2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Oxdart]

They actually have a YouTube video explaining their reasoning behind it:


I completely sympathise with those who are disappointed about this, and I am concerned about firms taking the political correctness/positive discrimination stance. (I understand their year 11 are aimed at state school students, and to be fair giving AC's to candidates they know from first year schemes is understandable.)

Regardless of your opinion about this however, recruitment is a two way process and if you don't agree with their policy, then you probably aren't missing out much by not working for them.
Hope we all get to work at a firm that value us

I’m sorry but this is a silly response. You’re saying firms should be allowed to, say, exclude BAME applicants and the only repurchasing they face is BAME applicants avoid them? Discrimination laws are there for a reason and CC seems to be clearly discriminating based on age through its policies.

 

[Jacob Miller]

Focus on the similarities between S&M and those other firms you've applied to and what attracted you to those features. So think about things like similar practice area strengths, industry strengths, geographical presence, and clients. I would then follow up those things with why you think S&M still comes out ahead of those other firms and why they are still your top choice. The interviewers just want to see that you've really thought about the kind of work you want to be doing and that those motivations are consistent across your applications. If I'm being honest though, I was always very selective when choosing to include which other firms I applied to and only mentioned the firms I knew did similar work and were comparable. Made answering the question a lot easier on myself.

Hi,

I cover this in my latest article which may help you out:

Definitive Guide to Law Firm Interviews! *Monday Article Series*

In this week's (slightly delayed - sorry!) Article, we take a look at law firm interviews. Introduction Almost every law firm’s application process involves some form of interview. This style of interview is designed to find out about your motivations, experiences, skills and characteristics...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[whisperingrock]

I’m sorry but this is a silly response. You’re saying firms should be allowed to, say, exclude BAME applicants and the only repurchasing they face is BAME applicants avoid them? Discrimination laws are there for a reason and CC seems to be clearly discriminating based on age through its policies.

Probably would be indirect discrimination under the Equality Act, but unlikely that anyone would pursue it or win. Would depend on how well CC justifies it and how many "older" applicants are actually blocked out. Its not like you can't be 35 and a 2nd year student.

 

[Oxdart]

Definitely not age discrimination unfortunately....

Why is that Jessica? Genuinely curious...by funneling people at an earlier stage, in an industry where other firms accept older applicants, they are doing that? Like it’s not saying age is the factor but if a protected characteristic like age is affected by the policy, doesn’t that apply?

I would not consider working at CC because the policy is silly in terms of sourcing talent but putting that aside it just feels wrong that you’re excluding people in a way that the effect is agism..

 

[AY]

For 'education history' on applications, does 'resitting exams' mean only if you failed the exam first time? e.g. I have repeated a few GCSE modules purely because I wanted a higher grade. How are people interpreting this?? Many thanks

 

[Rob93]

For 'education history' on applications, does 'resitting exams' mean only if you failed the exam first time? e.g. I have repeated a few GCSE modules purely because I wanted a higher grade. How are people interpreting this?? Many thanks

I would read that as including voluntary resits taken to boost the grade.

 

[lwsand]

Hi everyone, I have an AC at BCLP coming up and I was wondering if anyone knows what a "mark-up exercise" involves? Thanks in advance!

 

[Cardiff law grad]

Can anyone recommend any good commercial litigation cases (or in general) for HFW? - cases on their website seem to be anonymised @Jacob Miller

Have you had a look at their linkedin posts? Usually a good source for finding recent cases Just from a quick look over - they have a list of some high profile insolvency matters they have worked in the last 12 months - here is the link https://www.linkedin.com/company/hfw/posts/?feedView=all

 

[Dheepa]

Hi everyone, I have an AC at BCLP coming up and I was wondering if anyone knows what a "mark-up exercise" involves? Thanks in advance!

Answered a similar question a few weeks ago!

Exactly as you said. Mark up exercises involve spotting inconsistencies, grammatical errors, punctuation errors, spelling mistakes and even mistakes in document formatting (wrong numbering, inconsistent bullet point styles etc.) Especially for spotting inconsistencies in the actual contents, being able to actually understand the document is pretty important. I don't know what kind of document you'll be given but to prepare for mine I looked through basic contract examples online just so I could familiarise myself with their general layout. Other than that there's not much you can do to prepare actually, my best advice is to work through the document systematically and not worry too much if you run out of time (my mark up exercise at a firm was really time pressured). Focus on spotting as many mistakes as you can on the pages you do get through rather than blindly trying to get to the end of the document.

 

[MzM]

the deadline-day battle with CvMail begins. First crash of the day *sigh*

 

[jan28]

not me realising these last minute applications are actually not that bad and that i may have a chance 😂 so glad to be on tcla for how motivating everyone is!

 

[Cardiff law grad]

Got my Slaughter and May interview soon, does anyone have any tips on how to explain why I've applied to other firms when I'm asked? I've applied to all MC and a few top US firms

I mean practice areas, cohort size, sectors, prestige, internationalism are all good places to start Will be honest its clear you want a certain type of firm so I wouldn't worry too much about it Hope that helps - and good luck

 

[Deleted member 8227]

Does anyone know if when a firm says they have a written exercise in the interview it could be something more complex like an M&A case study? The email just stresses it's about time management.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

the deadline-day battle with CvMail begins. First crash of the day *sigh*

I'm getting "The service is unavailable" - fingers crossed this is resolved soon!

 

[MzM]

I'm getting "The service is unavailable" - fingers crossed this is resolved soon!

The fact this happens literally every big deadline day is somewhat frustrating to say the least haha

 

[Oxdart]

BCLP seems to accept direct TC too..does anyone know how many they recruit this way?

 

[H48]

Has anyone who applied to Addleshaw in Scotland heard anything?

 

[Dheepa]

Does anyone know if when a firm says they have a written exercise in the interview it could be something more complex like an M&A case study? The email just stresses it's about time management.

Written exercises almost always involve assessing a candidates commercial awareness on things like M&A. Although I think there are quite a few law firms that now use different kinds of transactions and even litigation fictional scenarios. Would really recommend looking through Jacob's guide. Just curious, does the email mention a case study separate to the written exercise?

Definitive Guide to Law Firm Case Studies! *Monday Article Series*

Hi all, please see below the third of my Monday Article Series! This week is my definitive guide to case studies. It's a long one - you might want to go get a coffee and settle in! Introduction This week’s Monday Article will cover how to approach law firm case studies, one of the most...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[Deleted member 8227]

Written exercises almost always involve assessing a candidates commercial awareness on things like M&A. Although I think there are quite a few law firms that now use different kinds of transactions and even litigation fictional scenarios. Would really recommend looking through Jacob's guide. Just curious, does the email mention a case study separate to the written exercise?

Definitive Guide to Law Firm Case Studies! *Monday Article Series*

Hi all, please see below the third of my Monday Article Series! This week is my definitive guide to case studies. It's a long one - you might want to go get a coffee and settle in! Introduction This week’s Monday Article will cover how to approach law firm case studies, one of the most...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

Great thanks I'll be sure to check that out. And no all it says is there will be a timed written task to assess my time management skills, working under pressure, prioritising my workload and written communication. It's for Weil if anyone has any insight into this, especially virtually!

 

[Bugsy Malone]

The fact this happens literally every big deadline day is somewhat frustrating to say the least haha

Yeah definitely, I guess lots of people submitting! I was about to click submit haha