I believe DLA Piper recruit exclusively from their vacation schemes. So the next available opportunity would be their summer 2021 internship, which will be the recruitment pipeline for 2023 TCs.
I strongly suspect DWF have reduced their trainee intake as they seem to be in a bit of turmoil at the moment, so I wouldn’t necessarily assume that this year is representative.
It’s not just a case of other students not getting priority though- if they fill all their places with penultimate year students, those applications won’t even be looked at. Many firms recruit predominantly from VSs, but most (barring small intake US firms) will still review direct TC apps and a...
From their perspective, I guess it effectively ‘locks in’ the best students at an early stage as they can get ahead of other law firms.
I suppose it also gives them more time to mould a student into the type of trainee they want, as they have three years to run training and events etc.
Hi Jessica,
When applying for internships and other short-term roles in advance of commencing a training contract, would you advise always mentioning the fact that I will be starting a training contract on x date or will this put some employers off?
I believe there are some (particularly U.S.) firms that technically accept direct TC applications even though they don’t recruit anyone via this route or haven’t done so for a number of years. This is rarely made explicit though.
It would be better if these firms made this policy/practice clear...
The impression I get from that is that they’re basically telling people who don’t fit into the priority groups not to bother applying as they have a tiny chance of progressing, without actually saying those words.
To be frank, I suspect the time and effort would be better spent on other apps.
I know it’s hard, but try not to get too disheartened. I truly believe that the opportunity that is right for you will not pass you by.
I had a similar experience at a VS last year where all the feedback I had throughout the scheme was excellent and I even had a feedback meeting with the...
I suspect what has happened is that DWF have cut their trainee intake for the next few years given their current cost-cutting programme. Disappointing that they couldn’t have told applicants earlier but I guess they may only have finalised their numbers recently.
I suspect DWF’s graduate recruitment may have been affected by their cost-cutting programme and wouldn’t be surprised if they reduced or even cancelled it this year.
Hi Jessica,
I’m applying for training contracts commencing in 2022. I’m graduating this summer and planning to work for a year before doing the LPC/SQE in 2021.
I have secured a non-law position starting in August- should I add this to the work experience section of applications or leave it...
I was at a CMS presentation last year and they said very clearly that they have a TC available for every VS participant and they said that something like 95% were offered one last year. They also don’t seem to recruit at all from direct TC applications, so I guess they may not be sure how many...
I believe CMS do not take more people on the VS than they have TCs available for so it could be a case of offering one to everyone who attends the online week so long as they still have that number of TCs available?
I think there’s absolutely no chance of any physical vacation schemes or internships taking place in the foreseeable future unfortunately.
A large part of a VS is the presentations and networking which requires lots of people to be in a room together- that won’t be happening anytime soon.
I...
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