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TCLA General Discussion Thread 2022-23
It’s more difficult, but not impossible. Some firms will offer virtual events and virtual assessment centres, and for those that don’t, you’ll have to try and work out whether you could afford to return to the U.K. briefly to attend assessments. I have seen people do this before, and where they...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #623
- Forum: General Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
This is fantastic news - incredibly well done!- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,716
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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Further Timelines for those on Student Visa in UK....
Firms could ask you to pay for a graduate visa and for you to work through this, but the reality is they usually expire before the training contract ends, and so most firms would put you on a skilled persons visa (which they have to pay for directly).- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #7
- Forum: General Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
The issue is the marking system is not consistent. A 30th percentile for one firm could actually be a better outcome (with a stronger performance) than the 90th percentile for another firm.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,669
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
I personally wouldn’t include this as work experience unless you do work experience in their office as part of the internships programme. You are not working - you are just benefitting from the mentoring of someone in the profession. I would include it somewhere in the application, just not in...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #15,237
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
Congratulations and well done! That is amazing news 🎉- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #15,236
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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Work experience section for Vacation Scheme application
STAR is only really works for competency questions (eg “tell me about a time you….”). I generally would avoid it for work experience sections.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #3
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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Self-funding the LPC (bad time to do so?)
Hi - I don’t know of this resource unfortunately. I would stress an LPC student can still take the SQE route though - they can do so, just will have to sit SQE2 only.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #21
- Forum: General Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
Amazing news - congratulations!- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,617
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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Open Days
1) no - plenty of people don’t do open days but they can be a good way to learn more about the firm and build up your CV if you are lacking legal work experience. 2) yes - it can still be beneficial to attend. I tend to suggest applying for the open day first though and then applying for the...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #2
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
Most likely they will know absolutely nothing about you.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,574
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
not necessarily (unfortunately) - sometimes I can be later than this as typically it’s only non law grads who would need to start courses this September.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,558
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
It will be a risk you will have take if you were to accept the role then. I understand why people may not be sure, especially if the opportunity or the firm is not their first choice, but it will be more difficult to switch at any point later on where the programmes are designed to give you...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,555
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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New York Secondment
I advise people to not get to fixated on the location of secondments at this stage. The reality is a New York secondment is likely to be one of the most competitive in a trainee cohort, particularly where there is no need to have a second language, plus the prestige of the legal market and the...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4
- Forum: My Training Contract Journey
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AI - A good candidate for commercial awareness?
AI is an exceptionally large topic and not a “news story” - it is a much bigger/long term trend. Rather than talking about it broadly (like you are doing above) try to find a more specific story about AI. For instance, has a company recently been bought for its AI technology? Has a company...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #2
- Forum: Commercial Awareness Discussion
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TCLA General Discussion Thread 2022-23
I don’t think it necessarily needs to be either/or. You could try both, especially if you found a flexible SQE course. You could easily study at a slower pace and then plan to take the SQE1 exams in July rather than January.- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #619
- Forum: General Discussion
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
Honestly, unlikely. They will be putting you through specialised seats and the plan would be to do that, and so you’d effectively have to change programme. It’s not impossible, but I think the whole purpose of these programmes is to find people who are confident that is where they will want to...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,530
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
Unless you expect to - apply for a firm that recruits trainees a year in advance (eg recruiting for 2024 opportunities) - you expect to go into a law firm with very few trainees (eg no formal intake of trainees) - you expect to go into a firm that does not sponsor the LPC/SQE I would...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #15,228
- Forum: Applications Discussion
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New York Secondment
I have been heavily involved in international secondment selection processes so can explain how it works, if that’s the application process you mean (rather than applying for the training contract itself).- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #2
- Forum: My Training Contract Journey
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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23
As much as it possibly can. Applications should always be updated both in terms of your experience and also how your motivations have been refined, and also be critically reviewed to see how they can be improved. The way I describe it to people is “if nothing has really changed since your...- TCLA Community Assistant
- Post #4,526
- Forum: Applications Discussion