• 📅 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 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I would try to wait until Wednesday afternoon before following up if you haven't heard back by then. Giving the firm at least 2 working days after their original deadline is generally polite and helps to just balance out any risk of them just being slightly behind schedule.
  2. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

    No - this will not necessarily impact your chances of securing a TC, especially if you are able to get strong grades throughout the rest of this year.
  3. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Generally anything plain black is going to be fine to use. This is pretty big as I use it as hand luggage for flights, but it’s effectively become my work bag. I like it as it can be carried as a backpack but also has handles at the top so I can carry it by hand too. https://amzn.eu/d/1VN53gx...
  4. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    It doesn't have to be - it can be any element that you think you will find interesting, but I would just make sure that the combination of the aspects you identify couldn't apply to lots of other careers/areas of law. But not everything has to be commercial.
  5. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Can be anything offering immediately and giving a few weeks to make a decision on the offer all the way through to not making offers until the end of the summer or giving you to mid-September to accept. This is a very legitimate question to ask the graduate recruitment/HR team as part of your...
  6. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    My example of the Birkin bag was very different where it was probably 15+ times the value of what a Montblanc briefcase would be. The Birkin bag person also made their bag the centre of attention a lot, which didn't go down well as it was seen as very show-off. I don't think it will cause a bad...
  7. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    No
  8. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    There are a few reasons. 1) it isn't something that can be verified, unlike completed employment or educational achievements. 2) there could be a question as to why you were only on the waitlist rather than securing the scheme outright. 3) there could be a concern that you might not be ready...
  9. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend doing this.
  10. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    Generally group tasks are something that you can work on throughout the scheme rather than having a fixed hour or so to work on it. This means they tend to be a bit more in depth on a particular topic. Pitch presentations (as if you were pitching the firm to a particular client) are a common...
  11. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    More than welcome to interrupt! I would recommend finding something more unique unless there are some particular circumstances that made it more challenging for you to achieve a first. It will just be a common achievement but if there are more unique circumstances to demonstrate why this would...
  12. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I get where this is coming from, but put frankly, it just feels like another way of putting the blame on another group of people (this time neurodivergent people) for not fitting into a rigid mould. Saying that traditional dress codes are "helpful" kind of ignores the fact that those rules were...
  13. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I am sensitive to this, as I have experienced how classism has presented itself multiple times when people have judged others by their appearance/what they are wearing. This has been directed at me and at other people enough times for it to be something I will always be vocal about. As I...
  14. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    By the way, shirts don't always need to be white. Light blues and even very light pinks can often work nicely from what I have seen.
  15. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    To be fair, pretty much everyone makes judgements on appearance in some way. I can spot a fantastic pair of high heel shoes a mile away and think someone is fab just for wearing them 😆 It is just whether anyone lets that judgement seep into how they then perceive someone's ability to do a job...
  16. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    It’s just people’s preferences - the thing about a grey or blue suit is it won’t offend the few people who think a black suit is a no go. But plenty of people won’t even notice you are wearing a black suit. It isn’t that there’s different expectations for VS candidates to anyone else working in...
  17. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I wouldn’t recommend approaching people before the scheme. 1) you don’t know your schedule/commitments yet so you can’t actually plan anything. 2) there will be easier communication channels once you are in the firm than using an external system like LinkedIn. I wouldn’t recommend just wait...
  18. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    People have different tastes and opinions 🤷‍♀️ Plus, wearing black at funerals is very much a Western cultural thing not seen in many other places in the world. I have seen plenty of people pull off a black suit anyway.
  19. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think women have it much easier in some ways as it’s easy for them to chuck a black blazer on and smarten up a dress or blouse + skirt/trousers. I don’t think you will need to wear one all the time, but much like many men will still carry their suit jacket around even in the height of summer...
  20. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

    I think it’s those that started their career pre the year 2000 that have these “beliefs” about dress codes. In my 20 years of working in law firms, attitudes have changed massively. What I wore in 2005 was so formal, by 2015 it had become far more casual, and then after lockdown things shifted...

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