TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[sxw517]

anyone heard from Sidley for the wvs? saw a bunch of pro's a couple of weeks ago but I haven't heard anything..

I had to remind them I'd applied last year and then about an hour after sending the email, I received a PFO 😂

 

[user7879]

Hi guys,
Would like to know your thoughts on this... I attended an AC at a Silver Circle firm two weeks ago and I learned that X candidate (a successful candidate) on the AC was best friends with the assistant grad rec. The grad rec assistant and the senior grad rec were with us the whole time whilst they were taking us to be interviewed individually by partners/associates. I fully understand that personal connections exist so this did not really bother me much at the time, especially as X themselves revealed that they were best friends after the AC.

Anyway, X learned they were successful right after the AC and told me right away. I waited a couple of days, then received the PFO from the assistant grad rec (the friend). I also received very detailed feedback (about 4 pages long) on each interview giving me 'insight into [my] performance' and 'observations of [my] behaviour'. At first, I thought the feedback seemed very odd because it didn't accurately describe how my interviews went (one of them went amazingly well but this was described as completely the opposite). A bit concerned, I asked another candidate what they thought of their feedback, and to our surprise, we learned that we received word-for-word identical feedback (basically copied and pasted the whole document), and this was also sent to them by the assistant grad rec (the friend).
At this point I was very concerned, so I sent a kind email to grad rec addressing the situation about the identical feedback and asking politely for a more individual assessment of my performance, one that truly reflects my performance for my personal development. It has been nearly 7 days and I have not received a reply.
Should I just forget about it, or should I try to make sure my concerns are properly addressed?
thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts on this.

 

[Deleted member 31263]

Hi guys,
Would like to know your thoughts on this... I attended an AC at a Silver Circle firm two weeks ago and I learned that X candidate (a successful candidate) on the AC was best friends with the assistant grad rec. The grad rec assistant and the senior grad rec were with us the whole time whilst we were being interviewed by partners/associates. I fully understand that personal connections exist so this did not really bother me much at the time, especially as X themselves revealed that they were best friends after the AC.

Anyway, X learned they were successful right after the AC and told me right away. I waited a couple of days, then received the PFO from the assistant grad rec (the friend). I also received very detailed feedback (about 4 pages long) on each interview giving me 'insight into [my] performance' and 'observations of [my] behaviour'. At first, I thought the feedback seemed very odd because it didn't accurately describe how my interviews went (one of them went amazingly well but this was described as completely the opposite). A bit concerned, I asked another candidate what they thought of their feedback, and to our surprise, we learned that we received word-for-word identical feedback (basically copied and pasted the whole document), and this was also sent to them by the assistant grad rec (the friend).
At this point I was very concerned, so I sent a kind email to grad rec addressing the situation about the identical feedback and asking politely for a more individual assessment of my performance, one that truly reflects my performance for my personal development. It has been nearly 7 days and I have not received a reply.
Should I just forget about it, or should I try to make sure my concerns are properly addressed?
thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts on this.

name and shame the company

 

[happyhippo0402]

Hi everyone - I had a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn over two weeks ago now, and haven't heard anything from grad rec. Can anyone who has had a first stage interview with the firm let me know how long it took to hear back from them?

 

[mfuturetrainee]

Hi guys,
Would like to know your thoughts on this... I attended an AC at a Silver Circle firm two weeks ago and I learned that X candidate (a successful candidate) on the AC was best friends with the assistant grad rec. The grad rec assistant and the senior grad rec were with us the whole time whilst we were being interviewed by partners/associates. I fully understand that personal connections exist so this did not really bother me much at the time, especially as X themselves revealed that they were best friends after the AC.

Anyway, X learned they were successful right after the AC and told me right away. I waited a couple of days, then received the PFO from the assistant grad rec (the friend). I also received very detailed feedback (about 4 pages long) on each interview giving me 'insight into [my] performance' and 'observations of [my] behaviour'. At first, I thought the feedback seemed very odd because it didn't accurately describe how my interviews went (one of them went amazingly well but this was described as completely the opposite). A bit concerned, I asked another candidate what they thought of their feedback, and to our surprise, we learned that we received word-for-word identical feedback (basically copied and pasted the whole document), and this was also sent to them by the assistant grad rec (the friend).
At this point I was very concerned, so I sent a kind email to grad rec addressing the situation about the identical feedback and asking politely for a more individual assessment of my performance, one that truly reflects my performance for my personal development. It has been nearly 7 days and I have not received a reply.
Should I just forget about it, or should I try to make sure my concerns are properly addressed?
thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts on this.

that is crazy, this is the first time ive read smt like this😭

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi all, just wanted to ask for clarification:

1) Is it of general consensus that if you receive and take the VS for a UK firm, it is likely that you will be kept on for a TC?
2) Conversely, if you receive and take the VS for a US firm, there is much more competition for a TC hence no implications?

I have heard some leading US firms (V5, so think Cravath, Skadden...etc) have as many as >15 VS students but only <5 of them got the return offer for TC.

I have no knowledge of their UK counterparts.

Thanks a lot.

Hey @ChanA2626,

I have heard this even when I was applying last year and I think that this is generally what people think but I think it is firm specific. I have many friends who did UK firms vacation scheme and did not manage to convert them (even though the conversion rate is high compared to other firms). I think that generally speaking some UK firms do recruit vastly from the vacation scheme, others do not. I think that the same applies to some US firms. However, I will say that US firms tend to recruit less trainees, however it depends on the firm. Some US firms do offer a lot of training contract to the vacation scheme students (especially cause the cohorts are smaller). For instance, I know that Sullivan & Cromwell offer training contracts to 90% of the people who do the vacation scheme (which is 10 usually).

However, this should not discourage you from applying to them in the slightest. If I believed this statistics I would have never applied to Goodwin and I would have never received the training contract, despite knowing that they only offer 14 training contracts every year. So, definitely put your best foot forward.

Good luck with the application!

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi everyone - I had a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn over two weeks ago now, and haven't heard anything from grad rec. Can anyone who has had a first stage interview with the firm let me know how long it took to hear back from them?

I did it last year and I heard back the next morning, however some people hear after some time so I would wait a little bit longer. However, I do know of some people who received second stage invites who interviewed two weeks ago as well so take this information as you will, but I would wait patiently. I am sure they are still reviewing applications!

Good luck with the process!

 

[flower]

that is crazy, this is the first time ive read smt like this😭

same, I would be absolutely enraged

 

[mfuturetrainee]

same, I would be absolutely enraged

on top of that being best friends w the grad rec who was w u when u were being interviewed is wild 😭

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi, welcome to the forum It’s definitely possible to obtain a TC without legal experience. But I think it’s important to show firms that you have engaged with firms/ attended events that show your commitment to the profession and also your understanding of what it means to work as a lawyer and the work itself. Do you have a law degree or studied a different subject at university?

This is such great advice and explanation! Thank you so much @Lawyerwithadream

 

[flower]

I definitely think that this is a huge conflict of interest, especially considering that you and another candidate were given identical feedback reports. This seems to be a common occurrence with this firm, which is a shame as it is one of my favourites

I need to know which firm this is, if anyone knows drop me a dm x

 

[user9809]

Hi everyone - I had a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn over two weeks ago now, and haven't heard anything from grad rec. Can anyone who has had a first stage interview with the firm let me know how long it took to hear back from them?

Hey when did you apply?

 

[mfuturetrainee]

i

I need to know which firm this is, if anyone knows drop me a dm x

second that pls do lmk as well

 

[user9809]

i

second that pls do lmk as well

Same!

 

[mfuturetrainee]

any PFOs from white & case? I've only seen offers as of now

my crystal ball tells me we're gonna hear back by the end of this week

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi guys,
Would like to know your thoughts on this... I attended an AC at a Silver Circle firm two weeks ago and I learned that X candidate (a successful candidate) on the AC was best friends with the assistant grad rec. The grad rec assistant and the senior grad rec were with us the whole time whilst we were being interviewed by partners/associates. I fully understand that personal connections exist so this did not really bother me much at the time, especially as X themselves revealed that they were best friends after the AC.

Anyway, X learned they were successful right after the AC and told me right away. I waited a couple of days, then received the PFO from the assistant grad rec (the friend). I also received very detailed feedback (about 4 pages long) on each interview giving me 'insight into [my] performance' and 'observations of [my] behaviour'. At first, I thought the feedback seemed very odd because it didn't accurately describe how my interviews went (one of them went amazingly well but this was described as completely the opposite). A bit concerned, I asked another candidate what they thought of their feedback, and to our surprise, we learned that we received word-for-word identical feedback (basically copied and pasted the whole document), and this was also sent to them by the assistant grad rec (the friend).
At this point I was very concerned, so I sent a kind email to grad rec addressing the situation about the identical feedback and asking politely for a more individual assessment of my performance, one that truly reflects my performance for my personal development. It has been nearly 7 days and I have not received a reply.
Should I just forget about it, or should I try to make sure my concerns are properly addressed?
thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts on this.

Hey @user7879,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am genuinely sorry for this kind of behaviour, this is not acceptable. Unfortunately, these kind of behaviours are very common in this industry. I have heard worse stories than this. I really hope that these kind of behaviours and preferences during the recruitment process can change because it just limits deserving candidates' successes and this is not okay.

In terms of what you should do, I personally believe that you should let it go and focus on your next applications and firms you are applying to. Use that feedback (even if it is not accurate) as a guideline of things that you should not do during the recruitment process at other firms and try to improve yourself day by day. These situations can happen but I do believe that you can learn from them, and now what you know is that you are not well suited for that firm, and that is okay.

Good luck with the process!

 

[Untilwinter]

Does your performance on your ug commercial law module matter as much as contract or tort when applying for tc?

 

[mg1]

anyone heard from Sidley for the wvs? saw a bunch of pro's a couple of weeks ago but I haven't heard anything..

spoke to grad rec at a sidley event 3 weeks ago, she said sidley have given out and confirmed all wvs offers

 

[s9111]

Hi everyone - I had a first stage interview with Gibson Dunn over two weeks ago now, and haven't heard anything from grad rec. Can anyone who has had a first stage interview with the firm let me know how long it took to hear back from them?

Which VS is this for?

 

[axelbeugre]

Which VS is this for?

I am pretty sure this is for the summer since Gibson Dunn only has a summer vacation scheme.