• Get Everything You Need to Secure a Training Contract
    Now half the price. Join TCLA Premium for £30/month and get step-by-step application support, daily commercial awareness practice, and 700+ successful examples of past applications and interview experiences. Plus so much more.
    Join Premium →
  • How to Secure a Vacation Scheme (Ropes & Gray)
    1 Dec 2025 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm (UK) Zoom (registration required)
    In this interactive session, Maya Shah, Senior Early Careers Specialist at Ropes & Gray, will walk you through every stage of the firm's application process.
    Register on Zoom →
  • How to Stand Out in Law Firm Interviews (Willkie)
    3 Dec 2025 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm (UK) Zoom (registration required)
    Willkie’s new graduate recruiter and two trainees will break down what the firm looks for at the interview stage, common pitfalls to avoid, and how you can demonstrate confidence, clarity, and genuine motivation throughout an assessment centre.
    Register on Zoom →

Search results

  1. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    International students at a UK university or international students studying outside of the UK?
  2. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Unfortunately I would just leave it - it’s difficult for GR to add such information to your application without it causing too much work for them (if they did it for you, they would have to do it for everyone else). Work experience will always include paid or voluntary roles unless the firm...
  3. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Yes, you can briefly highly key learnings if you think they aren’t obvious from other aspects of your description.
  4. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    It really depends on context. If you are saying it is something that specifically made you apply to the firm, then you have to tread carefully if it doesn’t apply to the location you are applying to.
  5. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    I would try to think of the similarities in their roles and the broader purpose of a commercial lawyer, rather than think about the processes they are responsible for or the subjects they are experts in.
  6. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    1) generally it’s fine to talk about it - it’s going to be part of any working life going forward. But I think it’s really depends what you are saying and why you are saying it. 2) yes - that is fine 3) There isn’t a general norm. It’s really for each individual to show the combination of...
  7. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    It’s actually pretty common. One of the reasons many people don’t hear back is because they don’t include an accurate email address - that’s crazily common! The amount of bounce back emails you get as a recruiter due to email mistakes always blows my mind.
  8. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Considering it’s ten days away, I’d still apply. I’d bet money they have only around half their total application at the moment.
  9. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Hi @ZaraN - there is a mock interview service you can book into. Further information can be found here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/mock-interview/
  10. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Firms want to bring more diverse candidates into their business. Evidence shows time and time again that it will improve a business, both in terms of the working environment but put as crudely as possible, will also result it better revenue. All the time clients are asking them to provide how...
  11. TCLA Community Assistant

    Preferred practice area - first or last seat?

    In addition to George’s points, the things to consider are: 1) do you have to submit your preferences all up front and these can’t change (unlikely but I know of one firm that did this) vs can you change your mind with each rotation 2) how many seats you have 3) do you just submit department...
  12. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    It’s not just for mitigating circumstances. You could use it to provide information on anything that wouldn’t naturally fit into other sections (and not just because you ran out of word count) or anything that needs explaining further (for instance non traditional grading systems , gaps in...
  13. TCLA Community Assistant

    Preferred practice area - first or last seat?

    I would recommend just listing it. You'll typically need to list multiple preferences at multiple stages anyway. It's unlikely you will just submit your choices at the start of the training contract or be able to only submit one preference per seat rotation. If you want to sit in M&A, then its...
  14. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    If it’s on Launchpad it means 23.59 on the 8th.
  15. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA General Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Anything like that will be on the firm’s website, typically under a “about us” section.
  16. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA General Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    I think many firms have stopped publishing full annual reports of late.
  17. TCLA Community Assistant

    Interview question - tell us about a time you compromised your views

    To me your views don’t necessarily need to be tied to integrity or ethics. It could be that you changed your views for a greater good. It could be that your views were changed because you saw things from a different perspective. A STAR(R) format will be the best way to approach this type of...
  18. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    I’ll be frank - a lot of awards are a load of rubbish, and often heavily influenced by how many tables they booked for the awards ceremony and how good they are at writing a submission. Something like the Chambers ranking is a far more reliable source of their capabilities anyway.
  19. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    The best place will be the firm’s website. There won’t be a place that collects all of this information unfortunately. The only other place is to look at the individual company’s that run the awards programmes, as that will list all winner and nominees but only for that particular set of awards.
  20. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    The competitions would be extra curriculars anyway, so can be included.

About Us

The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

Get Our 2026 Vacation Scheme Guide

Nail your vacation scheme applications this year with our latest guide, with sample answers to law firm questions.