• 📅 Vacation Scheme Applications 2025–26

    Planning to apply for winter, spring or summer vacation schemes? Join our dedicated threads for support, deadlines, and discussion:

    Let’s make this your strongest application season yet 💼

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  1. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    I would try to find more unique elements of the firm. Many firms will have DR specialisms/expertise, so it isn’t really explaining why the firm specifically - you are just saying you have a preference for contentious work. The same could be said of the small trainee intake. Is there something...
  2. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    Yes, you can PM me about this. Please be aware I am technically out of the office until Wednesday so may be slow responding.
  3. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    I personally wouldn’t spend too long researching interviewers, especially if you are going to have so many of them. Your interview is about you, it’s not about them. If you find things uou are naturally interested in that the partners have worked on, then I would focus on these aspects rather...
  4. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    Travelodges near major train stations in zones 3 or 4 are your best bet. Look at places like Wimbledon, East Croydon, Dagenham. Wimbledon/Kingston upon Thames are probably seen as the safest areas. Wimbledon would be very easy as there are trains to Waterloo that only take 15 minutes or so and...
  5. TCLA Community Assistant

    What Am I Doing Wrong?

    Tagging in @ZNadeem as most of the Community team are out this week! Will try to respond later if I have time (as I am also on leave this week).
  6. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    You can but I am technically out of the office until Wednesday 21 May so might be slow in replying!
  7. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Sounds like you will have six months (possibly slightly more if not an LLM prep course) off between the summer of 2026 and March 2027 then. I would expect the timeline to be: Start your studies - September 2025 Sit SQE1 - January 2026 Sit SQE2 - mostly likely April 2026 but could be July 2026...
  8. TCLA Community Assistant

    SQE1 Guidance Needed on Prep Period

    You won’t have to decide this until the SQE1 January sitting opens up in October.
  9. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    It depends on what team the admin role is in really. If it is in a legal team then it’s just a slightly different job title - legal assistant/admin assistant would be a very similar role, while an admin assistant in risk would be very different.
  10. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    An admin assistant might not be in a legal team. It could be in a business services department like risk, compliance, HR or finance.
  11. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    I think any of them are fine to use. If the firm isn’t being clear who the referee should be, then I would put the law firm partner just because they are most closely related to the work unless the internship was more than three years ago, then I would go with your current boss.
  12. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    It’s ultimately never too late if the application is still open. I would just avoid the last 24 hours as the recruitment systems are notorious for crashing on deadline day due to the volume of people using the system. If you have any other technical issues, you haven’t got the time to resolve...
  13. TCLA Community Assistant

    SQE1 Guidance Needed on Prep Period

    One of the reasons the providers encourage you to sit SQE1 around 4-5 months into their courses is that the SQE1 relies a lot of memory. The only issue with delaying your SQE1 sitting until 10 months after the course started is trying to recollect information you studied towards the start of the...
  14. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Would you need to start in January? Most firms would be happy for you to start the GDL in the September intake. It would be a close thing, but if you got an offer before the Christmas break and the firm has a preferred supplier for the GDL, it is likely they will be able to onboard you in time...
  15. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    There will be paralegal roles that do not require 2 years experience. Try temp or fixed term contract roles rather than permanent roles too. Also try legal assistant roles.
  16. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    Sometimes for these roles they are looking for people who will be secretaries for the long term and they will see people who are obviously people just looking for a legal role before progressing to become a trainee as not the right fit for what they need. Most secretaries do not become lawyers.
  17. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    Generally, I’d say no smaller than 10.5. 10 can work depending on the font type and if you have enough spacing around your CV, but generally 10 will be more difficult to read, especially if printed off. In most instances, being more concise and small changes in formatting (as long as you don’t...
  18. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    1) this will only be possible for firms actively recruiting for those intakes. Most of the larger firms will be recruiting for September 2028/February 2029 in the next cycle. There will be some firms recruiting for 2027 though, you will just need to check which ones those are. 2) Yes - there...
  19. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    This will depend on the feedback from the firm. If they say you just missed out, then it’s a possibility. However, some vacation scheme students will just not be right for the firm and will be turned down with no further consideration if roles are not accepted.
  20. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Five minutes is not really a lot of time to present. I would consider three key points/themes you want to make and stick to those - it will be important to provide depth in the analysis of those points rather than trying to cover more themes but at more superficial level. By focusing on these...

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