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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

for people who have experience with virtual ACs, how was your experience compared to an in-person AC?
In my experience i always perform worse in virtual ones compared to in-person ones. I think having a real person in front of you instead of it being done on Teams makes a big difference, at least for me.
I second this. in person is 10x better. You can make more of an impression. It feels authentic rather than them ticking of questions. You can connect with other candidates in the process which is nice. You also get food lol
 
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My unprovable conspiracy theory is there is a lot of unconscious bias and prejudice in recruitment till this day. An overwhelming majority of people who progress with US/MC/SC firms come from a very particular demographic that makes up such a tiny proportion of the population.

If these firms said they will only hire XYZ type of candidates it would result in discrimination suits cos its breaching protected characteristics. Like having an ethnic name, being from a certain area or going to a ‘low-ranking uni’, if firms explicitly said we don’t want yous don’t apply = bad for PR.

Oddly enough, two of the firms I have been able to progress with didn’t seem to use any contextual recruitment tools (or at least I can’t remember if I entered the data). Other firms which seem to do a lot of parading around social mobility had outright rejected me (same exact credentials on paper).

So my idea is firms avoid offering feedback cos they’d end up digging their own holes admitting they rejected candidates for arbitrary and unfair reasons. Surely being transparent about what it is you’re after from candidates (e.g., Cleary) will rly make this process much more transparent.​
What does Cleary say they want from candidates?
 

Novaa

Legendary Member
Dec 2, 2022
251
1,028
MISHCON SJT INVITE!! THEY ALSO SET AN EXPECTATION ON WHEN WE SHOULD HEAR BACK 🥹❤️

DOES THAT MEAN I PASSED THE VI??

Run Omg GIF by Kick Game
 
What does Cleary say they want from candidates?
AAA at A levels but I know people with grades well below this getting the WG so I wouldn't take it as the bible especially if you have MC.

Also "leading university" - whatever that means

They DO NOT give you your WG results if you ask as it's against policy...
 

qwerty!

Star Member
Nov 5, 2025
33
67
I second this. in person is 10x better. You can make more of an impression. It feels authentic rather than them ticking of questions. You can connect with other candidates in the process which is nice. You also get food lol
In my experience i always perform worse in virtual ones compared to in-person ones. I think having a real person in front of you instead of it being done on Teams makes a big difference, at least for me.
ahh rip I have a virtual ac next week lowkey worried about exactly this 😭😭
 

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