TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24
- Thread starter Jessica Booker
- Start date
Also in terms of salary, the net difference over 10 years before you hopefully start being considered for partnership, although of course that’s not a given is according to my math about 70k a year. After tax that’s roughly 40k and works out to about an extra £16 an hour. If you became a partner at Skadden, no mean feat I know, you would make the difference back over someone who had been at Skadden their entire career but had not yet achieved partnership in 1 year. Probably something like 90% of your career earnings will come as a partner, that’s where the real salary disparities lie. Don’t worry. 90k starting will still get you a house.It was mainly I’m really keen to become involved in international arbitration and I’d say they’re (along with W&C) the best in the City for it.
The emphasis placed on pro bono was also a pretty big factor.
AG also has a lot of positives to it though and I wouldn’t have applied otherwise so trying to refocus the energy on that
Jessica Booker
Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
- Aug 1, 2019
- 13,441
- 19,241
This is a great step forward in your career no matter where you eventually end up.Thank you to everyone for all your comments and advice - this is a really amazing community and a great one to be a part of
My AC was with Skadden, which was my dream firm, so when they rejected me, it sucked. I now have the VS offer from Addleshaw, which I am, of course, grateful for, but it's still tinged with disappointment. I want to shake that feeling as everyone around me is very positive, especially when I've been working towards this for years now.
Knowing I could have had the opportunity to work for a firm like Skadden though and missed that opportunity is still getting to me. I know it shouldn't and you all make such good points (and I know I will be able to transfer later in my career). I'm sure doing the VS will be a great experience and one I'll learn a lot from, especially when I know there are many out there who would do a lot to be in my position.
I wondered if you had any wisdom to impart @Jessica Booker? Is there a way to still feel proud and upbeat about a VS from a firm that doesn't motivate you as much as one you got rejected from/its practice area strengths don't align with your main goals? I want to try and adopt a more positive mindset about it all
Whether your initial career is with a firm like AG or another firm like Skadden, securing a vacation scheme is a strong way of developing your candidacy further for any firm. You should consider it as a positive step forward to develop your skills and knowledge.
The benefits of attending the vacation scheme will not just be about the chance to convert with AG, but it will undoubtedly support your career both in the short term and long term, whether that results in you reapplying to Skadden in the summer or next year, or whether it’s later in your career as a qualified lawyer.
Very few people’s careers are direct - many require multiple steps to get where they want to get to. And securing your VS with AG is a key step in that journey.
Anyone not had a response form Dechert post VI/written exercise? My app was for spring
Haven't had a time either, guessing we will get one at some point today, maybe?
I did one on 08/02 for summer and waiting to hear back, I figure it could take weeks as someone has to mark the VI and written task.
- Sep 14, 2023
- 1,275
- 1,708
HOW TO DEAL WITH REJECTIONS?
Rejections seem to be an inevitable part of the process that everybody, at some point, will experience. Although they are very difficult to face, especially as many applicants are high-achievers in the legal industry, they can teach us so much. They contribute to making us understand if the legal industry is a sector we are genuinely passionate about or not, as so many quit after their first two/three rejections. However, if being a lawyer is really what you want to be, quitting is not an option. It certainly was not an option for me. After 15+ rejections, some of which came back to back the same day sometimes, I knew I could not give up as being a lawyer has always been my goal in life. One thing that I always pushed myself to think whilst receiving many rejections is that rejection does not determine your potential or value, although it might be difficult to comprehend that in the moment. Keep in mind that each "no" you receive today will get you one step closer to the appropriate "yes." This setback is merely a stepping stone towards something even better. Your value and abilities remain unaltered. It is fundamental that you maintain your resilience, believe in your own abilities, and have faith that better days are ahead and your dreams will become true. I want to share some tips that helped me dealing with rejections when I was applying:
Acknowledging your feeling is key
After being rejected, it's common to experience hurt, disappointment, or even rage. You invest so much time, effort and energy in the applications so it is totally understandable to feel this way. Instead of repressing these feelings, let yourself to experience them. It shows that you do care about your dream and it is something that you should be proud of. This rejection is merely a diversion, not the end of the road; you are capable of accomplishing great things. Spend some time taking care of yourself, regain your strength, and continue along. You can succeed at this! I think it is also important to put everything into perspective. When I was receiving rejections, my friends and family had to remind me that rejection does not, in and of itself, indicate your personal worth. Keep this in mind. Most of the time, it's the outcome of particular situations, tastes, or standards that might not match your own.
Pay attention to what the rejection has taught you
With every rejection, I felt like I was learning how to write better answers to application questions. As a matter of fact, by my 16th application onward, I witnessed so many positive results. This made me feel better and it made all those rejections worth it in the end. Consider rejection a chance for personal development and introspection. Consider how you can get better going forward and what you can learn from the experience. Rejection also taught me that it is not a temporary thing. You will not experience rejection all the time and this is important to remember!
Take time to understand what went wrong
More often than not this is going to be very difficult to do especially if you were rejected at application stage as feedback is not provided. What I mean by this is to try to reach to someone who was successful in the process and try to compare your application and your style of writing and putting things down to them. Chances are you will understand why the application was not successful this cycle and you can work to improve it for the next.
Stay consistent with improving your weaknesses
One of my main issues when I first started applying was improving my writing. Many struggle with commercial awareness, video interview, case studies or partner interviews. I think it is important to stay consistent with preparation regardless of the rejections you face and stay persistent. Working on your weaknesses calls for some help most of the time. When I received a rejection, I used to contact a friend and have them read my answers and tell me what they thought was missing or did not sound right or correct. That exercise in itself allowed me to ameliorate my writing so much. Never hesitate to ask for help and encouragement from friends and family. You can process easily what you did wrong and get perspective by talking about them with someone. If you got rejected after an assessment centre, chances are you will be able to receive a piece of feedback. That would be invaluable as it will serve as a starting point for your improvement.
Keep your eyes on the prize
Remember that it is important for you to keep going regardless of the amount of rejections. You really need to keep your eyes on the prize if becoming a commercial solicitor is what you really want to do. Whilst facing my rejections, I did not have a plan B I could fall back on. I was determined to get a training contract. Strive to maintain your positive attitude and concentrate on the areas of your application journey that you can ameliorate easily. If you know you struggle with commercial awareness, staying up to date with commercial awareness even when you are not applying to law firms will allow you to be very confident and knowledgeable when it comes to technical interview/ case study/ commercial interviews. It is also important to remind yourself of your accomplishments and strong points outside of this process, that will make you realise the strengths of your application and distance yourself from the rejections. This is something that really helped me to stay focused and seeing results later down my application cycle.
Rejections seem to be an inevitable part of the process that everybody, at some point, will experience. Although they are very difficult to face, especially as many applicants are high-achievers in the legal industry, they can teach us so much. They contribute to making us understand if the legal industry is a sector we are genuinely passionate about or not, as so many quit after their first two/three rejections. However, if being a lawyer is really what you want to be, quitting is not an option. It certainly was not an option for me. After 15+ rejections, some of which came back to back the same day sometimes, I knew I could not give up as being a lawyer has always been my goal in life. One thing that I always pushed myself to think whilst receiving many rejections is that rejection does not determine your potential or value, although it might be difficult to comprehend that in the moment. Keep in mind that each "no" you receive today will get you one step closer to the appropriate "yes." This setback is merely a stepping stone towards something even better. Your value and abilities remain unaltered. It is fundamental that you maintain your resilience, believe in your own abilities, and have faith that better days are ahead and your dreams will become true. I want to share some tips that helped me dealing with rejections when I was applying:
Acknowledging your feeling is key
After being rejected, it's common to experience hurt, disappointment, or even rage. You invest so much time, effort and energy in the applications so it is totally understandable to feel this way. Instead of repressing these feelings, let yourself to experience them. It shows that you do care about your dream and it is something that you should be proud of. This rejection is merely a diversion, not the end of the road; you are capable of accomplishing great things. Spend some time taking care of yourself, regain your strength, and continue along. You can succeed at this! I think it is also important to put everything into perspective. When I was receiving rejections, my friends and family had to remind me that rejection does not, in and of itself, indicate your personal worth. Keep this in mind. Most of the time, it's the outcome of particular situations, tastes, or standards that might not match your own.
Pay attention to what the rejection has taught you
With every rejection, I felt like I was learning how to write better answers to application questions. As a matter of fact, by my 16th application onward, I witnessed so many positive results. This made me feel better and it made all those rejections worth it in the end. Consider rejection a chance for personal development and introspection. Consider how you can get better going forward and what you can learn from the experience. Rejection also taught me that it is not a temporary thing. You will not experience rejection all the time and this is important to remember!
Take time to understand what went wrong
More often than not this is going to be very difficult to do especially if you were rejected at application stage as feedback is not provided. What I mean by this is to try to reach to someone who was successful in the process and try to compare your application and your style of writing and putting things down to them. Chances are you will understand why the application was not successful this cycle and you can work to improve it for the next.
Stay consistent with improving your weaknesses
One of my main issues when I first started applying was improving my writing. Many struggle with commercial awareness, video interview, case studies or partner interviews. I think it is important to stay consistent with preparation regardless of the rejections you face and stay persistent. Working on your weaknesses calls for some help most of the time. When I received a rejection, I used to contact a friend and have them read my answers and tell me what they thought was missing or did not sound right or correct. That exercise in itself allowed me to ameliorate my writing so much. Never hesitate to ask for help and encouragement from friends and family. You can process easily what you did wrong and get perspective by talking about them with someone. If you got rejected after an assessment centre, chances are you will be able to receive a piece of feedback. That would be invaluable as it will serve as a starting point for your improvement.
Keep your eyes on the prize
Remember that it is important for you to keep going regardless of the amount of rejections. You really need to keep your eyes on the prize if becoming a commercial solicitor is what you really want to do. Whilst facing my rejections, I did not have a plan B I could fall back on. I was determined to get a training contract. Strive to maintain your positive attitude and concentrate on the areas of your application journey that you can ameliorate easily. If you know you struggle with commercial awareness, staying up to date with commercial awareness even when you are not applying to law firms will allow you to be very confident and knowledgeable when it comes to technical interview/ case study/ commercial interviews. It is also important to remind yourself of your accomplishments and strong points outside of this process, that will make you realise the strengths of your application and distance yourself from the rejections. This is something that really helped me to stay focused and seeing results later down my application cycle.
Weil PFO. That one hit hard as they encouraged me to re-apply after last year’s AC and I felt that my application was much stronger this year.
just emailed irwin mitchell for updates and got the fastest reply ever:
"We will let all candidates know the outcome of their application within the next few weeks."
hope that helps anyone! 😬
"We will let all candidates know the outcome of their application within the next few weeks."
hope that helps anyone! 😬
Hi! my highest strengths were explainer and adaptability, which I'm quite happy about, but my lowest strength was detail... I answered with their collaborative culture also, I'm hoping the math question section will bring my detail score back up 😭 It's so hard to gauge tho because their comments are "You may find that you enjoy focusing on the bigger picture much more than getting into the fine detail of the work that you are delivering", but I was scared if I put answers saying I liked the finer details, they would say I was too focused on my own learning and working on my own, which they did last year and I didn't get through then... aahhh complicated. Anyway it's done now so we'll just have to see!
anyone heard from Ashurst yet post-interview?
@axelbeugre Hi! I was wondering, with your previous reference to connecting with people in the firm before a vax scheme, would it be professionally acceptable to email them using the address found on the firm's website? Many thanks!
For people who are waiting for NRF post test, this is their response:
Thank you for your email.
You should expect to hear from us by 8th March.
Thank you for your email.
You should expect to hear from us by 8th March.
Yeah exactly! That’s what I was worried about too so I picked all the answers about working in a team and also the vid at the beginning was saying like never feel scared to ask people questions etc. but then I scored low on initiative. But like I didn’t want to seem like I liked working independently too much when I know their whole thing is like “collaboration” and team work. Ahhh when did u do the test?
Just wanted to say on these SJTs just because it was your lowest score, I don’t think it necessarily means you scored very low on it.
If you’ve done any Amberjack tests I think they’re helpful for visualising. They show your scores on pillars for ‘Grit, Applied Intellect, Creative Force and Digital Mindset’, with each section out of 9. Someone could get 7,8,9,9 in each pillar. For firms that just say top 2 and lowest 1, we don’t actually know how we scored. So for this person, even in the one that was their lowest, they got 7/9. If someone else scores 3,4,5,6 their highest 2 would be 5/9 and 6/9, which are lower than the first person’s lowest score. You could have the same top 2 strengths as someone but have scored higher/lower (I hope this makes sense).
Not sure how much that helps people, but thinking about it this way helped me stop trying to guess/worry, as we don’t really know how we’ve actually scored
Similar threads
- Sticky
- Locked
- Locked
- Sticky
