General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[DrowninginSQE]

Do you mind sharing some advice, tips, suggestions etc for the app stage? Been following this thread and you’ve been absolutely crushing it!!!

Thank you, that’s very kind! A lot of it is the fact that I have a lot of work experience in the City and a previous vacation scheme

 

[JustSky]

Hi! I submitted my application for a TC at Allen & Overy on Sunday, did the SJT the same day, but received an email saying that I haven't completed it and should do it within the next 48h, otherwise, my application won't be considered. On my portal, it says that my application is under review. I emailed Grad Rec but it's been 24h and no reply. Did anyone experience anything like this?

 

[GM]

I have a question for @Jessica Booker (if you have time to answer!).

I applied to the NRF summer vac scheme last year and got all the way to the telephone interview where I unfortunately did not make it through to the AC stage.

Do you think it's acceptable to reuse the same online app form?

My reasoning is that (a) the issue was not with my online app if I made it all the way to the phone interview and (b) it has only been 7 months since I submitted that app so not much has changed. I know you've generally advised people to change their applications but my strongest experiences are the ones I included in the first online app. I don't want to seem lazy and I will of course update my app to reflect the one extra achievement I've had in between but I also think the app got me through the first time and it would be silly to rework it to potentially make it worse.

Thank you in advance .

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

I have a question for @Jessica Booker (if you have time to answer!).

I applied to the NRF summer vac scheme last year and got all the way to the telephone interview where I unfortunately did not make it through to the AC stage.

Do you think it's acceptable to reuse the same online app form?

My reasoning is that (a) the issue was not with my online app if I made it all the way to the phone interview and (b) it has only been 7 months since I submitted that app so not much has changed. I know you've generally advised people to change their applications but my strongest experiences are the ones I included in the first online app. I don't want to seem lazy and I will of course update my app to reflect the one extra achievement I've had in between but I also think the app got me through the first time and it would be silly to rework it to potentially make it worse.

Thank you in advance .

Exactly the same application form, no.

There will be things that have changed since your last application and I will bet money that you will find ways to refine your language/written style and motivational answers, even if the majority of the content is the same.

 

[GM]

Exactly the same application form, no.

There will be things that have changed since your last application and I will bet money that you will find ways to refine your language/written style and motivational answers, even if the majority of the content is the same.

Okay, thank you very much!

 

[Mxkry]

Rejection from Ashurst Winter Vac. Anyone heard back from Slaughters about their Winter Workshop?

 

[WannabeSolicitor24]

Rejection from Ashurst Winter Vac. Anyone heard back from Slaughters about their Winter Workshop?

My friend got rejected from it the other week I think, but I've not heard of anyone being successful

 

[Law2022]

Rejection from Ashurst Winter Vac. Anyone heard back from Slaughters about their Winter Workshop?

I am still waiting for a response from Slaughters for the WW. Good luck to you!

 

[M1999]

Does anyone have the app questions for a&o summer vac? You have to submit your work experience etc before you have access to q and I would like to draft the app answers!

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Hi! I submitted my application for a TC at Allen & Overy on Sunday, did the SJT the same day, but received an email saying that I haven't completed it and should do it within the next 48h, otherwise, my application won't be considered. On my portal, it says that my application is under review. I emailed Grad Rec but it's been 24h and no reply. Did anyone experience anything like this?

Hey,

I haven't experienced this. Are you sure the email you received say you hadn't done it? Because I got two emails, one about the SJT (yesterday) and one with the SJT link (yesterday).

I just did mine today so will let you know if I have the same issue.

 

[dosblancos7]

For situational questions, such as " If you fell behind on a piece of work", or struggling to meet assigned work deadlines, how would one answer that? I honestly would have no idea what firms are looking for when they ask this type of question.. Personally I would just work longer and finish it , but I'm not sure if this is a useful answer

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Lawsm21]

Has anyone else had glitching problems with the bird & bird VI? It happened to me last year (different laptop, different WiFi) where it played the first question twice and then on 1 question the clock just started counting down with no timer allowing for 60seconds thinking time (as the other questions had) and then on the final Q the thinking time timer and actual answer timer were nothing going on at the same time...

I emailed to say it glitched but hopefully they received my full answers, just wondering if anyone else experienced the same given it did it to me last year aswell?? Also kinda annoying I had zero seconds to think on 2 of the answers lol I think all in all it was a bit of a disaster...

Oh no I'm sorry that happened! Can I ask when you applied to Bird & Bird? Is this for the Spring VS?

 

[Sekani Wraith]

hi @Jessica Booker if a firm asks about a deal that they have worked on, can I talk about a dispute the litigation department worked on, or does it have to be a transaction?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

hi @Jessica Booker if a firm asks about a deal that they have worked on, can I talk about a dispute the litigation department worked on, or does it have to be a transaction?

Although deal suggests a transaction, I think this might just be clunky wording on the firm’s part, and that a case would be fine too. Probably worthwhile checking with someone who knows about that specific firm though.

 

[IntrepidL]

For situational questions, such as " If you fell behind on a piece of work", or struggling to meet assigned work deadlines, how would one answer that? I honestly would have no idea what firms are looking for when they ask this type of question.. Personally I would just work longer and finish it , but I'm not sure if this is a useful answer

Any help would be appreciated

Hi, @Jessica Booker! Was wondering if you would have any suggestions on this question too

I would say I would share the workload with another member of the team. If the rest of the team is busy, I think it is important to be honest and transparent with my supervisor (or the person assigning me the work) so as to prevent the situation from snowballing out of control.

 

[Sekani Wraith]

Although deal suggests a transaction, I think this might just be clunky wording on the firm’s part, and that a case would be fine too. Probably worthwhile checking with someone who knows about that specific firm though.

Thank you!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi, @Jessica Booker! Was wondering if you would have any suggestions on this question too

I would say I would share the workload with another member of the team. If the rest of the team is busy, I think it is important to be honest and transparent with my supervisor (or the person assigning me the work) so as to prevent the situation from snowballing out of control.

working longer won’t always be the the practical solution, especially on its own. Reality is you will probably you need to take a range of approaches.

This might be a useful post

4Ds

 

[Velikilawyer123]

@Jessica Booker Jess, I recently had a fairly short phone interview (15 - 20 mins), it consisted of maybe 4 - 5 competency / motivational questions, and at the end the interviewer said something along the lines of "Ok, thanks for your answers, just to let you know you should find out the outcome of your interview by the end of the week and if you've made it through, we'll be in touch next week to set up the AC. Do you have any questions?". I thanked her and went with the questions I'd been meaning to ask, something about their international opportunities and secondments.

But the thing is, it felt very unnatural for some reason. Maybe it was due to the short length of the interview, maybe because of her tone which almost seemed to indicate "do you have any questions about what I just said", I don't know, but thinking about it in retrospect, my question re secondments seems now like the most rehearsed, artificial question ever (and her answer wasn't too enthusiastic either, further lending to my belief).

Is it possible that in short phone interviews, my questions for them should be different than the ones I'd ask after a full-scale interview? Or even entirely omitted?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

@Jessica Booker Jess, I recently had a fairly short phone interview (15 - 20 mins), it consisted of maybe 4 - 5 competency / motivational questions, and at the end the interviewer said something along the lines of "Ok, thanks for your answers, just to let you know you should find out the outcome of your interview by the end of the week and if you've made it through, we'll be in touch next week to set up the AC. Do you have any questions?". I thanked her and went with the questions I'd been meaning to ask, something about their international opportunities and secondments.

But the thing is, it felt very unnatural for some reason. Maybe it was due to the short length of the interview, maybe because of her tone which almost seemed to indicate "do you have any questions about what I just said", I don't know, but thinking about it in retrospect, my question re secondments seems now like the most rehearsed, artificial question ever (and her answer wasn't too enthusiastic either, further lending to my belief).

Is it possible that in short phone interviews, my questions for them should be different than the ones I'd ask after a full-scale interview? Or even entirely omitted?

You are over thinking this.

 

[Velikilawyer123]

You are over thinking this.

So there's no difference in the questions I should be asking in interviews of different length?