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

[LawfulRust00]

Hi, this is for spring? If so, when did you do your WG?

Indeed it is. Friday.

 

[LawfulRust00]

Hi, this is for spring? If so, when did you do your WG?

Yes. Friday

 

[YUKI1201]

Anyone heard back re: HSF summer VC?

 

[OreoShake]

Just some random thoughts. For argument evaluation section of Watson Glaser (WG) tests, are the answers to each argument always one Strong and one Weak argument? Or could the answers be two Strong arguments for the same argument.

I thought it is always one strong and one weak. But now, after taking a WG test, I'm quite confused

 

[Anoned]

Just some random thoughts. For argument evaluation section of Watson Glaser (WG) tests, are the answers to each argument always one Strong and one Weak argument? Or could the answers be two Strong arguments for the same argument.

I thought it is always one strong and one weak. But now, after taking a WG test, I'm quite confused

No there is no pattern like that, you must look at each argument as completely independent from any other factor rather than the question at hand.

 

[Rob93]

Just some random thoughts. For argument evaluation section of Watson Glaser (WG) tests, are the answers to each argument always one Strong and one Weak argument? Or could the answers be two Strong arguments for the same argument.

I thought it is always one strong and one weak. But now, after taking a WG test, I'm quite confused

No, arguments could be all strong or all weak

 

[CC03]

Anyone heard back from DLA Piper (London)?

 

[CC03]

Anyone heard back re: HSF summer VC?

I think they are prioritising spring first !

 

[AvniD]

Mayer brown testing invite today too woohoo 🎉

Mayer Brown Job Simulation invite

Made it to the Mayer Brown Job Simulation round! Can anyone give some insight to it.

Congratulations on your test invite y'all! 🥳 🥳 🥳 Sounds like it's probably gonna be modelled on a situational judgment test (SJT). Including some links below to helpful posts on the forum for tips to practice! My best tip- always try to put yourself in a trainee's shoes and think of the most appropriate reaction to a given situation (trust me, you've been in versions of these situations at some point in your life- you just have to reflect deeply) and go with whatever feels most right- trust your gut instinct!

1. Preparing for SJTs by Alice- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/scenario-based-assessment.2367/#post-30260
2. Ways to approach SJTs by Jessica- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/situational-judgement-tests.1729/#post-14156
3. SJT practice material by Dheepa- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ssion-thread-2020-21.2170/page-343#post-49068

Made it to interview with NRF for Spring VS! Any tips?

Congratulations!! Very very well done!! 👏👏👏 Is this a VI?

Just some random thoughts. For argument evaluation section of Watson Glaser (WG) tests, are the answers to each argument always one Strong and one Weak argument? Or could the answers be two Strong arguments for the same argument.

I thought it is always one strong and one weak. But now, after taking a WG test, I'm quite confused

@OreoShake they can be either or both! Look out for logical fallacies, correlations being confused with causation and red herrings as these may weaken an argument- it takes time to develop an instinct for this but it will come eventually as you practice. You've got this! 💪

 

[golden99]

Hi there,

White & Case ask applicants to list there average grade for each year at university, as well as there overall grade as a percentage. My university only counted second and third year grades when calculating our overall grade, with the third year getting more weighting. Should I give this figure or an average of all of my first, second and third year grades?

For reference my grades were much better in my third year, so would ideally use this metric.

@AvniD @Jessica Booker @George Maxwell

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi there,

White & Case ask applicants to list there average grade for each year at university, as well as there overall grade as a percentage. My university only counted second and third year grades when calculating our overall grade, with the third year getting more weighting. Should I give this figure or an average of all of my first, second and third year grades?

For reference my grades were much better in my third year, so would ideally use this metric.

@AvniD @Jessica Booker @George Maxwell

You’ll still need to provide an average for your first and second years despite the weighting. Weighting in favour of later years is common in universities. Firms still want to see what your average was in your first year and then again in your second year though, even if they don’t count towards your final grade.

 

[OreoShake]

No there is no pattern like that, you must look at each argument as completely independent from any other factor rather than the question at hand.

No, arguments could be all strong or all weak

Congratulations on your test invite y'all! 🥳 🥳 🥳 Sounds like it's probably gonna be modelled on a situational judgment test (SJT). Including some links below to helpful posts on the forum for tips to practice! My best tip- always try to put yourself in a trainee's shoes and think of the most appropriate reaction to a given situation (trust me, you've been in versions of these situations at some point in your life- you just have to reflect deeply) and go with whatever feels most right- trust your gut instinct!

1. Preparing for SJTs by Alice- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/scenario-based-assessment.2367/#post-30260
2. Ways to approach SJTs by Jessica- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/situational-judgement-tests.1729/#post-14156
3. SJT practice material by Dheepa- https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ssion-thread-2020-21.2170/page-343#post-49068

Congratulations!! Very very well done!! 👏👏👏 Is this a VI?

@OreoShake they can be either or both! Look out for logical fallacies, correlations being confused with causation and red herrings as these may weaken an argument- it takes time to develop an instinct for this but it will come eventually as you practice. You've got this! 💪

Thanks everyone for the reply. Reassures me for sure!
Maybe the practice tests I was taking were just structured that way to have 1 strong and 1 weak.

 

[AvniD]

has anyone got any advice on how to stay motivated through this application season!! Finding my motivation slowly fading now 😭

Hi @GS0W! I'm sorry to hear you've been struggling with motivation. That was one of my biggest challenges during the application season and I found that three things helped me a lot in eventually overcoming it-

• Being kind to myself- I learnt to not judge myself harshly if I missed a deadline, skipped a webinar or received a rejection. This process is so complex and needs you to put in your best effort at every stage, and being unkind towards yourself for human errors and mistakes in judgement is really unnecessary. Take things at your own pace and trust that you know what you're doing, even you falter here and there.
  
  
• Making time for things outside the application process- I found that I was slowly losing my sense of identity by obsessing over applications day in and day out and realised how essential it was to take time away from being an 'aspiring solicitor' to ground myself. However cheesy this may sound, I started to make time every day for my hobbies and interests to remind myself of things I loved doing that weren't in any way related to law- whether it was running, or painting or blogging, or whatever it may be for you.
  
  
• Clueing in family and friends- I began to honestly share if I was feeling excited or nervous or disappointed or burnt out with my inner circle and their unwavering support and insightful advice really helped me get through periods of low motivation. Everybody goes through challenges in their motivation at some point in time and having someone empathise with you or share their experience can be really uplifting.

I have to say that the way you've bravely shared how you're feeling on the forum is really admirable and that I think you're doing great 👏👏👏 I really hope my experience resonates with you and helps you through this period. Needless to say, please feel free to tag me in your posts if you ever need help with your applications 😇

 

[AvniD]

Thanks everyone for the reply. Reassures me for sure!
Maybe the practice tests I was taking were just structured that way to have 1 strong and 1 weak.

Not a problem! Definitely try practising from a wide range of resources so you can get a feel for how the test may present itself in different ways.

 

[AvniD]

Hi there,

White & Case ask applicants to list there average grade for each year at university, as well as there overall grade as a percentage. My university only counted second and third year grades when calculating our overall grade, with the third year getting more weighting. Should I give this figure or an average of all of my first, second and third year grades?

For reference my grades were much better in my third year, so would ideally use this metric.

@AvniD @Jessica Booker @George Maxwell

You’ll still need to provide an average for your first and second years despite the weighting. Weighting in favour of later years is common in universities. Firms still want to see what your average was in your first year and then again in your second year though, even if they don’t count towards your final grade.

Agree with Jessica! You'll have to calculate these yourself if they weren't provided by universities- make sure you double-check the figures for accuracy and correctness!

 

[James Carrabino]

Just did the Reed Smith VI and want to disappear 🤣😭 I did a lot of preparation in the past 2 days, but still need to practice more. Hopefully, I’ll get better at video interviews with time ☺️

oddly I find I do better in them when I do less prep. I think from now I'll vaguely prepare the why firm, why law, and commercial story/case answers and then just treat it like a conversation.
I stumble over my words when ive over prepared because I end up trying too hard for it to go as I practised lol

I did a VI with a firm that I spent ages preparing for and I thought I had aced it because I had managed to prepare the exact questions that came up (I essentially had a script ready to go in my mind). I got rejected and the firm provided feedback, the main point of which being that my answers sounded scripted.

I applied for another opening at the firm during the same cycle, got to VI again and thought 'Let's just get this over with because clearly all the prep in the world got me nowhere'. I spent a maximum of an hour refreshing my memory on the firm and clicked start - I passed the VI stage.

There were many more 'ums' and 'ers' in my second video interview with the firm for sure, but I could tell that my answers sounded more authentic and conversational. Most importantly, I was really able to use the preparation time not trying to recall everything that I wanted to mention, but rather thinking about how I could make sure I actually answered the exact question being asked. I probably included less information in the process, but I realised that stuffing examples of your research into your answer is not the way to showing your genuine understanding of the topic or motivation for applying to the firm.

Prepare well, but set yourself a deadline for just doing the video interview. Think of your preparation as a foundation of knowledge that will facilitate your confidence in answering any question they ask you, as opposed to a rehearsal of what you will actually be saying when answering.

I hope that all helps

 

[Rob93]

has anyone got any advice on how to stay motivated through this application season!! Finding my motivation slowly fading now 😭

I've found that I'm a lot more on top of things when I approach applications as a constructive process - even if a given application doesn't work out, the act of producing the application has its own value in terms of improving my writing, helping me to refine or better articulate my motivations, etc. No doubt it is still a slog and I still don't like this process, but shifting my outlook so that failed apps don't feel like a waste of time & energy has been very helpful.

It's also important to keep a bit of distance to avoid discouragement when rejections inevitably come through the inbox. At this point I just shrug and say 'oh well, their loss' when PFOs come through, even if I'm quite put out. Gets me fired up to sink my teeth into the next app.

 

[James Carrabino]

has anyone got any advice on how to stay motivated through this application season!! Finding my motivation slowly fading now 😭

I've found that I'm a lot more on top of things when I approach applications as a constructive process - even if a given application doesn't work out, the act of producing the application has its own value in terms of improving my writing, helping me to refine or better articulate my motivations, etc. No doubt it is still a slog and I still don't like this process, but shifting my outlook so that failed apps don't feel like a waste of time & energy has been very helpful.

It's also important to keep a bit of distance to avoid discouragement when rejections inevitably come through the inbox. At this point I just shrug and say 'oh well, their loss' when PFOs come through, even if I'm quite put out. Gets me fired up to sink my teeth into the next app.

@Rob93 this is a winner's mindset!

If you feel that 'this application is a massive waste of time if it is not successful' then that attitude is not conducive to keeping up your motivation. You certainly do not need to enjoy any bit about applying, but I found that there is some sort of addictive rhythm to the research and writing process of a law firm application.

And in the process you learn so much about each firm without realising it! I spent hundreds of hours writing applications, most of which was incredibly well-spent time even with hindsight. I now know a huge amount about the London legal market (I have friends who applied to like two firms and were successful, but are now beginning their TCs and facing an extremely steep learning curve). Also, I really enhanced my commercial awareness just by thinking about commercial topics and how they related to law firms.

If you think about each application as an investment in yourself with the added bonus of a possible job coming out of it, then you will be hungry to keep applying

 

[snailvibez]

Just realised Skadden is rolling... Does submitting the application on the day of the deadline = PFO?

 

[James Carrabino]

Just realised Skadden is rolling... Does submitting the application on the day of the deadline = PFO?

Not at all, go for it!