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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

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hfbjsdhfbhf

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Dec 11, 2023
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Would it be worth applying for HL's summer vac scheme while waiting to hear back from Lift Off? The website says explicitly to wait to hear back from Lift Off but the deadline for the VS is approaching and I'm not sure what to do
 

InterestInPublicLaw

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  • Feb 7, 2024
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    Vantage crashed 15 mins before HSF deadline and would not let me submit my application. Emailed them and attached all of the application info required. Theres not much else to do but pray for the best. :rolleyes:
    Same thing happened to me, did you hear back from them in the end?
    Hi both! It happened to me too I couldn't submit the application because Vantage crashed :( The early careers team asked me to contact the Vantage contact form. Did you get a reply?
     

    hfbjsdhfbhf

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    Dec 11, 2023
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    This is a dilemma for me too. They're literally rolling basis yet delaying LiftOff results so much whilst saying you should wait to hear first... imagine finding out you didn't get LiftOff then sending a perfectly good application for the VS and getting told "we already had enough candidates to offer places"
    I know, its so frustrating! I may draft my application for the VS first and wait until I hear back to submit it... Hopefully we hear back soon
     

    TCLA Community Assistant

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    Would it be worth applying for HL's summer vac scheme while waiting to hear back from Lift Off? The website says explicitly to wait to hear back from Lift Off but the deadline for the VS is approaching and I'm not sure what to do
    Hogan Lovells’ website? If so, follow their instructions and wait.
     

    theone132213

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    Feb 23, 2024
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    Anyone got any advice on what one could include in a response to this question - there is no skills/why you question for Addleshaw, so could this be mentioned here ?
    Use this space to tell us about any mitigating circumstances that you might have, or any other information about you that might be relevant to your application.
     

    Andrei Radu

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    Anyone got any advice on what one could include in a response to this question - there is no skills/why you question for Addleshaw, so could this be mentioned here ?
    Use this space to tell us about any mitigating circumstances that you might have, or any other information about you that might be relevant to your application.
    @Jessica Booker might be able to give you a more certain answer, but I think the natural interpretation of the wording of the second part of the sentence allows for 'why you' type answers. Work experiences/extracurriculars/achievements definitely count as 'any other information' as long as they have not been mentioned elsewhere on the form, and if they demonstrate important skills for the role then they are definitely 'relevant to your application'.
     
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    Andrei Radu

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    Would it be worth applying for HL's summer vac scheme while waiting to hear back from Lift Off? The website says explicitly to wait to hear back from Lift Off but the deadline for the VS is approaching and I'm not sure what to do
    This is just my personal view, but I would say to follow instructions and wait for the outcome until the last three-four days before the deadline. In the meanwhile, you can prepare the application and have it ready to go. If they do not respond before the very last few days then I would then submit it. This way, you (i) respect the instructions for as long as possible while (ii) also ensuring you have submitted a summer VS application that still has a good chance of being seriously considered (as the vast majority of applications are sent in the last two days, so you should still be stand out from most of the crowd).
     
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    Runsim

    Active Member
    Oct 12, 2024
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    I submitted my Latham app a while back and did not receive an email about the SJT. I logged onto all hires today and see there is an assignment to do (the SJT). I'm not sure if the 72 hour rule applies or not, would this affect my app?
    In the confirmation email that I received, mine had a sentence at the bottom saying I had 3 days to complete it, but I needed to log back in to do the test. I did not receive a separate email about the test so I would say read your confirmation email line by line to check.
     
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    theone132213

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    Feb 23, 2024
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    @Jessica Booker might be able to give you a more certain answer, but I think the natural interpretation of the wording of the second part of the sentence allows for 'why you' type answers. Work experiences/extracurriculars/achievements definitely count as 'any other information' as long as they have not been mentioned elsewhere on the form, and if they demonstrate important skills for the role then they are definitely 'relevant to your application'.
    Thanks @Andrei Radu - very helpful !
     
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    Andrei Radu

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    Does anyone know if Charles Russell Speechlys offers more training contract seats and D&I projects in London?
    @Andrei Radu, @Amma Usman and @Ram Sabaratnam do you guys have any insight?
    Perhaps @Amma Usman or @Ram Sabaratnam will know more, but having had a quick look on their website and some other publications with applications information, I could not find any precise figures regarding the distribution of the TC offers across offices. All I could find is that CRS will offer around 25 TCs in London, Guildford and Cheltenham. I would suspect that the reason the firm does not publish more data is that the number of TCs offered by each office is not fixed, but varies depending on their changing needs and market conditions.

    All that being said, I would still suspect that generally London gives the most TC offers and also has the most D&I projects - for most firms, London simply is the biggest and most profitable UK market. For a firm with a large private wealth practice like CRS, I would assume that is even more so the case, as a lot of HNWIs reside in London.
     
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    Andrei Radu

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    Bit of odd question, I am doing the video interview course on TCLA as well. Does anyone know any videos/link showing a successful video interview answer? I am confused by the 1 minute time limit for CMS vi, I don’t think I will be able to mention 3 points in any answer like why law why firm etc. I am really struggling with the level of detail I need to include in my answer? should i just mention 1 point for every question then?
    I unfortunately do not know of any successful short video interview answer links (though I will tag @Amma Usman and @Ram Sabaratnam in case they do), but I completely emphasize with your struggles. Having to respond to "loaded" VI questions (which in fact include 2 or 3 broad sub-questions) is very difficult in such a short amount of time. I think the only way to do so is to sacrifice both the depth and the breadth of your answer. Your can limit breath in the way you mentioned, by mentioning only one point instead of your usual two or three for each sub-questions.

    You can then also limit on the depth of explanation of each point. For instance, for a 'why the firm' point, say you would normally go on an elaborated narrative as to how your interest in a given practice area originated, how you went about exploring it, how you then realised what are its substantive features that differentiate it from other practices and also attract you, and then explain who the given firm is a market leader in the practice area and is better than its rivals. Now, considering the time constraints and other questions you have to address, you should instead simply state something like 'The main reason I am attracted to your firm is it's strong X practice area, which is demonstrated by their Chambers and Legal 500 recognition. I am attracted to it because of Y (state distinguishing feature in a few words), as illustrated by Z experience (state the basic subject matter of the experience in a few words)'. This way, you should be able to formulate your point in 15-20 seconds.

    Finally, I understand how this type of answer may feel unconvincing and underdeveloped. But given the time constraints, you do not have much choice, just as other candidates won't. Thus, the recruiters reviewing your application will adjust their expectations based on that. I think your answer will be fine as long as you (i) have at least one decent substantive point for each sub-question and (ii) are quite clear when stating the relevant motivation in short form.
     
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    Andrei Radu

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    I have just realized that I accidentally inputed the wrong job description into the work experience section i.e. title and date of role doesn't match the description. Is it worth emailing grad rec and pointing it out or should I leave it and hope they don't notice?
    Unless (i) this is a quite important work experience and (ii) the description itself would not suffice for the graduate recruitment team to realise the error and still be able to understand your work experience, I would not email them. The only benefit of emailing them is clearing out any important confusion, while the certain downside is that you are pointing out a mistake that they might otherwise not notice.
     

    ashwright

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  • Jul 10, 2023
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    Would it be worth applying for HL's summer vac scheme while waiting to hear back from Lift Off? The website says explicitly to wait to hear back from Lift Off but the deadline for the VS is approaching and I'm not sure what to do
    This is a dilemma for me too. They're literally rolling basis yet delaying LiftOff results so much whilst saying you should wait to hear first... imagine finding out you didn't get LiftOff then sending a perfectly good application for the VS and getting told "we already had enough candidates to offer places"
    I spoke to a member of GR a few weeks ago who said that they recommend submitting off the VS app! When I asked about when we can expect to hear back for Lift Off, Dec 20 was the date given. I'm not sure if that was the specific day we'll hear back or if that's just the latest date. Personally, I am thinking of waiting for LiftOff results but I'm still not super sure. 😊
     
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