TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[sibs23]

I completely agree that perhaps the firm's you had been applying to maybe weren't the right fit for you but also it's important to bear in mind how much of a luck game this whole thing is. I feel like surely they can't rule you out, if anything it shows how committed you are to them ahaha.

Glad to hear you switched up your approach and are seeing some success now! I also did similar and have seen more success this cycle.

Thanks! Yes, agreed, there is a huge element of luck to it all! I have learned a lot about the process after how long I have been applying and I know I am only getting better at each of the stages with practice so sometimes it's hard to understand why I get rejected at 1st stage for firms I previously advanced with. I worry sometimes they see me as a stale candidate and question why I failed to convert (this is something some lawyers I work with have warned me about when including some VSs on applications), however I would like to think that recruitment teams today understand how competitive it is and won't view an experienced candidate as a weak one. Fingers crossed all this won't even be a concern anyway and hopefully won't be applying next cycle haha 😅

 

[sibs23]

I think Clyde & Co only look at applications from penultimate year law students and final year non-law students for their VS (which is the only way to get a TC). I heard that they don't consider applications from grads, which is pretty questionable imo ...

Yeah, I noticed this. Their loss I suppose!

 

[elena11]

Does anyone have any insights for Arnold & Porter? I have an interview coming up but there's not that much online to research because it's such a small firm. Thanks!

 

[eirake]

has anyone else heard from V&E- just wondering if the Interview/Presentation is staggered at all. otherwise I'll cut my losses haha.

A friend talked to the grad rec at an event at my uni last week and she said a lot of ppl were rejected already so if you haven’t heard back yet it’s probably a good sign.

 

[corporatelore]

I received an invitation to the Cooley AC next week. If anyone has any tips/ insights it would be much appreciated!

(And thank you to everyone who replied with advice for the telephone interview last week!)

 

[lolololol]

any insight or tips for wfw ac? any info would be appreciated!

 

[fatima111]

Has anyone heard from Wedlake Bell for the Summer Vacations Scheme? Any idea when they usually get back to applicants?

Hi, I've heard back from Wedlake Bell!!

 

[trainee4u]

I think Clyde & Co only look at applications from penultimate year law students and final year non-law students for their VS (which is the only way to get a TC). I heard that they don't consider applications from grads, which is pretty questionable imo ...

Seems like obvious indirect age discrimination.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker @Amma Usman
Is the TCLA academy a separate subscription to TCLA premium?

Thanks!

Hi @KBanana - the academy programme gives you access to our premium content for the period of the programme, so our scholars have access to the same content as our premium subscribers.

 

[Chris Brown]

I think Clyde & Co only look at applications from penultimate year law students and final year non-law students for their VS (which is the only way to get a TC). I heard that they don't consider applications from grads, which is pretty questionable imo ...​

Seems like obvious indirect age discrimination.

I think the majority of their TC’s go to people on the VS but I think they also offer TC’s internally to people who are paralegals. Clyde & Co recently introduced their paralegal academy so i imagine if you are a law finalist or graduate then that’s an alternative route. I definitely agree it’s kind of obvious indirect age discrimination though regarding the VS. 🥲

Training Contracts

Eligibility: Most of our trainees are people who have impressed us on our vacation schemes or through internal recruitment from our paralegal population. We recruit exclusively through these channels for our London and Manchester training contracts.

careers.clydeco.com

 

[Jessica Booker]

Had a Weil interview today. Got asked no technical, instead pushed literally only on motivations. Confused. Also, saw interviewers writing things down and saw my score(%) on the bottom of one of their sheets. Not a very good score. @Jessica Booker or anyone else do you know how firms mark you? What is usually good enough?

I would be cautious to make any assumptions as to what you may or may not have seen. My notes for interviews mean something to me but not necessarily any indication of scores/performance.

But unfortunately there is no answer to this. There could be a whole range of scores and methods of which they are then calculated. For instance your low percentage could easily be more of a risk calculation rather than a performance calculation.

 

[VVV]

I would be cautious to make any assumptions as to what you may or may not have seen. My notes for interviews mean something to me but not necessarily any indication of scores/performance.

But unfortunately there is no answer to this. There could be a whole range of scores and methods of which they are then calculated. For instance your low percentage could easily be more of a risk calculation rather than a performance calculation.

I see, thank you. What do you mean by risk calculation? Also by low I meant 72.5 so I hope I am not so amazingly risky😢😅

 

[Jessica Booker]

any1 else feel like hearing back from firms has slowed down this week? feel like I was so busy hearing back 3 weeks ago and then this week is so slow lol

It’s half term - you’d be surprised how quiet things get when it’s the school holidays because a lot of people are off and also because there tends to be more solicitor apprenticeship events/recruitment during half term week.

 

[zoobla20]

I've had a quick look through the search but couldn't find anything. If you're starting from absolutely 0 knowledge on M&A and need to understand it to a basic/intermediate level, what resources are useful? I've got an AC coming up and I've heard one of the tasks could be heavily centred around M&A

 

[Jessica Booker]

I see, thank you. What do you mean by risk calculation? Also by low I meant 72.5 so I hope I am not so amazingly risky😢😅

Whatever it is, 72.5 is not a low score.

 

[studentdelaw786]

hey all,

i wanted to get your thoughts on using a news story in a TC application. the question is “tell me about a news story and why it interests you?”

the story i want to pick doesn’t link to the firm because it doesn’t have an office there, but it does link to US investment banks due to potential geopolitical concerns.

what are your general thoughts?

thanks in advance

 

[legallady123]

I think the majority of their TC’s go to people on the VS but I think they also offer TC’s internally to people who are paralegals. Clyde & Co recently introduced their paralegal academy so i imagine if you are a law finalist or graduate then that’s an alternative route. I definitely agree it’s kind of obvious indirect age discrimination though regarding the VS. 🥲

Training Contracts

Eligibility: Most of our trainees are people who have impressed us on our vacation schemes or through internal recruitment from our paralegal population. We recruit exclusively through these channels for our London and Manchester training contracts.

careers.clydeco.com

I completed a VS at Clydes 3 years ago and there was one graduate / career changer who was a fair bit older, the rest were current students. Not sure if it has changed since then! The graduate was one of the few who did receive a tc though

 

[yk1906]

How did you find BCLP's SJT?

 

[trainee4u]

I completed a VS at Clydes 3 years ago and there was one graduate / career changer who was a fair bit older, the rest were current students. Not sure if it has changed since then! The graduate was one of the few who did receive a tc though

I applied last year for VS and was progressed to VI.

This year I applied without noticing the policy and got a fairly swift "you are not eligible" PFO.

So i think it's a brand new policy for this year.

 

[BBsharkk]

I was on LinkedIn before and I came across a link to a TCLA YouTube video with Jaysen (TCLA) and Gemma (Willkie). In this application cycle, they received just under 1,400 applications (1,396), which is crazy for only 20 VS places and 6-7 TC offers. 😦

I imagine if 25% were moved to the VI stage, that would be roughly 350 people. If 25% were moved to WE, that would mean between 80-90 of us have done the WE (out of 1400). That is actually mad when put into perspective! These numbers are scary. 🥲​

Funnily enough it's actually less scarier than what I expected - I believe there's a Chambers Student chart that shows Willkie had around 2000 applications in the past (not sure if that's accurate)
But yes, 0.5% TC rate is probably on the top end of competitiveness in the market.