Turn away vacation scheme offers this year
The largest global law firms receive over 2,000 applications for their winter, spring, and summer vacation schemes each year. They can only choose about 5% to invite to interview.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that most applicants will be rejected by the law firms they apply to. This is not your fault. The application process has a HUGE learning curve. You wouldn’t know that 90% of applicants get rejected because they are repeating the same points that other people mention, not answering a law firm-specific question correctly, or not ‘selling themselves’ enough.
And then there’s the time. You want to write applications. That’s not the problem. But it’s hard to juggle writing applications while studying or working or both(!). You see people around you who have secured training contracts and you’re starting to feel left behind. You really want this.
I’ve long wished I could take each of you and coach you through the law firm application process. I learnt a lot in my application journey and in the last 6 years running TCLA.
I want to help you to get a training contract at your dream law firm in 2024/25.
Welcome to the TCLA Application Bootcamp.
Who this programme is for:
1
You want to secure a training contract at your dream law firm. You are an aspiring lawyer with a desire to make it past the application stage.
2
You are motivated to put in the work in the next three months. We’ll make sure you make more progress than you ever believed was possible.
3
You’re a student, graduate, career changer, UK or international applicant. Whether it’s first year schemes, vacation schemes or direct training contract applications, we can help you.
What this 4-month programme will do:
- Get you interviews! Our measure of success from our live training, small group accountability workshops and coworking sessions is whether you come out of this programme with law firm interviews.
- Write more applications to law firms than you believed was possible. Our bootcamp has been designed to help you work on the most important goal: writing applications to law firms you are interested in.
- Get access to exactly what you need to know about the law firm process. No more feeling lost or overwhelmed or not knowing what you’re missing out. If you’re working full time or studying, this bootcamp will tell you exactly what you need to know to make progress.
- Have unique reasons for applying to commercial law firms and for wanting to become a commercial lawyer. We’ve reviewed 5,000 law firm applications. We’ll show how to write your work experience, sell yourself in your cover letter and answer law firm commercial questions so you stand out.
- Join a close-knit of community all going through the process with you at the same time. You won’t be going through this process alone. You will experience the journey alongside other aspiring lawyers as we lift each other up.
3 weeks of live sessions, followed by small-group accountability training and firm-specific workshops
Our training sessions are all recorded, so you don't miss out if you can't attend the live sessions
Date | Time | Topic | Description |
---|---|---|---|
16 September 2024 | 6pm | Map out your application strategy | You will learn how to make the most of the period before December, how to decide which law firms to apply to, and build an application tracker that allows you to write more applications. |
18 September 2024 | 6pm | How to research a law firm | You will learn how to differentiate law firms in London, which sources to use to compile a fact file, how to work out a law firm’s competitors, and how to find information about a firm to help you stand out. |
23 September 2024 | 6pm | Why this firm? Why commercial law? | You will learn how to translate your research into written form, how to determine which experiences to use, real examples of what makes a good answer to this question, and what points to mention when differentiating a law firm. |
25 September 2024 | 6pm | Why you? | You will learn how to decide which experiences to write about, how to make sure you stand out among thousands of applications, how to answer competency and extra-curricular questions, and how to be specific through weak and strong examples. |
30 September 2024 | 6pm | Cover letters and work experience | You will learn the most effective structure of a cover letter, how to adapt ‘why you?’ in a cover letter, exactly how to write your work experience section, and how to tailor your work experience to different law firms. |
2 October 2024 | 6pm | Live application review | Watch me talk you through my thought process for reviewing an application, including the ideal application writing style, how good writing is in the editing process, and how to turn your existing answer into a stand-out answer. |
9 October 2024 | 9:30am-1:30pm | Live in-person event | Networking, advice clinics, and application masterclass. |
14 October to 15 December 2024 | Multiple | Coworking sessions | Join live sessions during the week to block out time to write applications to specific law firms. |
14 October to 15 December 2024 | Multiple | Weekly tribe meetings | Every week, we run small group meetings to track your goals, give you tailored feedback, and help you to make progress. |
14 October to 15 December 2024 | Multiple | Firm-specific workshops | Every week, we run live firm-specific workshops, where we talk through how to answer specific law firm application questions. You can share with us your application for live feedback. |
As someone who struggles to confidently express my thoughts on commercial concepts, I always find these sessions so helpful; they offer a perfectly balanced combination of encouragement, commercial insights, and useful advice. This session on M&A was particularly great. Vocalising the business concepts that I’ve been working through on paper is a perfect way to prepare for interviews, and this session on M&As covered a range of those concepts – ranging from accessible to challenging. Jaysen and Alice are also perfect leaders. They give everyone enough time to express their views – whilst also providing useful advice, and spot-on explanations every single time that they speak. I get so much out of these sessions; they are one of the best interactive resources – if not the best – for aspiring lawyers that I’ve seen around.
DR
Starting the journey towards securing a training contract is scary because I did not know what to expect. I want to take time out to thank both of you for your extreme efforts to make the process a lot easier. It provided me with an insight into what I could expect at an assessment centre. Also, it made me realise how I can utilise my time further during the lockdown to increase my commercial awareness. The sessions enable me to apply my prior knowledge to scenarios and develop my team working skills virtually. It is incredibly useful receiving a guide after the session summarising the key points. It meant I could concentrate during the sessions and have a guide to look over and further my understanding to help me prepare for the real thing. I love hearing both of your experiences, especially Alice’s, regarding interviews and appreciate how you both provide tips throughout the sessions. Once again, Thank you!
LK