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  1. TCLA Community Assistant

    BPP or University of Law - Moorgate

    I don’t know the specifics these days - I haven’t had to enrol someone on the GDL for quite some time. Some of our community might be better placed to answer this though. I’d expect it to be 4-6 weeks though, subject to how long it might take to get a visa sorted in your home country.
  2. TCLA Community Assistant

    BPP or University of Law - Moorgate

    Hi Camilla - are you on a sponsored course or are you self-funding?
  3. TCLA Community Assistant

    Need honest opinion on prospects

    Internships are unlikely to open until October/November time anyway, so I would focus on events and open days for the rest of the summer, and then think about which firms you might want to try to apply for vacation schemes for in the late Autumn/Winter.
  4. TCLA Community Assistant

    Need honest opinion on prospects

    You can apply now if you want to but my personal advice would be to wait and put your energies into applying once you have your final degree and third-year results. Some firms won't let you reapply - so if you do apply to them this summer, it is worthwhile checking their policy on reapplying...
  5. TCLA Community Assistant

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

    Not generally - some firms have a particular requirement of 1 page, while other firms go with a maximum word count, so it is worthwhile checking what the firm themselves state on this. Generally, I'd aim for a page of A4 or no more than 800 words though - but that's just my opinion (and a...
  6. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    I would just apply in all honesty - policies on this tend to be pretty fluid anyway, especially if there is another bout of Covid (or something similar). Most firms can accommodate virtual assessments in one format or another.
  7. TCLA Community Assistant

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

    That sounds like a good approach to me - I seem to have a good balance of the number of points raised without it being too many, and you are covering the three "whys" which is important unless these are covered in other aspects of the application.
  8. TCLA Community Assistant

    Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

    Many firms can offer virtual ACs these days - it really depends on their preferences and the type of assessments they need you to complete. It won't put a firm off - it is just something they will be able to accommodate or not. When you are invited to a face-to-face assessment stage you can...
  9. TCLA Community Assistant

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

    They haven’t got any ability to check unless you give your permission to contact firms. Even if you did this, firms haven’t got any capacity to either check with other firms or start giving out these details when other firms request it. You are going into a profession where integrity is...
  10. TCLA Community Assistant

    Severe anxiety during vac schemes

    The advice above from @Lisa Lowe is superb. In addition to what they have said, I would contact LawCare and speak to them as soon as possible to see what support/advice they can give you: https://www.lawcare.org.uk/ In addition, I have two contradicting views though that given they are...
  11. TCLA Community Assistant

    Scenario Based Assessment

    Hi @Mani28 - unfortunately it would be against our forum rules to go into the specifics of an assessment like this. It is important for us to help firms retain the validity of their assessments, and going into the detail of what a particular assessment consists of would provide an advantage to...
  12. TCLA Community Assistant

    Need honest opinion on prospects

    If we talk about City firms broadly, then my advice would be to focus on your academics and building up your CV and then apply next year once you have your final year degree results. Unless you can pick firms that do not assess academics at all (there are a select few out there), then you will...
  13. TCLA Community Assistant

    Need honest opinion on prospects

    My advice might be slightly different to what you might expect. I would actually focus more on your academics and maybe step back your extra curricular activity to ensure you can do well in your degree. If you do well in your final year your degree your first year results become less important...
  14. TCLA Community Assistant

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

    There are some common commercial awareness questions on this page of the website: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/175-training-contract-interview-questions-2/
  15. TCLA Community Assistant

    Studying in 2022-2023: LPC or SQE?

    For a lot of firms, they will have filled their 2023 intakes and so a gap year is be likely. Some may also have already moved to the SQE, and so if you find the LPC you will only get an exemption to SQE1. There maybe some firms that could recruit earlier intakes - we saw that this cycle when a...
  16. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA General Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    I would try to apply more of your independent thought to the answer - I am sure many applicants are likely to repeat something someone else said. It doesn’t have to be completely novel or new - some trends are clearly more obvious than others and therefore are likely to be mentioned. But...
  17. TCLA Community Assistant

    TCLA General Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

    Definitely - no answer has to be related to law/academia unless specifically asked for it to be so. I think this is where many people go wrong with their answers actually. They choose the “law” or “academia” answer because they either assume it is what the interviewer wants to hear about or...
  18. TCLA Community Assistant

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

    This is one of my go-to questions at the end of an interview. There really isn't anything specifically they are looking for - it is just a chance for an open opportunity for you to present anything you want that you naturally haven't had the opportunity to. Recruitment processes are limited -...
  19. TCLA Community Assistant

    Don’t sweat the small stuff - vacation schemes

    Really not an issue - people are used to people leaving early if the next meeting starts on the hour.

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