Received a TC offer this afternoon and am on such a high!!!! Thank you so much to everyone on this forum and for the team at TCLA for all your support, you're all brilliant 😍😍😍
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Hi Guest, I just wanted to give you a heads up that we are hiring future trainees. This is for a range of roles, including remote and full time.
If you're interested, apply here ASAP!
TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25
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- Sep 7, 2024
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Awww huge congratulations! I hope you celebrate well..!!!!
- Sep 7, 2024
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I understand the pressure of not hearing back yet. However, often times, GR will review applications in stages and batches. Emailing them will not make them get back to you any faster. Especially now that VS’ are ongoing and there’s a lot of internal work to do. I understand it’s hard, but I suggest waiting till they get back with a response. In the meantime, there are still a couple of direct TCs open, which you could consider applying for. Or alternatively, you could spend the time re-strategising for the next cycle!
- Sep 7, 2024
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I agree with @FM302989, @confusedbird. You should be very proud of yourself as that result is no easy feat!
Hi, I am looking to get some insight on Kirkland TC. I have heard that they mostly just give TC offers right after the vac scheme interviews- without actually holding a vac scheme or going through DTC. I was wondering to what extent this is true
I still can’t believe it but I received a TC offer from an amazing firm, and I’m forever grateful for all the support here. I promised myself I’d include some lessons I’ve learned in my journey and post them here shortly. For those who feel hopeless, securing a TC is definitely possible. It requires a lot of work but it is possible.
- Sep 7, 2024
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- Sep 7, 2024
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This is definitely a good idea, and I’ve advised many people to do the same. Just be mindful that the application questions for each firm may change each cycle. Though for some firms, I’ve seen them not change for many years. Regardless, if you have structured answers to the work experience section, why commercial law, and why X firm, you won‘t go wrong. These will likely apply to multiple firms, help you save time, and even if they’re not directly applicable at application stage (unlikely), they will be needed at later stages/ACs.
After yesterday's TC offer, I got a TC rejection today from a similar type of firm where I thought I aced the VS. Just goes to show how subjective and unpredictable this process is, and how important it is to keep going because you never know who will value your potential!
Sorry I should have clarified. I meant updating them with my final grades because the applications did not have an option to edit them.
Appreciate this a lot. I meant how do we go about explaining this to a firm if required. I realise I would most likely not have to but I was just being paranoid 🫣
On my VS:
* lots of formal events, interviews etc with specific lawyers. however, there's the opportunity to potentially interact with lots of other people by coming and saying "hi", asking out for coffee, etc. - are HR likely to ask the whole office for feedback on each VSer from which it might be ascertained your general level of sociability?
* is it better to ask questions or just get on with the work? I was given some fake work and told to ask if necessary - there's a bit of a learning curve and initially I probably didn't properly understand but while working through it my understanding of the concept improved and I didn't ask questions on the basis that I suppose they have better things to do than talk to VSers - I'm not at this point a trainee so they don't have a commercial interest in teaching me things, prior to me actually signing a TC, so maybe it's better to work things out alone.....
* was asked by partner to consider a client legal enquiry. Wasn't really clear what the purpose of this request was - it could either be because the partner doesn't know, or simply to give me an opportunity to experience client work. Was told "no need to draft but you can take some notes". I drafted because it seems to me more effective to write things formally. Was then asked the next day to have a chat to discuss the matter, which rather awkwardly was five minute before my final interview so very limited time, and I gave my conclusion on the main point based on the UK legislation and EU directive, and also noted a possible complication that I had identified.
Partner had a different conclusion on the main point so I explained why I had come to my conclusion and he said that what I was seeing as multiple things was in fact one. There was also a bit of awkward interaction because the matter could have fallen under one of two subsections, and I'd chosen one subsection and he the other. Ultimately his conclusion was more cautious than mine, and being cautious makes a lot of sense. I wasn't entirely convinced that his was the right conclusion but obviously had to acquiesce after initially explaining why I'd come to my conclusion.
Not sure if I handled this very wrongly and should have treated it purely as an opportunity to learn from him as it might have come across as arrogant - the timing was very far from ideal as I was about to go off to interview so I had a choice between listening to him or trying to share what I'd come up with. I guess it's a question of whether as a VSer one is supposed to show ability to analyse, or more treat it as an opportunity to learn. Bit confusing really.
* lots of formal events, interviews etc with specific lawyers. however, there's the opportunity to potentially interact with lots of other people by coming and saying "hi", asking out for coffee, etc. - are HR likely to ask the whole office for feedback on each VSer from which it might be ascertained your general level of sociability?
* is it better to ask questions or just get on with the work? I was given some fake work and told to ask if necessary - there's a bit of a learning curve and initially I probably didn't properly understand but while working through it my understanding of the concept improved and I didn't ask questions on the basis that I suppose they have better things to do than talk to VSers - I'm not at this point a trainee so they don't have a commercial interest in teaching me things, prior to me actually signing a TC, so maybe it's better to work things out alone.....
* was asked by partner to consider a client legal enquiry. Wasn't really clear what the purpose of this request was - it could either be because the partner doesn't know, or simply to give me an opportunity to experience client work. Was told "no need to draft but you can take some notes". I drafted because it seems to me more effective to write things formally. Was then asked the next day to have a chat to discuss the matter, which rather awkwardly was five minute before my final interview so very limited time, and I gave my conclusion on the main point based on the UK legislation and EU directive, and also noted a possible complication that I had identified.
Partner had a different conclusion on the main point so I explained why I had come to my conclusion and he said that what I was seeing as multiple things was in fact one. There was also a bit of awkward interaction because the matter could have fallen under one of two subsections, and I'd chosen one subsection and he the other. Ultimately his conclusion was more cautious than mine, and being cautious makes a lot of sense. I wasn't entirely convinced that his was the right conclusion but obviously had to acquiesce after initially explaining why I'd come to my conclusion.
Not sure if I handled this very wrongly and should have treated it purely as an opportunity to learn from him as it might have come across as arrogant - the timing was very far from ideal as I was about to go off to interview so I had a choice between listening to him or trying to share what I'd come up with. I guess it's a question of whether as a VSer one is supposed to show ability to analyse, or more treat it as an opportunity to learn. Bit confusing really.
Would taking up a criminal law paralegal role negatively affect my training contract/VS applications next year?
If anybody could provide some insight, I would be extremely grateful
@Amma Usman @TCLA Community Assistant
If anybody could provide some insight, I would be extremely grateful
@Amma Usman @TCLA Community Assistant
- Sep 7, 2024
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No no no not at all! Law firms value any experience anyway, regardless of the sector. So, a paralegal role, regardless of specialisation, places you as a competitive candidate.
Picture these two candidates.
Candidate 1 is a paralegal in PE at a top US firm. Of course, having direct experience in say paralegaling in PE, for example, would benefit a candidate applying for a TC at a transactional law firm. However, all this matters less than their ability to apply strategically and leverage their current and past experiences!
Candidate 2 was a paralegal in criminal law. They leveraged their ability to understand the disputes practice area through the various activities they were responsible for in proceedings. They linked this to some corporate law related work they were given and saw they liked corporate more for XYZ reasons. If they didn’t complete the criminal paralegal role, they would've never known this.
There you go.
Every experience matters - and so does your thinking…your strategy!
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