Anyone who got the Cooley interview invite, have you been allocated your time/date? I emailed grad rec to ask yday and they told me we’d heard back sometime yesterday, however I havent received anything.
TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
- Start date
just got rejected from Macfarlanes post AC, yet to recieve feedback from them. I think my negotiations, interview and casestudy went really well. However, the written exercise was torture i dont think i sufficiently answered the question. Keeping my head up, it was my first AC. Hopefully more to come im still awaiting responses from a few firms post application and and post vi. Fingers crossed!
Did anyone applied for DWF ethic programme? I’ve heard nothing back
Sorry do you mind sharing who the original poster was and what they said? The post has been removed 😕I would rather "A black Linkedin influencer" get an AC over an average oxbridge candidate or someone who complains about a minority getting an opportunity
Does the norton rose test have audio/ require you to speak? Trying to figure out whether I can take it from a quiet study space
How did it go? Were you able to attend this event before hand? "How to pass law firm video interviews - with Reed Smith" https://tcla.realms.tv/tcla-events/videos/a3b5cef8-7351-4673-ae23-e57ac0582828
It was @Penninevalley (think they have since deleted or smth) and they said something about how being a Black influencer on LinkedIn is a law firm’s wet dream suggesting law firms prefer them to help show off the diversity at their firms.
Completely forgetting the fact that the biggest law influencer hired by a law firm is a white woman called Eve. 🤡
This whole application process has really made me hate weekends, how am I meant to fill my time if I'm not constantly refreshing emails!?
I know someone who has an AC at PMC in a week and a half
idk if that’s helpful!
that’s why we have tcla and linkedin lol. i sound so lame😭😭This whole application process has really made me hate weekends, how am I meant to fill my time if I'm not constantly refreshing emails!?
It’s really sad when some people believe that ethnic minorities/disadvantaged backgrounds are prioritised by law firm when dishing out TCs.
I recently was at a US law firm for the AC and more than half of candidates there were from Oxbridge. In my group I was the only one not from Oxbridge. I asked them about their professional background and I was told by all of them that they only have extra curricular experience (except one who had a month of work experience somewhere). I was really shocked because on my CV I have a lot of diverse work experiences while some people there showed up only with Oxbridge on CV.
It’s really disappointing when firms first ask for “different skills” etc. And then they invite people to the AC with only “society experience” just cause they went to Oxbridge.
How is a 19 years old with nothing on his CV, other than Oxbridge, a better candidate than a ethnic minority/socially disadvantaged candidate with a lot of skills and work experiences?
Elitism runs deep in the London legal sphere.
Those who got a Dechert PFO, did they provide feedback on your performance on the written assessment?
You/We should be proud of ourselves that we made it to the same position despite not having their background! Sometimes having that chip on my shoulder makes me more determined... I don't come from a family where commercial discussions about the economy were commonplace, rather immigrant parents who worked immensely hard. Yet I still made it to the interview alongside oxbridge candidates. As for the law firm in question, i would be very put off if they were only hiring from a select few "type" of people... name and shame I would say 😂
I agree with the sentiment entirely, but there are also many, many BAME, disabled and working class Oxbridge candidates I’ve met at ACs -- and at large.
There’s a moral and cultural imperative for greater diversity at all levels of the hiring and recruitment process (as a lgbtq+ poc myself), but I don't think Oxbridge entails an inherent lack of diversity -- though its institutional dominance is something that is obviously worth interrogating.
Again, I agree but, respectfully, I do think it needs more nuance.
Anyone else get an email from Bristows saying their VI responses have been passed onto partners for review? I don't know if that's automatic or if grad rec reviews them first?
They are thinking of their clients. If they take Oxbridge, MIT, and Harvard graduates to a client meeting it looks more favourable for them in the pitch against other law firms. Would they really take 100% non-Oxbridge, like Uni of East London and Middlesex, I really don't think so. There has been a push for more diversity, but more is 1 or 2, they will not upset their status quo. Yes they will invite more to ACs, the vacation schemes etc, and maybe even take one or two for a TC, but in the long term, they know what they are after....I genuinely think law firms spend soo much money on diversity and inclusion, but its all just an illusion to appear more diverse. I would rather they did not, and instead hired a few more 'diverse' candidates for a TC and let them go at the end. At least that way they can make their own way in life.
Firms are seeing DEI as a badge of honour, but its not... It just shows how non-inclusive the firms are. I dont see TfL or the NHS doing DEI, because they have no need to. When will law firms get to the stage that they dont need DEI because its just there
I also don't know if I should start preparing for the initial interview now. Just because I think my VI responses (given I had to say something within 60 seconds lol for 2 very generic questions) were pretty good. Also, I don't know what the assessment criteria for VI is.
Similar threads
- Sticky
- Locked
- Locked
- Sticky
