TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[saminoriya]

thanks for this, can i ask if it is a report or a letter/ email?

it was report for me. I think it is usually a report because I recall them mentioning it on their website.

 

[Miss Chocolate]

Wow congratulations that’s impressive! Do you have any application/interview tips? I find paralegal roles are also quite competitive 😫

Thank you so much!! I will reply to this after work feel free to message me if I forget but I am sure I won't lol

 

[jta227]

Thank you so much!! I will reply to this after work feel free to message me if I forget but I am sure I won't lol

Also could use some advice on that matter, I need a job 😭
Congrats on your 2 paralegal offers!

 

[Cool pigeon]

Anyone heard back from slaughters DTC? If so how long did it take?

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Bit of an odd question I was hoping you (or someone else) could help with! I'm a career changer currently working in a non-law corporate job. If I changed jobs within an application cycle or process (but staying in the same industry I'm looking to eventually move out of), would firms look down on this or see it as a red flag? For example, if my application form had one job down, but I was in a different job come the Vacation Scheme.

No - this would not be seen as a red flag as it is expected that people change jobs. It would only be if there were lots of changes (e.g. lots of short stints in various roles in a matter of months) that firms would be curious as to why you had changed jobs so often. This is because they are concerned there are either performance issues or you aren't very committed to each role (and therefore might have the same approach with them).

 

[lawbear123]

to those whove given the bristows first round.... what even....

 

[YW113380]

Does anyone have any advice on how to prepare for an interview at Sidley/ insight into the structure of the interview?

 

[tianna09]

HL pfo post wg, i expected it tbh. onwards and upwards i guess lol

 

[trainee4u]

Finally received PFO from Linklaters Singapore after 3 months and six days. Poor on their part tbh, not a word of contact in between.

 

[londonlawyer]

In a bit of a conundrum. I have received a VS offer but am still waiting to hear back from Paul, Weiss after the Interivew for the summer vacation scheme. Although I chose the dates that don't conflict with P,W's scheme, I have been offered the scheme that does conflict with P,W. I sent P,W an email last week requesting an update, but no response yet. Would it be advisable to email P,W again? Or should I just accept the offer I have now and then ask to be put on a different scheme depending on the outcome at P,W? @Jessica Booker could you please advise me?

 

[OrangeCherry1800]

Anyone heard back from OC after AC?

 

[Andrei Radu]

In a bit of a conundrum. I have received a VS offer but am still waiting to hear back from Paul, Weiss after the Interivew for the summer vacation scheme. Although I chose the dates that don't conflict with P,W's scheme, I have been offered the scheme that does conflict with P,W. I sent P,W an email last week requesting an update, but no response yet. Would it be advisable to email P,W again? Or should I just accept the offer I have now and then ask to be put on a different scheme depending on the outcome at P,W? @Jessica Booker could you please advise me?

I would first try to just ask the firm you have been first offered VS from whether you could be moved to another scheme. There's a good chance they might, in which case your issue will be resolved, in that there will be no conflict even if Paul, Weiss makes you an offer. In case the firm responds that thy cannot do so at the moment, I would accept the current offer and then see what you can do after you get a response from Paul, Weiss. It is quite possible that even if the other firm cannot accommodate a change of date now, by the time of your scheme people will drop out/request change of date, in which case you will be able to switch then. Worst case scenario, where there is no flexibility on either side, you can simply withdraw from the scheme of the firm you are less interested in and try to negotiate a change to a direct TC assessment with them.

 

[londonlawyer]

I would first try to just ask the firm you have been first offered VS from whether you could be moved to another scheme. There's a good chance they might, in which case your issue will be resolved, in that there will be no conflict even if Paul, Weiss makes you an offer. In case the firm responds that thy cannot do so at the moment, I would accept the current offer and then see what you can do after you get a response from Paul, Weiss. It is quite possible that even if the other firm cannot accommodate a change of date now, by the time of your scheme people will drop out/request change of date, in which case you will be able to switch then. Worst case scenario, where there is no flexibility on either side, you can simply withdraw from the scheme of the firm you are less interested in and try to negotiate a change to a direct TC assessment with them.

Thanks Andrei

 

[boots]

Is this Dechert's standard PFO?

"Your application and written assessment were of a good standard and we would welcome an application from you in the next recruitment cycle, should you choose to apply again."

 

[Miss Chocolate]

Wow congratulations that’s impressive! Do you have any application/interview tips? I find paralegal roles are also quite competitive 😫

@jta227

Hi guys! Please keep in mind I literally had no strategy for this and I kind of just kept trying until I got something! Also I am very new to jobs and the world of work so I am not sure my approach is necessarily advisable.

There's a couple of ways to go about this. I know some of my friends emailed their CVs to high street firms near them. You could also check on LinkedIn and apply as soon as vacancies are posted. Applying ASAP is good because they start interviewing really early. It's not like TCs.

Having some kind of experience helps, but I know people who got into paralegal roles without prior law firm experience. I have been admin at a law firm though so I am not one of the lucky few. To get my admin law job, instead of just submitting the CV, I called the recruiter and pitched myself. It worked, he got me the interview. Then, I used agencies to apply for paralegal roles. The Law Support Group were pretty good, but again, I had to call them because I kept sending my CVs and no-one was getting back to me. I think if you can have a good chat with someone on the phone, it can speed things up. Also I have been ghosted loads so expect that. Send them a follow-up email and see if anyone comes back. Look for in-house paralegal vacancies too for the major employers in your areas.

Re interview, the standard advice on this forum is probably much better than anything I can come up with 😭😭

Best of luck!!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Browne Jacobson telephone interview for london office

Any insights would be very very appreciated. @Andrei Radu @Ram Sabaratnam @Amma Usman

From what I have read on this interview experience post on it, it seems it will be mostly based on:

1. General competency questions
2. The big motivational questions (why commercial law, why firm, why me)
3. Applications strategy/competitors-based questions

As such, my advice would be to have well-prepared answers for those. Also, try to practice articulating them and take care to (i) be structured and clear (as it is more difficult to make out what a person is saying without any visual input) and (ii) to not go on average beyond around 2 minutes or so per question - with phone interviews, there is normally both a set list of questions the firm expects answers on and a set time limit that they will not exceed.

 

[User5678]

From what I have read on this interview experience post on it, it seems it will be mostly based on:

1. General competency questions
2. The big motivational questions (why commercial law, why firm, why me)
3. Applications strategy/competitors-based questions

As such, my advice would be to have well-prepared answers for those. Also, try to practice articulating them and take care to (i) be structured and clear (as it is more difficult to make out what a person is saying without any visual input) and (ii) to not go on average beyond around 2 minutes or so per question - with phone interviews, there is normally both a set list of questions the firm expects answers on and a set time limit that they will not exceed.

Amazing, thank you so much Andrei, this is very helpful and I will keep it in mind

On the competitors ques, how to answer that in the best way for Browne Jacobson? Is it correct to take the sector based approach and then the similar size based approach in order to determine competitors?

 

[Chris Brown]

This might sound like a silly question, but how do people prepare for VS? How do you know what to do during a VS? Is there anything that I should be doing now in advance of a VS? I haven’t worked in a city law firm before so I’m starting to overthink this whole process lmao. Any advice would be appreciated. Please help. 🥲🥲

@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam​

 

[B101]

@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam

Hi all. I’ve applied to around 15 firms this cycle, had 2 AC’s but didn’t convert any and also completed a vac scheme last year. My only resort is to apply for direct TC’s now.

I’m not sure of how to change my strategy going forward as it seems to be hit or miss with drafting applications/ tests/ interviews. Do you have any tips on developing my commercial awareness or anything to better my strategy for the whole process of direct applications going forward?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Andrei Radu! Was wondering if you might be able to tag in some posts you’ve done in the past on the kinds of things that differentiates slaughter and may

Hi @camrxc the best resource by far for this should be the updated Slaughter and May law firm profile I wrote for TCLA in the summer. On the forums I discussed two of the firm's distinguishing aspects: its best friends model and its market leader position in public M&A. I will quote them bellow:

Hey @lawyersum I will firstly just caveat the following by mentioning that the subject of the merits of this international strategy is a controversial one. I have analyzed this topic from the perspective of a firm operating this model in a lot of detail when writing TCLA's updated Slaughter and May profile, which you can access here. To give you the headline benefits I identified:

1. Potentially less exposure to run of the mill international work, but more exposure to the most complex cross border mandates in the market: the main rationale for this system is that it is practically impossible to try to obtain top of the market capabilities in every jurisdiction involved in cross-border matters. Some firms are more successful than others, but none operates leading full-service teams everywhere. This would not make sense from a business perspective, as setting up shop in another jurisdiction is very expensive and there are huge discrepancies between the levels of profitability of different legal markets. However, some firms simply did not want to accept the idea that they would have to rely on substandard teams in foreign offices, as this would lead to a delivery of substandard client service. As such, they followed a strategy which involved the creation of a system of network and 'best friends' firms, which are the best independent firms in each major jurisdiction. The idea is these firms will have (i) the flexibility of picking and choosing the firms they work with in every jurisdiction - so if different firms have leading teams in different practice areas, they can choose the one with the most relevant expertise; (ii) can always promise clients the best of the best of legal service across the board; and (iii) can get referral work from the other firms in the network. The significant downside of this model is that it is more administratively burdensome and does not offer the same simplified and quick service as that of a firm with an expanded network of its own offices. Arguably, in terms of pitching for mandates, this means that a firm operating a 'best friends' model will be disadvantaged when trying to win roles on simpler cross-border mandates. At the same time however, best friends firms should have an advantage when pitching for the most complex mandates, as those are the ones for which top quality of legal service everywhere is most pertinent. If you are interested in this type of cross-border work the most, that could be a benefit.
2. Secondment opportunities at the offices of the leading independent US and EU firms: at Slaughter and May, trainees have historically gone on secondments at firms like Cravath (in New York), Hengeler Muller (in Germany), Uria Menedez (in Spain and Portugal), BonelliErede (in Italy), Bredin Prat (in France), and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek (in Holland). Arguably, experiencing a secondment in the oldest and most established firms in another country is a more interesting and useful professional experience than going on a secondment in the same firm's foreign office.

As for (ii) - if top tier corporate work is of central focus that should work out in your favour, as I know Slaughter and May still considers itself to be the best firm in the market for that. Whether that is actually the case is more debatable; the important factor is that if you make a good argument to that effect then it looks plausible that you would choose Slaughter and May over the others. What could that argument be? Well, firstly, you could focus on the (relatively uncontroversial fact) that Slaughter and May is considered to be the best firm for UK public M&A work, and then explain why public M&A is more attractive to you than private M&A. Alternatively, you could focus on the idea that Slaughter and May arguably has the deepest institutional relationships with UK corporations (for a number of years they advertised that they represent more FTSE 100, 250, and 350 clients; and also of being the default 'boardroom advisor' of UK corporates) and then explain why that kind of market position attracts you. However, I would be research and aim to be able to defend the claim that Slaughter and May will be able to keep its position despite its lack of international offices (particularly in New York, where the other MC firms are heavily investing into) and dwindling best friends network (particularly having increasingly lost its US best friends as they moved into London - Davis Polk a number of years ago, and now Paul, Weiss, and to an extent Cravath as well).