TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[DisciplineTC2526]

Hey guys, anyone know when White & Case will hold ACs for their winter vac scheme this year or at least when they did so in previous years. Thank you.

 

[Law2022]

Nope, you have to pass the SJT before your app is considered

congrats!

Thank you so much

 

[John Travoni]

Anyone who applied for A&O’s winter VC, had anyone’s portal changed ??

 

[LS12]

for Ashurst's PS is that in essence a cover letter and do I need to address the personal statement? I can't work out if it's more like the PS I drafted for university applications

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Nope, you have to pass the SJT before your app is considered

congrats!

So it is just like HSF.

 

[ZaraB]

for Ashurst's PS is that in essence a cover letter and do I need to address the personal statement? I can't work out if it's more like the PS I drafted for university applications

I went to the Vantage event today and grad rec confirmed that you don't need to address it to anyone.

She said the reason it is now called a personal statement is because last year when it was called a cover letter they had a lot of questions around whom to address it to. Hope this helps!

 

[Lawstudent99!]

Hey, does anyone have any idea how to answer “where do your weaknesses lie?”

I obviously know I have weaknesses but can’t think of what to say, in particular, what to say so that the firm doesn’t look at me negatively?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hey, does anyone have any idea how to answer “where do your weaknesses lie?”

I obviously know I have weaknesses but can’t think of what to say, in particular, what to say so that the firm doesn’t look at me negatively?

They aren’t going to look at you negatively if

1) you can identify your weaknesses - self awareness is a vital characteristic of any trainee

2) you can show what you are either doing to develop that particular weakness or how you have learnt to work around it

 

[corinium]

I went to the Vantage event today and grad rec confirmed that you don't need to address it to anyone.

She said the reason it is now called a personal statement is because last year when it was called a cover letter they had a lot of questions around whom to address it to. Hope this helps!

Oh no! I addressed it to the graduate recruitment partner... hopefully that's not a mark against me :/

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Oh no! I addressed it to the graduate recruitment partner... hopefully that's not a mark against me :/

It will be fine.

 

[ZaraB]

For anyone who has done the DLA Piper application - did you input your a levels individually and did you include your GCSE's? I can see that there is an option of GCSE's available, but this section states they want details working backwards in reverse chronological order up to and including A level or equivalent studies.

 

[ZaraB]

Oh no! I addressed it to the graduate recruitment partner... hopefully that's not a mark against me :/

Not at all, I don't think it matters! I am sure that many people would have addressed it to someone in any event

 

[s10]

Hey is it possible to request a firm to shift the winter vacation scheme offer to spring/summer?

I'd very much like to know if this is possible too!

 

[Hele25]

Just to echo Jess here, the question just wants to know generally what would be important to any client. So it’s more an exercise of just putting yourself in any clients shoes rather than a specific client. Some things that (I think) would be important to clients:

- Cost - What AFAs (alternative fee arrangements) can the firm offer? Does the firm have good project management systems in place to make matters run more efficiently? Is the firm using any legal tech?
- Sector/Industry expertise - How much does Gowling know about the clients business and their specific needs? You don’t need to know the client for this - focus on the expertise the firm already offers across the board
- USPs - What can Gowling offer that a similar competitor law firm can’t? Is there something about their business model/international reach/rankings/past deal experience that pushes them ahead of the competition?

This is absolutely invaluable thanks so so much. Just a quick follow up question - I’ve actually written two answers to this now, one from the perspective of me outside the business - ‘Gowling can offer’ etc and one with me placed inside the business ‘we can offer’.
Do you think the firm will find the second way presumptive? Does it matter?

 

[M777]

I'd very much like to know if this is possible too!

99% sure it's possible

 

[M777]

Anyone else heard from A&O winter vac scheme yet?

 

[GXA123]

They aren’t going to look at you negatively if

1) you can identify your weaknesses - self awareness is a vital characteristic of any trainee

2) you can show what you are either doing to develop that particular weakness or how you have learnt to work around it

which application is this?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi, everyone!
I'd like to ask whether my approach for A&O application questions is 'correct'. The questions are quite straight forward but I am just getting confused.

Question 1
Please describe the key learnings/skills you’ve gained through work experience, positions of responsibility, personal experience, or extracurricular activities.

• For this, I used examples of when I 'innovated' a process (at work), collaborated on a campaign with a group of people, and lastly how I use 'attention to detail' when checking website articles.

Question 2
Outline how you would apply these skills to the trainee role at A&O, in order to be successful.

• Innovation - I talked about how innovative A&O is (RelativityOne) and how I would put the client first, and look for new approaches
• Collaboration - I'd have to work with many different people within the firm (so I gave an example of their recent deal where different teams were involved) but also internationally.
• Attention to detail - proof-reading etc

Sounds like you have taken the right approach!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

which application is this?

I don’t know

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

This is absolutely invaluable thanks so so much. Just a quick follow up question - I’ve actually written two answers to this now, one from the perspective of me outside the business - ‘Gowling can offer’ etc and one with me placed inside the business ‘we can offer’.
Do you think the firm will find the second way presumptive? Does it matter?

Remember the question isn’t asking you to frame this in what the firm would do. It’s just asking you to talk about pitch processes generally, and asking you to potentially leverage previous experiences.

But it wouldn’t be presumptive if that’s the approach you took.