TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

[Law queries]

Anyone who still haven’t heard from PMC - either acceptance or rejection?

 

[BillSikes]

Anyone who still haven’t heard from PMC - either acceptance or rejection?

Yes. I would take the hint tho personally.

 

[PlscanIhaveaTC]

Hey, sorry to hear this. Can I ask- was this after AC?

It was after the application. I completed a VS with them in 2023, and reached AC for the direct TC last year so they’re probably fed up of me 😂!

 

[abc124]

I was rejected from VS for

Verbal High
Numerical Medium
Grit 7/9
Applied Intellect 4/9
Creative Force 6/9
Digital Mindset 9/9

I just received my report and also had verbal high and numerical medium and hoped maybe they value verbal more 😭

 

[Atam!]

I was rejected from VS for

Verbal High
Numerical Medium
Grit 7/9
Applied Intellect 4/9
Creative Force 6/9
Digital Mindset 9/9

Those are good results, did you ask if
the problem was the 4/9 and/or your video interview aspect?

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

My Stephenson Harwood test result is:

Verbal medium
Numerical medium

Grit 6/9
Applied intellect 7/9
Creative force 4/9
Digital mindset 9/9

I used to score high for both verbal & numerical and had 6 or above for the 4 areas 😭 please don't throw me out because of the 4/9

 

[BillSikes]

My Stephenson Harwood test result is:

Verbal medium
Numerical medium

Grit 6/9
Applied intellect 7/9
Creative force 4/9
Digital mindset 9/9

I used to score high for both verbal & numerical and had 6 or above for the 4 areas 😭 please don't throw me out because of the 4/9

getting 4/4 high scores is very rare. the VI is gonna hold the most weight lets be real

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

getting 4/4 high scores is very rare. the VI is gonna hold the most weight lets be real

Yea thank you I agree, just bit worried that they filter me out because of the 4/9 in Creative Force 😥

 

[trainee4u]

Those are good results, did you ask if
the problem was the 4/9 and/or your video interview aspect?

I was specifically told that it was a PFO for the scores - the email suggests it was not for the VI aspect:

Thank you for completing the Amberjack assessment for your Stephenson Harwood application.

Unforunately, your overall score has not met our criteria and we are unable to progress you to the next stage of the process on this occasion.

You should have received a personalised feedback report from Amberjack. Please take some time to read through this and think about how you can best prepare for future assessments.

If one reads the feedback:

Creative (6/9) "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential, although you occasionally missed a number of opportunities to take a forwardthinking approach in the situations presented to you, and could have done more to consider the bigger picture, identify opportunities for success and drive change for the better in the way that you responded."

Grit (7/9) "demonstrated clear strengths, showing that you were mostly able to overcome challenges in a positive and calm manner, and making a strong attempt to remain dedicated to successfully achieving your various tasks and responsibilities."

Digital Mindset (9/9) "exceptional potential."

Applied Intellect (4/9) "Based on your results on the assessment, you did show some good judgement, although this is an area you would really benefit from developing further. In the situations presented to you, you would have needed to respond quite differently to show empathy, understanding others, and self-awareness when interacting with a range of individuals."



The "quite differently" does appear to be a "you are not good enough" response.

As such, it looks like you'd need to score 5+ on this.

While they clearly treat 4/9 on applied intellect as "you are unemployable, FOAD", I'm not sure that scoring 4/9 on other categories would necessarily result in the same response - not all of their pillars are necessarily of equal value.

They do say "your overall score" in the rejection,which implies they sum things, but I would guess that they don't necessarily do, so, as my overall 26/36 plus 5/6 on the verbal/numerical seems very good overall.

 

[abc124]

My Stephenson Harwood test result is:

Verbal medium
Numerical medium

Grit 6/9
Applied intellect 7/9
Creative force 4/9
Digital mindset 9/9

I used to score high for both verbal & numerical and had 6 or above for the 4 areas 😭 please don't throw me out because of the 4/9

Wow 9/9 is so impressive! I doubt creative force is a massive red flag with your other results! I think I got all mid ones (6/9 for grit and applied intellect and 7/9 for creative force and digital mindset, verbal high, numerical medium) but I tanked the VI so I think it’s game over for me 😭 I got so stressed, it was my first VI 😭

 

[abc124]

I was specifically told that it was a PFO for the scores - the email suggests it was not for the VI aspect:

Thank you for completing the Amberjack assessment for your Stephenson Harwood application.

Unforunately, your overall score has not met our criteria and we are unable to progress you to the next stage of the process on this occasion.

You should have received a personalised feedback report from Amberjack. Please take some time to read through this and think about how you can best prepare for future assessments.

If one reads the feedback:

Creative (6/9) "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential, although you occasionally missed a number of opportunities to take a forwardthinking approach in the situations presented to you, and could have done more to consider the bigger picture, identify opportunities for success and drive change for the better in the way that you responded."

Grit (7/9) "demonstrated clear strengths, showing that you were mostly able to overcome challenges in a positive and calm manner, and making a strong attempt to remain dedicated to successfully achieving your various tasks and responsibilities."

Digital Mindset (9/9) "exceptional potential."

Applied Intellect (4/9) "Based on your results on the assessment, you did show some good judgement, although this is an area you would really benefit from developing further. In the situations presented to you, you would have needed to respond quite differently to show empathy, understanding others, and self-awareness when interacting with a range of individuals."



The "quite differently" does appear to be a "you are not good enough" response.

As such, it looks like you'd need to score 5+ on this.

While they clearly treat 4/9 on applied intellect as "you are unemployable, FOAD", I'm not sure that scoring 4/9 on other categories would necessarily result in the same response - not all of their pillars are necessarily of equal value.

They do say "your overall score" in the rejection,which implies they sum things, but I would guess that they don't necessarily do, so, as my overall 26/36 plus 5/6 on the verbal/numerical seems very good overall.

How did you find out your exact verbal/numerical scores? I only got vague descriptions

 

[shays]

I was specifically told that it was a PFO for the scores - the email suggests it was not for the VI aspect:

Thank you for completing the Amberjack assessment for your Stephenson Harwood application.

Unforunately, your overall score has not met our criteria and we are unable to progress you to the next stage of the process on this occasion.

You should have received a personalised feedback report from Amberjack. Please take some time to read through this and think about how you can best prepare for future assessments.

If one reads the feedback:

Creative (6/9) "This is an area where you demonstrated a good level of potential, although you occasionally missed a number of opportunities to take a forwardthinking approach in the situations presented to you, and could have done more to consider the bigger picture, identify opportunities for success and drive change for the better in the way that you responded."

Grit (7/9) "demonstrated clear strengths, showing that you were mostly able to overcome challenges in a positive and calm manner, and making a strong attempt to remain dedicated to successfully achieving your various tasks and responsibilities."

Digital Mindset (9/9) "exceptional potential."

Applied Intellect (4/9) "Based on your results on the assessment, you did show some good judgement, although this is an area you would really benefit from developing further. In the situations presented to you, you would have needed to respond quite differently to show empathy, understanding others, and self-awareness when interacting with a range of individuals."



The "quite differently" does appear to be a "you are not good enough" response.

As such, it looks like you'd need to score 5+ on this.

While they clearly treat 4/9 on applied intellect as "you are unemployable, FOAD", I'm not sure that scoring 4/9 on other categories would necessarily result in the same response - not all of their pillars are necessarily of equal value.

They do say "your overall score" in the rejection,which implies they sum things, but I would guess that they don't necessarily do, so, as my overall 26/36 plus 5/6 on the verbal/numerical seems very good overall.

okay I fully expect rejection because my scores are lower and my last two VI questions were messy, but just because your overall score was low does not mean they count only this. IMO they score the VI questions by points as well and then they decide because they score like this the AC and it makes sense. Especially since I've seen people progress with lower scores than yours.

 

[rosedunn]

Has WFW come back to anyone post AC?? And still no one has heard from Paul Hastings?

 

[abbietc03]

My Stephenson Harwood test result is:

Verbal medium
Numerical medium

Grit 6/9
Applied intellect 7/9
Creative force 4/9
Digital mindset 9/9

I used to score high for both verbal & numerical and had 6 or above for the 4 areas 😭 please don't throw me out because of the 4/9

I got 3/9 for creative force in their sjt for their spring vs and still got an offer, so I wouldn't worry too much!

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

I got 3/9 for creative force in their sjt for their spring vs and still got an offer, so I wouldn't worry too much!

Thank you so much, that’s reassuring!! Saw @trainee4u ’s email response on scores and I was terrified ngl!!

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

Wow 9/9 is so impressive! I doubt creative force is a massive red flag with your other results! I think I got all mid ones (6/9 for grit and applied intellect and 7/9 for creative force and digital mindset, verbal high, numerical medium) but I tanked the VI so I think it’s game over for me 😭 I got so stressed, it was my first VI 😭

Your scores are great! Hopefully scores are considered holistically and you could get an AC.

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

How did you find out your exact verbal/numerical scores? I only got vague descriptions

They’re not scores but you can see a bar indicating whether it’s low medium or high

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

okay I fully expect rejection because my scores are lower and my last two VI questions were messy, but just because your overall score was low does not mean they count only this. IMO they score the VI questions by points as well and then they decide because they score like this the AC and it makes sense. Especially since I've seen people progress with lower scores than yours.

That’s again reassuring 🥹 and who knows their benchmark perhaps you’re good enough!

 

[trainee4u]

okay I fully expect rejection because my scores are lower and my last two VI questions were messy, but just because your overall score was low does not mean they count only this. IMO they score the VI questions by points as well and then they decide because they score like this the AC and it makes sense. Especially since I've seen people progress with lower scores than yours.

They could have sent out the wrong email, IDK, because the email is quite unambiguous that it was based on the SJT overall score which does not include VI:




The "video interview items - can be assessed for successful candidates only" does make it clear that AJ does allow firms to waste candidates' time by having them sit the VI even when they've already failed the SJT, and in such a case the VI will be ignored.

However, I quite frequently receive emails with the wrong reason for rejection from law firms, so they might have sent me a wrong email in this case and I lost on VI. 🤷‍♂️

 

[InterestInPublicLaw]

They could have sent out the wrong email, IDK, because the email is quite unambiguous that it was based on the SJT overall score which does not include VI:
View attachment 7237

View attachment 7238

The "video interview items - can be assessed for successful candidates only" does make it clear that AJ does allow firms to waste candidates' time by having them sit the VI even when they've already failed the SJT, and in such a case the VI will be ignored.

However, I quite frequently receive emails with the wrong reason for rejection from law firms, so they might have sent me a wrong email in this case and I lost on VI. 🤷‍♂️

I think if you want to clarify you could ask more specifically esp the criteria for these online tests can be quite ambiguous and different firms have different approaches. I had phone calls with a few firms the last cycle after I was rejected by them and they were happy to answer questions on the tests. Not sure about Stephenson Harwood though.