position with a bullet point - 500 words.”

For some reason, I find myself repeating a lot of my work experience.

I’m currently holding a society position and also held one last year, which I plan to mention. However, since the word count is quite high, I wanted to ask if volunteering, such as pro bono work, could come under "positions of responsibility." Additionally, I’m a campus ambassador for a law firm, but I feel that role leans more towards work experience rather than a position of responsibility, especially since it’s a paid role. I’m a bit confused because I typically categorise pro bono work and my campus ambassador experience as work experience. Do you have any tips on what else could be included under positions of responsibility without repeating my work experience?

Another issue I had was with the formatting of the bullet points. I wanted to clarify whether I’m supposed to write the description and my responsibilities in bullet points (similar to a CV), or if they expect each experience to be listed as a bullet point with the description written in prose.

I’d really appreciate some insight on this.

Hiya @suhana (and @mulan0 :) )


I'd be curious to know what @Jessica Booker would say, as well as @Andrei Radu and @Amma Usman, but I think you're completely within reason to worry about sounding repetitive. That said, I think any society positions, pro bono experiences, could be mentioned here. I also suspect the campus ambassador role could be mentioned in the work experience, particularly since I know that some campus ambassadors receive remuneration for that role.

I wouldn't worry too much about meeting the word count, since this strikes me as a catch all question for any other non-work related experiences. However, in terms of formatting, I'd recommend listing the position and dates followed by a concise prose description. For example:
  • Campus Ambassador, X Law Firm, September 2023 – Present
    Represented the firm at university events, managed communication between the firm and students, and coordinated promotional activities.
Again, I'd be curious to hear what the others have to say here, because the question seems to just be about positions of responsibility (and so doesn't seem like you can maximise the word count by discussing hobbies or less structured extracurriculars). Best of luck with your application!
 
Last edited:

Reem2024

Well-Known Member
  • Oct 26, 2024
    23
    9
    I have no clue how to answer the 'why commercial law' question because my interest in the career is an accumulation of different experiences. For example, working with my parents on their legal immigration documents/ translating what the lawyers would say when we moved to the UK, as well as working with the family companies litigation cases that happened over the years/ hearing about them and the process which they decided to follow (based on the advice of the legal team). I feel like its not clear when I write it or seems uncertain. How would I best frame these to link to commercial law/ the work companies do?
     

    Ram Sabaratnam

    Legendary Member
    Staff member
    Future Trainee
    Gold Member
    Premium Member
    Sep 7, 2024
    241
    442
    Does anyone know if there are any firms with a strict zero-typo policy? 😭I spent weeks on an app, attended firm events etc, had it reviewed by multiple people, SPENT TWO DAYS PROOFREADING ( not continuously obviously but at random points) - stupidly made a last-minute change in the work experience section which caused my automatic keyboard to change the word to my last name ( I forgot it was on) - it obviously doesn't fit in the sentence and its capitalised so there's no chance graduate recruitment will miss it. It's so disheartening - I've been applying for so long and it just seems to be going nowhere because I keep making stupid little errors which is obviously my own fault but ouch.😟.

    Hiya @AB

    Just wanted to chime in and add to the fantastic response by @jta227. The good news is that a single typo is very rarely a dealbreaker for most firms. They tend to evaluate your application as a whole and focus on the bigger picture when deciding whether to invite you to the next stage. In fact, during one of my vacation schemes, the firm actually held a presentation where they showed us examples of grammar and spelling mistakes from our own applications! Their point was to reassure us that these slip-ups happen and aren’t the end of the world. That said, they did encourage us to double-check future applications to minimise errors and develop our attention to detail. I wouldn't stress too much about this. Instead, focus on improving your application writing and strategy overall and remember that you can use this as a learning opportunity for next time. Best of luck with your applications 😊
     
    • Like
    Reactions: AB and RSK

    Andrei Radu

    Legendary Member
    Staff member
    Future Trainee
    Gold Member
    Premium Member
    Sep 9, 2024
    427
    640
    Hi @Jessica Booker and anyone who can help!

    I had a quick query regarding one of the questions in my application. The question reads:

    “Please detail all your positions of responsibility, including title, date, and a brief description. Please separate each position with a bullet point - 500 words.”

    For some reason, I find myself repeating a lot of my work experience.

    I’m currently holding a society position and also held one last year, which I plan to mention. However, since the word count is quite high, I wanted to ask if volunteering, such as pro bono work, could come under "positions of responsibility." Additionally, I’m a campus ambassador for a law firm, but I feel that role leans more towards work experience rather than a position of responsibility, especially since it’s a paid role. I’m a bit confused because I typically categorise pro bono work and my campus ambassador experience as work experience. Do you have any tips on what else could be included under positions of responsibility without repeating my work experience?

    Another issue I had was with the formatting of the bullet points. I wanted to clarify whether I’m supposed to write the description and my responsibilities in bullet points (similar to a CV), or if they expect each experience to be listed as a bullet point with the description written in prose.

    I’d really appreciate some insight on this.
    Just to add to @Ram Sabaratnam's great response here, I think a useful way to conceive of a positions of responsibility is as a role in which you are entrusted to do something which has an impact on others. This definitely captures society/club roles, but I think it goes beyond that. For instance, although debating/negotiations/mooting/another competition would normally count as an extracurricular, if you got to represent your society/university in an intervarsity competition, I think that could could count as a position of responsibility - because you are entrusted with the responsibility of representing a large group of people and the reputation of an institution. Similarly, although they may not be counted as official committee or subcommittee positions, contributing as a judge or trainer is also a position of responsibility.
     
    Reactions: Ram Sabaratnam

    jojo23

    Star Member
    Sep 15, 2024
    47
    31
    Hiya @jojo23

    Great questions! I'll take these in order.

    First, I generally recommend that applicants avoid reusing part of their answer to 'Why commercial law' answer in their answer to 'Why this firm'. I think these questions serve different purposes:
    • 'Why commercial law' is all about your broader motivations—why you’re drawn to the challenges and opportunities that are really distinctive of working in commercial law.
    • 'Why this firm' is your chance to show you’ve done your research and understand what makes this firm unique. This is where you demonstrate why it stands out to you beyond just being a commercial law firm.
    That said, I think it's possible to reframe your points so that your answers don't sound repetitive. For example, if you mention you're interested in working on cross-border deals in your answer to why commercial law, and you want to mention a similar point in your 'why this firm' question, then reflect on why the firm's cross-border expertise really stands out here. Are there certain sectors or matters they've advised on which are particularly tricky from a cross-border perspective? Does the firm's cross-border expertise extend beyond transactions to include regulatory or disputes capabilities? These are just some points to reflect on in order to ensure that your answer to the two questions seem distinct.

    Second, comparing firms can work, but I usually suggest focusing on what excites you about this firm specifically. Drawing explicit comparisons can be tricky to get right. Instead, you can mention experiences that shaped your interest in a practice area or sector and then highlight why this firm is particularly appealing. Here's one way that I approached this in my own application:
    • “By attending open days at several US-headquartered firms with life sciences expertise, I became interested in the way commercial lawyers often assist in areas such as drug discovery and development, often working closely with key regulators and leading life science researchers. Firm X's work in this area particularly stands out to me because of its unique combination of both transactional and regulatory expertise in the life sciences, as seen in [specific example and brief explanation of why the deal/case is commercially/legally interesting]..."
    This kind of comparison shows thoughtful engagement with certain sectors/practice areas without explicitly comparing the firm you're applying to with other firms you might've interacted with.

    Hope this helps, and good luck with your application! I'm also sure that @Andrei Radu and @Amma Usman would have much more brilliant insights to add here.
    Thank you so much @Ram Sabaratnam this is really helpful, I noticed some of my previous answers could be drastically improved 😅
     

    tholds

    New Member
    Nov 26, 2024
    4
    3
    I just did the HSF test and the report feedback is literally the exact opposite of everything I clicked?? Is this a bug or something, fairly sure I didn't contradict myself between answers as well...
    Literally same. I was really surprised and somewhat disappointed. Tempted to email their Graduate Recruitment team and ask but I don't want to appear as if I'm on a high horse or anything D:
     

    CarolineC

    Well-Known Member
    Gold Member
    Premium Member
    Jan 23, 2019
    23
    13
    Hey all, for VI - when responding to the question 'Why our firm?' I struggle to provide a thorough breakdown of 3 arguments (as I would do in a written response). I think all 3 which I want to mention are important, but I run out of time when trying to provide evidence of research/explanation. In a written response, it's easier to cut down the words/redact and make them fit within the word count.

    What structure would you recommend for that question? Should we focus on a number of reasons (if so, are 2 sufficient?)?
     

    About Us

    The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

    Newsletter

    Discover the most relevant business news, access our law firm analysis, and receive our best advice for aspiring lawyers.