TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

Hi @Abbie Whitlock
I hope you're well! Thank you always for the rocking advice!
I was wondering how would you answer this question for a final VS interview - "what are you most excited about this in the role?"
I've tried different ways of answering such as "learning from partners and senior associates, exposure to their live transactions and the responsibility they give to trainees, researching complex concepts and simplifying them"

 

[trainee4u]

Think it will depnd on the firm/how much notice they have. I did a vac scheme where this happened and it was just one less person on the scheme

Shoosmiths will give a VS offer up to the day before if someone withdraws, lol.

 

[soph107048]

If someone has gotten a PFO post HL job sim could u please react to this post? Its been 2 months and still no pfo (heard of some others getting PFOs/ACs recently) so trying to gauge if getting ghosted is likely or just still being under review

 

[floral.tcla]

Shoosmiths will give a VS offer up to the day before if someone withdraws, lol.

I know where to apply to next cycle !

 

[floral.tcla]

sup, what do you do if a firm agreed to give feedback over post-ac (which took place a month ago), but since hasn’t followed through, and has ignored chasing emails in the past week, this firm only holds summer vac schemes so beyond onboarding new trainees who passed their SQE exams, is something else taking up GR’s time? I don’t want to be presumptive and appreciate that giving feedback takes a while, often they have other responsibilites like taking care of trainees, but equally this is their job and something that was explicitly stated in the email as something that would be provided, so I am equally confused

on a side note I love how supportive and positive everyone in this community has been through what we can all agree on is a very intense process

 

[floral.tcla]

@Abbie Whitlock

Hi Abbie (and anyone who is willing to offer advice here) - I have a final interview with W&C coming up and I've been struggling with answering 'why W&C' especially wrt their practice areas. They're not the strongest in M&A/PE but DCM/IA and my real interest lies in PE. I'm not too enthusiastic about being inauthentic but I'm very unsure of how to link my strengths/previous WE in PE to W&C(??) and was hoping I could get some advice - thanks so much!

It’s cliche but really stress the internationality of the deals, the firms offices, guaranteed secondment, TC if you haven’t already, I heard this from an acquaintance who has a TC there. good luck!

 

[Florencejones]

Anyone know if Browne Jacobson written questions have a word count - they are long!

 

[cb6056]

Anyone know if Browne Jacobson written questions have a word count - they are long!

They don't show you the word count as you type (which is annoying!) but they stop you from typing any more if you hit the word count. Idk how many words it is - I think around 500 but not sure!

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

@Abbie Whitlock

Hi Abbie (and anyone who is willing to offer advice here) - I have a final interview with W&C coming up and I've been struggling with answering 'why W&C' especially wrt their practice areas. They're not the strongest in M&A/PE but DCM/IA and my real interest lies in PE. I'm not too enthusiastic about being inauthentic but I'm very unsure of how to link my strengths/previous WE in PE to W&C(??) and was hoping I could get some advice - thanks so much!

Hi!

First of all, congratulations on the final interview!

I don't think you need to be inauthentic about your interest in PE, and I would instead try to broaden how you frame them, rather than pretending they have changed. For example, if you are drawn to private equity as you enjoy transactions or the deal dynamics, you could naturally link this to financing and capital structures. The aspects that attract you to PE are not necessarily exclusive to PE, and will be present in other financing, restructuring or transactional practices too.

Therefore, you could say that your experience in PE made you realise you enjoy working on complex and high-value transactions where structuring and risk allocation are key. Then, you can explain that White & Case's strengths in DCM and investment advisory would allow you to engage with those same elements - particularly on the financing and capital structuring side of deals, which are often fundamental to PE transactions anyway.

By framing it in this way, you are being authentic about your interests, but also showing that they are transferable and intellectually consistent with what White & Case does well.

Best of luck with the interview!!

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

Hi @Abbie Whitlock
I hope you're well! Thank you always for the rocking advice!
I was wondering how would you answer this question for a final VS interview - "what are you most excited about this in the role?"
I've tried different ways of answering such as "learning from partners and senior associates, exposure to their live transactions and the responsibility they give to trainees, researching complex concepts and simplifying them"

Hey!

I am doing well, thank you - I hope you are too (and thank you for your kind words!)

I would avoid giving a list of generic things and instead anchor your answer around one or two themes that feel specific and genuine.

For example, you could say that you are most excited about being involved in live matters and seeing how commercial decisions are made in real time - i.e. not just researching the law, but understanding why a client chooses one structure over another. You can then link that to the responsibility that trainees get, explaining that you are motivated by being trusted with meaningful contributions rather than purely observational tasks.

You could also mention the intellectual side (e.g. taking complex concepts and summarising them into clear and practical advice), but I would make sure that you frame this as something you are excited to do in a client-facing and fast-paced environment.

Essentially, the question is a way of showing that you understand the role of a trainee and can explain why that excites you. Therefore, I would pick 1-2 core things, explain why they genuinely excite you, and show that you understand how the trainee role actually works in practice.

Best of luck with the interview!!

 

[Joey green]

Hey does anyone have any insights into Stephenson Harwood? I’m actually asking for a friend believe it or not, but any help would be much much appreciated! Can definitely trade for insights into other firms.

 

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

Hey guys
Has anybody ever talked about a Masters Service Agreement in an AC? I just came across the term ; I knew about service level agreements but idk about these.
Are we supposed to go in this much detail?

 

[Bruce Wayne Attorney at Law]

Maybe an odd question but how do you guys react to news on a phone call?

Usually a call is good news, and if it's bad news, they will email, but I had an AC two weeks ago, and they said we'd hear back by phone this week whether it's good or bad news. Never been rejected on the phone before so now i'm overthinking what I would say say. "Oh, that's fine, didn't want you anyway" would probably be my natural response lol

I was unfortunately on the other end of this for the Latham VS. Usually they would do most of the talking and the generic I understand this maybe unexpected news or whatever. Being professional is extremely important, because it shows how you would take negative feedback and also grad rec talk among themselves too so would be a bad idea to further your losses by creating a negative image of yourself.

I would just focus on the feedback aspect of it, and try and schedule a call later for the detailed feedback and ask all the important questions like their post AC application policy.

 

[Ifeoluwa]

Hi I was looking at the Sky placement with AS and their mention having done the SQE 1. Do you think that is their requirement for applying or for before the TC?
I sent an email to aS but never got a response...

Hey, I did the scheme last year and there was someone on the scheme that had not done SQE1 yet but had it scheduled for July. I think the requirement is to do it before the scheme because the training contract will start Septemeber 2026. But if you can demonstrate that you plan to do it before the TC starts, I think you will be fine.

 

[Cece176]

Anyone who did Bristows WE, how long did it take you?

 

[GKT]

Maybe I'm being cynical but is "insights" just a codeword for interview questions?

 

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

Is 3.5 - 4 minutes an overkill/ too long for "why this firm" answer in an interview?

 

[lydia25]

sup, what do you do if a firm agreed to give feedback over post-ac (which took place a month ago), but since hasn’t followed through, and has ignored chasing emails in the past week, this firm only holds summer vac schemes so beyond onboarding new trainees who passed their SQE exams, is something else taking up GR’s time? I don’t want to be presumptive and appreciate that giving feedback takes a while, often they have other responsibilites like taking care of trainees, but equally this is their job and something that was explicitly stated in the email as something that would be provided, so I am equally confused

on a side note I love how supportive and positive everyone in this community has been through what we can all agree on is a very intense process

is this weil haha

i'm also a little annoyed bc I would genuinely have preferred them to outright say they're not offering feedback or that we shouldn't expect a response any time soon. obviously feedback is really helpful regardless of when you get it, but it could've been so much more helpful if I got it before I did other interviews!

there are a few grad rec teams that I've found really unhelpful or even sometimes rude after rejection - and I specifically mean at final interview stages bc I completely get why they wouldn't care earlier. I fear this might be another, but it makes me feel a little better. I don't think it is particularly nice to leave people in the dark, especially when they've invested so much in an application process, so we haven't really lost out on too much!

 

[Harvey Specter - Presiding Partner]

Can’t the orange guy wait until after ACs are done before he wreaks havoc and starts WW3…​

 

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

Can’t the orange guy wait until after ACs are done before he wreaks havoc and starts WW3…​