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Hi everyone!

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to prepare for a strengths-based video interview? I progressed to the VI stage for Reed Smith and the website says that their interview is different to competency based and has a lot of questions. If anyone has done this interview in the past and would like to share their experience I would be more than grateful!

Hello,

Has anyone ever applied to MdR close to the deadline and got through to interview? It's a firm I'm really keen on, although (nightmare scenario) I had their deadline down as 22 Jan and now see it's 22 Dec. Trying to decide whether it's worth submitting an application at all, particularly since it will likely be a time-consuming one. Very interested to hear other people's thoughts/experiences (on rolling applications generally as well as MdR).

Thanks!

Hi all! On the Kennedys application form, they ask 'how does Kennedys differ from other firms you have applied to'. I'm wondering if HR wants me to name other firms that I have applied to like RPC that also focus on insurance and then identify a factor that distinguishes Kennedys from them, or if I should be more general in mentioning 'unlike my other firms of choice'?

Hi, all! So my question is probably redundant because I can't really put my applications down verbatim, but I have applied to I think 4 vac schemes/1 TC so far and all have been rejections at the application stage. I have never got past that stage to an interview or assessment centre, but have passed any relevant SJT/Watson Glasers.

So I'm wondering where I'm going wrong? Why is my application being put aside at each turn before the interview stage just so I can step my game up. In terms of experiences, I'm a final year Law student and pretty much most of my Uni experience has been spent in COVID so it has been a bit difficult finding opportunities, but I have some things under my belt like working a few part-time jobs at high-end retailers, volunteering as a tutor, a few months' worth of legal experience abroad this year, and that's pretty much it. As far as grades, I don't know if GCSEs matter since I've never been asked for them but I assume not, A-levels I got ABC, currently achieving 2:1/1 in my degree, plus I've had some extenuating circumstances.

When I fill out applications, for example 'why X firm?', 'what skills do you have that would make you a good lawyer?', 'what makes Y firm stand out?', my approach has always been to try and speak a bit about myself, my skills, my own knowledge and then largely link that back to the firm. So perhaps something like: 'Attention to detail is an important skill for lawyers to have, and I have demonstrated and developed this during my attachment, in which I handled a case involving XYZ, and my duties involved DEF.'

So clearly there is something wrong with my approach here and I'm just wondering what that is? Sorry for the long post -- any advice offered is greatly appreciated!

@Jessica Booker (just @ing because I've seen your posts and you give really good advice!)

Hi all,

I am not one to post but I just received a call from Graduate recruitment informing me that I will not be offered a TC following an international vacation scheme.

I am completely distraught and not even sure where to start from, I suspended all the applications I was working on to focus on this scheme and hopefully give it all my energy and now it feels like I am back to square one.

This was my first ever scheme and it was the first time I ever made it past the application stage and I am so gutted that it ended this way.

If you have any tips on how to bounce back from this I will appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hi guys,

I recently sat my interviewing assessment for the LPC but I performed horrendously, and I think there is a very high chance that I have failed.

The terms of my training contract are that LPC exams must be passed at first attempt. My TC is with an American firm with a small intake (10 trainees per year).

If I have failed this assessment, how likely to you think it is that I will lose my TC?

(Please bare in mind that the interviewing exam is not part of the core modules, meaning I can still get a commendation/distinction overall. However, regardless, my TC says that 'all' LPC exams must be passed fist time. Also, I passed my mock assessment - would this be taken into account?)

Any responses would be really appreciated because I'm feeling very stressed out.
@Jessica Booker

Hello! I’m going to be doing a CV-blind interview soon and have also encountered questions like this in the past but I never feel like my answers have been wholly satisfactory…

I’m not sure how much detail to go into - like do I talk about my passion for law? Other passions? My journey into law? Past work experiences? Extra curriculars at university? School? Childhood? Should I just stick to a brief succinct format of three key things like with other answers? Does anyone have any advice Thank you so much!

Is there anyone who is suffering from a disability or mental health issues, and how do you cope with sending applications? Due to my disability, it's hard for me to submit the perfect application on deadline especially cause all of the firms are due near the same dates and I feel hopeless whenever I am not able to submit an application early enough. I see people from my cohort in uni posting about their accepted offers already on LinkedIn and it just makes it worse

Hey everyone,

While it's entirely my responsibility to have missed the Legal Cheek's Virtual Vacation Scheme - "Commercial awareness overview: what's on the horizon for 2022?" for personal reasons - I'd greatly appreciate it if someone can shed some light on some of the key points/takeaways from the session?

Even a heavily condensed bulletin on some of the broader points being made by the speakers would be very very helpful!

Thank you.

Hello,

I was wondering if Linklaters' Watson Glaser is usually timed and if you pass this stage, is the next stage the Assessment Centre or further application questions?

I just completed Gowling WLG's behavioural assessment which also included an aptitude test. I have mixed feelings about it. The assessment was a set of computer games and at the end of which I got the report. I am having second thoughts about whether I would progress to the next round because the report says, I am impulsive and make decisions by gut feeling rather than rational deliberation. It also states that I am passive and I do not prefer to work alone as opposed to being a collaborative team player. As someone who has studied psychology at the university, there is plenty of evidence to show that these personality tests are not reliable. The test provider asserted at the end of the test that the results were reliable as they were based on large data sets etc. My question is, how fair is it to use these personality or behavioural tests in screening candidates? You cannot gauge a candidate's fit to the firm atleast until they reach assessment centre or the interview stage in my opinion. What do you think?

Why do firms ask this question?

Hi everyone!

For those that have completed this, how did you find it?

I thought it went okay!

Hi everyone, I'm a penultimate year student from SOAS, currently applying for vacation schemes. I currently have online tests/ situational judgement tests to complete but I am trying to prepare.
Online tests I have to complete:
-PwC
-Herbert Smiths Freehills
-Reed Smith

I have applied to other vacation schemes also for Slaughter & May, DLA Piper, Ashurst etc
I'm not confident I will be noticed by every firm due to my poor Year 1 marks, however, I do have mitigating circumstances for that which I include in my application. Are there any firms that could notice me despite my year 1 grade?
Looking to hear any advice

Hey everyone,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread about interview fears! It would be interesting (even therapeutic) to hear about the community’s biggest interview fears and/or interview nightmares (both law and non-law!).

This is a place to share:
· situations that, in theory, make you feel anxious or worried when you imagine interviewing
· situations that you have actually experienced which were difficult or stressful, how you dealt with them at the time and how, on reflection you would now deal with them now
· reflections on others’ difficult interview experiences, encouragement and suggestions for how you might deal with them
· funny interview scenarios (showing the community what can happen in an interview!)

Please share what makes you feel nervous, what has made you feel nervous and how you would deal/have dealt with a particular situation. Hopefully this will inspire some useful discussion.

Feel free to include, or leave out, the names of firms too. Please engage with other posts and let us know how you would deal with any situations mentioned.

Really excited to hear about your experiences!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been fortunate enough to have secured 4 AC’s (in past cycles). And while I prepared as much as I could at the time, I unfortunately didn’t get an offer.

I was hoping to create this thread to see if people who have been successful or people looking back at their ACs had any tips on best preparing for stuff like case studies, talking about case studies, writing exercises, etc.

I’ve booked marked a range of responses in the past on the forums so I’ll be posting those words of wisdom.

I’m sure this will be a great resource for all and I’d really appreciate anyone’s guidance and support around this.

Thanks!

Hi, I'm currently submitting applications as many of you probably already are but as with the previous 2 years I'm getting kicked back at the first hurdle every time. I've sought feedback and input from solicitors, trainees, and my university's employability team, and made countless changes to applications but get nothing back apart from the standard rejection email with a comment that they can't provide feedback. Despite this I have previously asked for feedback on my application form a few times and all they told me was what percentile I was in, which wasn't particularly helpful.
I am at a loss as to what to do and wanted your opinion on submitting a SAR to hopefully get some notes on my application form, what automatic processing took place and understand whether I simply didn't make the cut based on grades. Has anyone ever tried this for an early stage rejection? And if soo did you get any useful information from submitting a SAR?
Thanks for your help.

Hi!

After reading multiple threads on TCLA regarding the Work Experience section, I've drafted my entries for the applications. I'm posting the entry for one of my work experiences; I'd be grateful for any comments/suggestions on the draft.

"As an intern with ___, I worked with the Capital Markets and Banking & Finance teams. For the Capital Markets team, I drafted amendment deeds and addenda to information memoranda for numerous debenture trust deeds and information memoranda. I was provided with the base drafts of the amendment deeds and addenda for a particular series of debentures, which I referred to for drafting the documents for the other series. My work involved closely comparing and identifying the differences in the documents of multiple series with the documents of base series, and drafting the amendments accordingly. This required me to coordinate and communicate with the Associate regarding the impact of any additional clause/difference I was unsure about and accordingly draft the documents.

For the Banking team, I worked on an assignment for drafting a consolidated Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Consumer Due Diligence (CDD) policy for a non-banking financial company. The company already had four separate policies in place. My work involved researching and identifying the laws regulating AML and CDD policies in India.

I identified the clauses that were repeated in the existing policies of the company, and drafted a comprehensive list laying down whether these were mandatory clauses, and their requirements as per Indian law for inclusion in the consolidated policy. I also identified and made a list of the non-repeated clauses in the existing policies. This exercise intended to identify clauses not mandated by Indian law, to decide whether to retain them. Additionally, I tabulated the above research for being sent to the client and for ease of use in drafting the consolidated policy.

I also proofread Draft Red Herring Prospectuses, checked for cross-referencing, typographical and grammatical errors and carried out a due diligence of the Key Regulations and Policies section by updating the legislations included. I also prepared requisition lists of clarifications required from clients and researched on various propositions on banking law and company law."

Also, I had a few questions:

1. How many words should one entry of the work experience section be, for applications that do not lay down any word limit? Would around 350 words be too much if no limit has been prescribed?
2. (With respect to my draft) Have I included too many/too little details for my tasks? Also, when I mention that I researched on some propositions, would it be ideal for me to mention what the topic of research was? I thought of excluding that since it did not seem to be of a lot of use from a Grad Rec perspective.

Thank you so much!

Hello,

Is anyone else here about to start the online PGDL with BPP? It was supposed to start in January, but I seem to understand that they pushed forward the starting date to 13 December (next Monday). Yet I still can’t see my timetable on Office 365, and the ‘welcome’ materials on The Hub seem to refer to the September 2021 cohort rather than the cohort I’m supposed to be part of. Also no learning materials yet, apparently.

I called them but they weren’t super helpful. They suggested getting in touch with the law school support team and gave me their number, but no one’s picking up the phone over there (today at least). Is anyone having similar (or different!) experiences?

Hi,

The next stage in the Mayer Brown application process is a trainee job simulation which presents various scenarios that a trainee might come across.

I was just wondering whether anyone had any advice for preparing for these sorts of questions, as I find scenario-based questions quite hard to prepare for.

The simulation is a blend of multiple choice, written and video interview questions.

How would anyone handle this interview question - tell us about a time you compromised your views.

It seems to be about ethics and integrity but the wording is slightly odd...

What is the best way to structure an answer to this?

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone for some help on discussing rejections previously in another post (https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ain-rejections-in-interviews.4387/#post-88714) - it surely made me a lot more comfortable talking about them!

For Clifford Chance's 2024 Direct Training Contract (thankfully it's non rolling basis), they ask whether you have done any formal vacation scheme, and then whether you were offered a TC. And eventually:

If your answer to the above question was 'no' we would appreciate any detail you feel comfortable providing. Please add N/A if this is not applicable to you.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if the interview approach that I linked really applies to an application answer, so:

1. What are the "details" that I should provide? Should I discuss (a) the feedback; and/or (b) how I have improved, using examples to explain?
2. If discussing how I improved should be included, how much should I focus on it? Just thinking if I'll sound like I'm deviating from answering the question.
3. Around how many words should I aim for? I do know that the 600 word question is the real "bread and butter" of my application.
4. If I was indeed told in the feedback that one reason was due to the firm's small intake (which would be quite different from Clifford Chance), is it appropriate to mention this also?

I am not very sure as there is already the Work Experience section for me to talk about what I did during the schemes.

Thanks so much to everyone in advance!