2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Lillith]

I don't know for certain but I remember at an open day they mentioned that if they like you they'll find a way to keep you- I think year before this they kept all but 1 VS participant but obviously not completely sure I think @Dheepa will be better placed to answer this!

Thanks!

 

[Lawstudent99!]

Hey! Sorry I don’t know anything about WBD but can give some insight into generally preparing for ACs! I had two ACs and an interview last summer, and this is basically what I did

General Commercial Prep:

I kept up to date with the news like everyone says - mostly just BBC news everyday, but if there was a particular story I was interested in, I would read further on the FT + various news sources. I also listened to the FT news briefing podcast on my morning walks, which I really found helpful. One of the firms I had an AC at also had a podcast, so I listened to the episodes in stuff I was interested in. If you’re living with your family / friends and any of them read the news, practise talking about it with them.

I also bought and read the Commercial Law Handbook by Jake Schogger, which is a good overview, and All You Need to Know About the City by Christopher Stoakes, which is in places a lot more detail than you’ll need, but very good in bits. I did this reading far ahead of the AC though, so if it’s 3 days away don’t waste your time reading books!

AC specific prep:

Honestly the thing which helped me most here was reading other people’s accounts of their interview and ACs here on TCLA by trawling through the interview experiences threads. Through doing that I got an understanding of what activities tend to come up, and what the firm is looking for. Firm dependent obvs you can reasonably expect an interview, a case study, a group exercise and a written exercise (I got all 4), but reading through a bunch of people’s experiences really helped me understand what firms are looking for from you. Reading people discussing your specific firm’s ACs will be the most helpful, cause you’ll hopefully get a feel for the kind of person and skills they’re looking for.

I also did a practice interview and AC with BPP, where I was studying then, which I think helped. Printed off all the top 100 interview questions and made my family drill me on them (I prepared written responses for the 10 most likely to come up and memorised them.) Printed off my application and read through it multiple times.

Firm:

I read up on all the notes I made on the firm when writing my application. Had a google news update on their name so I was always alerted when a new story came up.

Mostly I just thought about the areas my firm was strong in, and tried to figure out how the news stories I was reading affected them, what departments would be busy and what would be suffering. Had a look on the articles on the firm’s website, which were mostly way too detailed, but I guess did help me figure out what the firm was thinking about?

I was so nervous I was physically sick before my first AC lol - but remember everyone will feel the same! Try do good prep, get a good night’s sleep the night before and have a good breakfast - that’s all you can control!

Wow thank you so much!! That has helped a lot, really appreciate the detailed insight!

 

[Lawstudent99!]

I

Have they sent out invitations yet?

I applied last year and recruitment was put on hold. Don’t think they’ve responded to people who have applied this year yet, don’t worry!

 

[JayC]

Applied to 20 firms and still have zero offers. Been feeling seriously demoralised especially as I'm a 3rd year law student. Is anyone on the same boat?

I applied to 36 firms this cycle and secured three vac schemes, but I have mentioned on here before that I didn’t get a single interview in the first 20 applications I made. It could be for any number of reasons, including that my applications improved over time, but trust me when I say that I worked incredibly hard on those first twenty applications and was feeling in the exact same boat as you. When playing the numbers game, you can never stop trying and you can never apply to enough firms - just keep improving your applications and keep applying and something will materialise

 

[Sebastian Clark]

I applied to 36 firms this cycle and secured three vac schemes, but I have mentioned on here before that I didn’t get a single interview in the first 20 applications I made. It could be for any number of reasons, including that my applications improved over time, but trust me when I say that I worked incredibly hard on those first twenty applications and was feeling in the exact same boat as you. When playing the numbers game, you can never stop trying and you can never apply to enough firms - just keep improving your applications and keep applying and something will materialise

How did you manage 36? That’s a massive effort - I’m working full time and only managed 12

 

[Anon 11031]

I applied to 36 firms this cycle and secured three vac schemes, but I have mentioned on here before that I didn’t get a single interview in the first 20 applications I made. It could be for any number of reasons, including that my applications improved over time, but trust me when I say that I worked incredibly hard on those first twenty applications and was feeling in the exact same boat as you. When playing the numbers game, you can never stop trying and you can never apply to enough firms - just keep improving your applications and keep applying and something will materialise

Woah, that's a lot (and impressive)! I've only applied to 2 and managed to get an interview for one of them so far. As much as it's a numbers game to some extent, I truly do believe that if you're passionate about a particular firm your application will come across that way (or at least it did for me, because I put a tremendous amount of effort into it!). I think it definitely has to be a balance between the two factors!

 

[Matt_96]

Just got absolutely crucified in an interview today. Easily the most difficult one I've done yet over the course of three separate cycles. Requesting thoughts and prayers pls

 

[Holly]

Just got absolutely crucified in an interview today. Easily the most difficult one I've done yet over the course of three separate cycles. Requesting thoughts and prayers pls

Hope you’re okay. I find that interviewers may grill candidates when they are doing well. This may be the case with you.

Best of luck and try to rest/distract yourself with some Netflix 🍿

 

[Matt_96]

Hope you’re okay. I find that interviewers may grill candidates when they are doing well. This may be the case with you.

Best of luck and try to rest/distract yourself with some Netflix 🍿

Lol it could just be luck of the draw but minutes after moaning to the internet and all my friends about it I literally just got a Vacation Scheme at Simmons and Simmons (not the firm in question) so it's all worked out!

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Just got absolutely crucified in an interview today. Easily the most difficult one I've done yet over the course of three separate cycles. Requesting thoughts and prayers pls

It could be a good thing!!! Like “Matt knows all the basics so stop wasting time, let’s really push him!”

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

Lol it could just be luck of the draw but minutes after moaning to the internet and all my friends about it I literally just got a Vacation Scheme at Simmons and Simmons (not the firm in question) so it's all worked out!

Hahaha champion!!!! Congrats!

 

[jd3447]

Anyone have experience w mishcon final interview?

 

[Holly]

Lol it could just be luck of the draw but minutes after moaning to the internet and all my friends about it I literally just got a Vacation Scheme at Simmons and Simmons (not the firm in question) so it's all worked out!

Amazing news 🥳🥳🥳

 

[Daniel Boden]

Lol it could just be luck of the draw but minutes after moaning to the internet and all my friends about it I literally just got a Vacation Scheme at Simmons and Simmons (not the firm in question) so it's all worked out!

Haha huge congrats re Simmons and Simmons! In what way did you think it was so tough? Was it just the fact the questions were really tough and they pushed you? Because if so that's normally a good sign in my experience so I wouldn't rule anything out just yet!

Either way, definitely make sure you celebrate getting your VS in the sunshine

 

[CMB]

Does anyone know what the VS to TC conversion rate is for Addleshaw Goddard?

 

[Matt_96]

Haha huge congrats re Simmons and Simmons! In what way did you think it was so tough? Was it just the fact the questions were really tough and they pushed you? Because if so that's normally a good sign in my experience so I wouldn't rule anything out just yet!

Either definitely make sure you celebrate getting your VS in the sunshine

The Simmons interview was on thursday and was totally separate actually, although reading the interview experiences on here was actually super helpful considering that they are quite old!

This latest interview was for a US law firm. I had to answer some commercial questions at a technical level I didn't really know too much about, so I had to do a lot more guesswork than I was comfortable with while being grilled by three different partners at once. I then had a separate interview with three other partners where I had to do some really rigorous ethical scenarios, which I found a little bit easier, but were still really tough.

 

[Dheepa]

Does anyone know what the VS to TC conversion rate is for Baker McKenzie?

On my VS, there were 21 of us and I think maybe 8 or 9 were made final TC offers. So I'd say it's about 50% or slightly less. I'd say this is generally the case for most firms actually. Even if they say they recruit 80% from VS, the percentage can be very misleading, especially when the number of TC spaces are low and they are a firm that recruit from direct TC as well.

 

[Dheepa]

The Simmons interview was on thursday and was totally separate actually, although reading the interview experiences on here was actually super helpful considering that they are quite old!

This latest interview was for a US law firm. I had to answer some commercial questions at a technical level I didn't really know too much about, so I had to do a lot more guesswork than I was comfortable with while being grilled by three different partners at once. I then had a separate interview with three other partners where I had to do some really rigorous ethical scenarios, which I found a little bit easier, but were still really tough.

If it makes you feel better, I don't think any partner expects perfect or even near perfect technical knowledge. In my experience as long as you've made some educated guesses and are not totally off the mark from the real answer, it tends to go down well. Congrats on the Simmons VS though!! ☺️

 

[LegalLordLox]

How did you manage 36? That’s a massive effort - I’m working full time and only managed 12

I am with you on this! Great effort. I am working full time and studying - only managed to send off 15 applications this is my first cycle of applications.

 

[whoknew]

On my VS, there were 21 of us and I think maybe 8 or 9 were made final TC offers. So I'd say it's about 50% or slightly less. I'd say this is generally the case for most firms actually. Even if they say they recruit 80% from VS, the percentage can be very misleading, especially when the number of TC spaces are low and they are a firm that recruit from direct TC as well.

Was that a summer scheme by any chance?