TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[haribolover]

PFO from Withers finally

Same - lowkey expected it after the SJT when I think team player/collaboration/or whatever it was on the cappfinity, which they emphasised as being important to them, was my lowest. ugh - it's so annoying as I always struggle to answer SJTs. I know I am a team player, but answering these questions is such a balancing act and I don't want to seem like I am unable to just do a task myself when required

 

[Joey green]

Hi! I’ve been invited to Baker McKenzie’s AC. It’s my last shot this cycle, so if anyone here can share any insights, I’d be eternally grateful! I’m also happy to trade insights on other firms

 

[legalbeast]

well done! is this for spring or summer1

thanks - the offers are for either - u can choose

 

[Donna Paulsen]

No! We aren't even sure if ACs have actually been sent, I flagged this issue with @Jaysen . Also the 2nd WG batch has their deadline in 2 days, so I would stick to the facts for now and wait. People got AC invites on 28 February last year, I wouldn't assume anything just yet.

Yeah I’m mega confused lol apparently people have received invites but it’s all word of mouth? I think they’d at least wait until the 26th (the 2nd batch deadline). I can’t see them sending out invites before the 28th considering that they sent a second batch of test invites, which they didn’t do last year.

 

[AryanAgg]

Same - lowkey expected it after the SJT when I think team player/collaboration/or whatever it was on the cappfinity, which they emphasised as being important to them, was my lowest. ugh - it's so annoying as I always struggle to answer SJTs. I know I am a team player, but answering these questions is such a balancing act and I don't want to seem like I am unable to just do a task myself when required

I think it's more dependent on language of the question itself, if it says you're unsure, or have too much work, asking the team for assistance in one or another aspect isn't wrong and promotes collaboration.

 

[TortillaTC]

Yeah I’m mega confused lol apparently people have received invites but it’s all word of mouth? I think they’d at least wait until the 26th (the 2nd batch deadline). I can’t see them sending out invites before the 28th considering that they sent a second batch of test invites, which they didn’t do last year.

Exactly! All I’m saying is lets calm down, IF anyone got AC invites, it’s surely not all invites.

 

[AGB2060]

Sorry to butt into convo and I also recognise im probably getting a bit ahead of myself but does anyone know how firms are (if given a TC from a Spring VS) with waiting until all vs schemes (August) are done to accept an offer?
I'd realistically pick the spring firm but I definitely want to consider all my options. I know it is firm specific but does anyone know if theres a sorta standard or if specific firms are public about things

 

[haribolover]

I think it's more dependent on language of the question itself, if it says you're unsure, or have too much work, asking the team for assistance in one or another aspect isn't wrong and promotes collaboration.

I definitely need to work on reading nuances on questions then. I think every SJT I have done this year has gone abominably, to put it lightly. Thanks for the advice though 😀

 

[aspiringtrainee1]

This is my 7th AC and I’ve never experienced an interview like this one, at every single thing I said the interviewer interjected in some way to probe at. First it seemed fair, but it came to a point where they were just laughing at their own jokes poking fun at things I said. I don’t really care if I get an offer, I would never want to work with a partner like that but wow I knew law could be bad but I never anticipated that what a horror story!

 

[AryanAgg]

This is my 7th AC and I’ve never experienced an interview like this one, at every single thing I said the interviewer interjected in some way to probe at. First it seemed fair, but it came to a point where they were just laughing at their own jokes poking fun at things I said. I don’t really care if I get an offer, I would never want to work with a partner like that but wow I knew law could be bad but I never anticipated that what a horror story!

Im curious, which firm is this? (Upto you if you wanna answer this) and what type of interview? Scenario based or CV/motivation/commercial awareness based?

 

[Kenomy]

Same - lowkey expected it after the SJT when I think team player/collaboration/or whatever it was on the cappfinity, which they emphasised as being important to them, was my lowest. ugh - it's so annoying as I always struggle to answer SJTs. I know I am a team player, but answering these questions is such a balancing act and I don't want to seem like I am unable to just do a task myself when required

I'm struggling to find a way through those tests and try to avoid them altogether, I did the Withers one after the RPC one and thought I performed better on the Withers one but only progressed with RPC! the one I did with Shoosmiths was confusing as they put my weakness as adaptability, which confused me as I am sure I went to great pains to show that I am adaptable. Oh well.

 

[haribolover]

This is my 7th AC and I’ve never experienced an interview like this one, at every single thing I said the interviewer interjected in some way to probe at. First it seemed fair, but it came to a point where they were just laughing at their own jokes poking fun at things I said. I don’t really care if I get an offer, I would never want to work with a partner like that but wow I knew law could be bad but I never anticipated that what a horror story!

Honestly disgusting. The worst part is that they had to go through an interview to get where they are. The fact that they lack any sort of empathy having been in your shoes more disappointing. There will be better things around the corner, I am sure of it. Good luck with the rest of the application season ☺️

 

[Kenomy]

the offer is reall😭they also said the same thing during my ac that’s y I didn’t want to post at first. but i saw someone desperately asking so i decided to ans yst

well done!

 

[Applicant7874652]

I don't know if there's anything to this, but I read a post where someone said they got a VS offer from RPC the day after their AC end of January which confused me as in the AC they told us they weren't getting back to us until around 23 February and there were still multiple AC cohorts to go over the next weeks. Had me utterly baffled.

Also I do have a friend of a friend who had to wait a while and was offered the summer scheme. Essentially there is either a hold category which they are deciding on this week or they've made all the offers and its an incoming PFO

 

[haribolover]

I'm struggling to find a way through those tests and try to avoid them altogether, I did the Withers one after the RPC one and thought I performed better on the Withers one but only progressed with RPC! the one I did with Shoosmiths was confusing as they put my weakness as adaptability, which confused me as I am sure I went to great pains to show that I am adaptable. Oh well.

Honestly, same. I want to avoid them too - unfortunately more and more firms are doing them. I think I am somewhere on the ND spectrum, but don't have any sort of actual diagnosis, and hoenstly can't afford a private one, so it just makes the process even more unapproachable to say the least.

 

[Harvey Specter - Presiding Partner]

Which part was a lie? Literally I explained about the format, but you misunderstood what I meant, it's not a scam, you just don't understand what I said. It's unique WG. I did clarify before you took the test that I forgot about one section as I mixed with other types of WG. So, it's not my fault if you don't get the outcome that you want as apparently that was your first time with that type of WG,

Looks like this gif is needed on the forum again:

 

[aspiringtrainee1]

Im curious, which firm is this? (Upto you if you wanna answer this) and what type of interview? Scenario based or CV/motivation/commercial awareness based?

it was a US firm (have previously interviewed at 2 and been successful at 1 so i know what to expect) it was a mix of all of those, just their general interview

 

[Legalfreak212]

Nothing from Travers still, does anyone know if they send pfos in batches?

 

[trainee4u]

Just fwiw, I don't consider the format of WG tests to be top-secret information or something that it's plausible that someone would deliberately sabotage you by misinforming you about them.

I have done ALL the tests from the different providers, and if anyone has questions about how they work and so on am very happy to post this information publicly! (I do however ignore impertinent DMs.)

 

[trainee4u]

Today's PFOs:

• Blake Morgan
• Withers (already marked as PFO on my spreadsheet due to fact they'd clearly progressed everyone ages ago)
• Cleary (ditto)

I'm currently:

• two reserve lists (expect to get timed out but who knows)
• three upcoming ACs/interviews
• one pending AC outcome

so like hmm, hopefully comes good, but IDK!?!?