TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[Shandy101]

Idk if this is just my perspective but I've never found open days particularly helpful. Last year, I did open days at multiple firms (W&C, Shearman, TW, Jones Day, Latham) and didn't get any offers from them (but I did get a VS offer from a firm I had not done an open day with). I did the October open day at Paul, Weiss and I don't think it really gave me much better insight into the firm than I would have scanning the internet. I think it might just be a thing to show off on an application, but even then idk whether 'I attended an open day' is enough to secure a VS with them. I think if you have a genuine interest in PE, just apply and see whether they see potential in you.

I agree to a degree. They can be a colossal waste of time, especially if you work and study or don't live in London. That said, if you're in year 1 or 2 and don't work, they can be helpful in getting to know the firm and the people and little tidbits for the application that can make your application shine. I've been to one at Weil 2 years ago and one at HL this year and both gave me useful application nuggets. I would say you can get the exact same info through research, so it's not a must, but it can be a plus. Also, free food and drinks are always welcome.

Interestingly, a friend of mine went to an open day and had a chat with a partner (global head of PE at a US firm) who told him to email him if he applied. He did, and the partner emailed grad recruitment and said to look out for his application; he is now doing his TC there!

 

[Shandy101]

Hello everyone

I had a doubt regarding my Cooley application - they have a question regarding 'what stage are you in at the time of application'. However I'm not working currently and am a recent graduate, so I'm unsure of what to put down for this question. If anyone could help out, I'd be immensely grateful View attachment 6540

In employment. I suspect that if you select any of the others, it will try to solicit more information.

 

[Tintin06]

Hello everyone

I had a doubt regarding my Cooley application - they have a question regarding 'what stage are you in at the time of application'. However I'm not working currently and am a recent graduate, so I'm unsure of what to put down for this question. If anyone could help out, I'd be immensely grateful View attachment 6540

This is very restrictive, oh my. It doesn’t even catch self employment. I would put in employment lol. Applying feels like a full-time job.

 

[sapphireoreos]

did they send you an initial email saying you past the benchmark on the online test?

Nope, they just sent me an email saying that I didn't pass the benchmark in the online test

 

[sapphireoreos]

Any thoughts on how to tackle these questions from Withers and Penningtons Manches Cooper respectively?
1. If your favourite childhood toy suddenly came to life, what advice would you give it today? (60 words)
2. If you were the CEO of Penningtons Manches Cooper, where would you look to open a new office and why? (250 words)

Thanks!

 

[fairbourne]

Weil VI link came through - have until 5th Jan to complete

Do you know if they review VIs on a rolling basis?

 

[jta227]

1. If your favourite childhood toy suddenly came to life, what advice would you give it today? (60 words)

Sometimes I wonder if these firms want people to just make stuff up lol. I never had any childhood toys past an age where I can remember. Furthermore some people's favourite toys could be something like a lego... anyways I guess they're looking for creativity and for you to perhaps introspectively assess your past experiences to summarise what you've learnt in the period between being a child and now. Maybe try and align with the firm's values if possible as well. It's also 60 words so conciseness is probably assessed.

 

[gazdgazd11]

Any thoughts on how to tackle these questions from Withers and Penningtons Manches Cooper respectively?
1. If your favourite childhood toy suddenly came to life, what advice would you give it today? (60 words)
2. If you were the CEO of Penningtons Manches Cooper, where would you look to open a new office and why? (250 words)

Thanks!

My cue to not apply there cause I REFUSE to answer questions like this omg

 

[NCTC2025]

Hoping for a christmas miracle next week 🙏

 

[Gday33]

My cue to not apply there cause I REFUSE to answer questions like this omg

With you on this - if a firm has bs questions they’ll elicit bs answers and I’ve got better things to do with my time 😂

 

[Maddy]

I have a question and would greatly appreciate your guidance as I am feeling quite unsure. I was considering applying to Paul, Weiss, but after reading some forum messages, I understand the firm places a significant emphasis on high academic marks, likely expecting a strong record of firsts and 2:1s. In my case, I have one first, several 2:1s, and a few 2:2s, and I completed my undergraduate degree outside the UK. Given these circumstances, would it still be worth applying to Paul, Weiss? I want to be realistic and avoid spending time if the firm mostly seeks candidates with consistently high grades or exceptional achievements.

 

[jta227]

I have a question and would greatly appreciate your guidance as I am feeling quite unsure. I was considering applying to Paul, Weiss, but after reading some forum messages, I understand the firm places a significant emphasis on high academic marks, likely expecting a strong record of firsts and 2:1s. In my case, I have one first, several 2:1s, and a few 2:2s, and I completed my undergraduate degree outside the UK. Given these circumstances, would it still be worth applying to Paul, Weiss? I want to be realistic and avoid spending time if the firm mostly seeks candidates with consistently high grades or exceptional achievements.

In their open day today they implied a few blips are fine and a 2.1 overall is fine. They also said they would treat every mark as equal regardless of the university they were achieved at (which I don't consider equitable tbh but fair enough). One post above said they looked up the current associates and they all had 1sts, but this could just be a correlation with the kind of candidate they accepted at lateral level. Since this is their first admissions year we really don't know how much weight they'll place on academics. I think if your profile is strong in other areas it's definitely still worth applying. They didn't seem as strict as for example a Slaughter & May.

For everyone else applying, another tidbit from the open day: the first stage is a spelling check of the whole application. So basically don't make a mistake or the application won't be read.

 

[Maddy]

In their open day today they implied a few blips are fine and a 2.1 overall is fine. They also said they would treat every mark as equal regardless of the university they were achieved at (which I don't consider equitable tbh but fair enough). One post above said they looked up the current associates and they all had 1sts, but this could just be a correlation with the kind of candidate they accepted at lateral level. Since this is their first admissions year we really don't know how much weight they'll place on academics. I think if your profile is strong in other areas it's definitely still worth applying. They didn't seem as strict as for example a Slaughter & May.

For everyone else applying, another tidbit from the open day: the first stage is a spelling check of the whole application. So basically don't make a mistake or the application won't be read.

Thank you so much! I guess I will try.

 

[Tintin06]

I have a question and would greatly appreciate your guidance as I am feeling quite unsure. I was considering applying to Paul, Weiss, but after reading some forum messages, I understand the firm places a significant emphasis on high academic marks, likely expecting a strong record of firsts and 2:1s. In my case, I have one first, several 2:1s, and a few 2:2s, and I completed my undergraduate degree outside the UK. Given these circumstances, would it still be worth applying to Paul, Weiss? I want to be realistic and avoid spending time if the firm mostly seeks candidates with consistently high grades or exceptional achievements.

I got some 2:2s and applied. If you like them, do it. Grades aren't everything to a firm. What do you have to lose? My degree marks didn't matter elsewhere. Latham, W&C and Ropes ACs previously. More things to life than grades. Commercial awareness is also very important. It's also about getting experience, honestly. This gets easier with time, obviously. Many grade questions on this forum. It's understandable, but don't overthink them. Focus on areas where you're strong.

 

[ashwright]

Any thoughts on how to tackle these questions from Withers and Penningtons Manches Cooper respectively?
1. If your favourite childhood toy suddenly came to life, what advice would you give it today? (60 words)
2. If you were the CEO of Penningtons Manches Cooper, where would you look to open a new office and why? (250 words)

Thanks!

If my Lego mini figures came to life, I'd probably just call up Warner Bros and say that I'm making a Lego Movie 3 with half the budget. The only advice I'd give to my minifigure is to invest their earnings from being a movie star 🤣

 

[ttyl]

Anyone know if Dechert has sent out Spring AC invites yet? Until when do the Spring AC's even take place?

 

[fffvfdsfv]

any tips for weil VI? can give tips for hogan lovells, jones day, slaughters, freshfields, skadden and a few more that I have progressed in stages to/gotten offers from!

 

[LimitedLiabilityLover]

Does anyone know what the Life at Mayer Brown test is like(post SJT and Critical thinking tests)? I am happy to trade information about Cleary, Latham and Jones Day Acs. DLA and CMS VIs.

 

[Amma Usman]

Hello, is there a question bank anywhere for strength and competency questions for ACs?

@Amma Usman @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam I would be super grateful if you could give insights into what types of questions and what essential points a good answer would contain to do well in an AC Thank you very much!

Hi there @hfbjsdhfbhf ,

I’ve compiled a list of questions below that I’ve commonly come across in my experience.

1. What do you understand to be a few key skills trainee solicitors commonly possess?

2. Follow-up from past question: Can you give any examples of how you’ve demonstrated these skills?

3. Give us an example of how you’ve demonstrated integrity.

4. How do you handle challenging situations?

5. Give an example of how you succeeded in juggling multiple commitments.

6. Our X training system is not for everyone. Give example of how you thrived in a similar environment.

7. How do you know that commercial law is for you? What experiences up until this point made you know this.

8. Is proactivity or attention to detail more important to you?

9. How have you shown leadership and problem solving abilities?

10. What is commercial awareness? How do you work to build upon it?

11. Do you think adaptability is more important for lawyers or investment bankers?

12. Give an example of how your communication skills solved a challenging situation.

13. What is your biggest accomplishment to date?

14. How do you influence people‘s opinions in a situation with conflicting opinions on a matter?

15. Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. Was it challenging? What was the outcome?

16. Is there a time where you achieved a successful outcome when it seemed like all roads were closed?

17. Have you ever experienced workplace conflict? How did you deal with it if you did?

18. Is there a big decision you made recently? Tell me about it and what was so BIG about it.

19. Have you made a decision before you later realised was a bad one? How did you navigate it?

20. Why should we hire YOU. We received thousands of applications this year. What makes you the last completing piece to our puzzle?


How do go about answering these:

• Well, needless to say, STAR should be used. That said, utilise the components of STAR carefully in a spoken interview. It should not appear robotic as would be the case in written responses. Sound friendly, personable, and approachable. There is a hierarchy to which points to address. Avoid jumping from one arena to the next. Focus on the focal point of the discussion - what the issue was? What was challenging about it? How did you tackle the problem? The resulting outcome? Did you receive any external feedback that can solidify all you said - such as, feedback from a manager?
• Stay calm, relaxed, and confident! This avoids you rushing your answers, which would otherwise dilute the substance of what you have to say.

Best of luck!

 

[Amma Usman]

@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman
Do you think a 2021 deal is too old to mention, even if its exactly the type of work you want to do and there's no more recent examples on the firm's website?

Thanks a lot!

Hiya @NCTC2025 ,

I think that’s a reasonable date to trace back to and include in an application. The important point is to ensure that in the process of mentioning this deal, you do not just drop it. You want to be unequivocally sure that it truly backs up your interest in the firm. Firm’s are very mindful of when candidates back up their interest with a deal. The generic reasons tend to be elements relating to the high-stakes work or deal-value. Thus, if for example, you bring up a deal in the tech sphere, you will need to show why tech interests you? Back it up with specific examples you’ve had that are within that sphere. Now, this is also not enough for a solid answer. There needs to be some particular elements of that deal that are not necessarily done by other firms. If you can cover the name of the deal and copy and paste it onto many other law firm’s deal announcements, then it’s a sign you need to tailor it more to you and the deal itself. Was it the first of its kind in the industry? Did it advise a niche type of client or a new element of the legal advisory industry that many other firms are yet to pick up yet?

If you can answer all these questions and tailor it to yourself strongly, you will be creating a unique answer whilst still incorporating a deal dated 3 years back.