2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Elle W]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

Do you value your weekends/evenings?

 

[deckoking123]

Do you value your weekends/evenings?

Consumed too much Gary V lately so no to an extent

 

[sam970]

Had an email from Gateley. Got all worked up. Opened it and....



Thank you for your application for a vacation scheme and training contract with us! We hope you are keeping well.

If you have recently completed our online tests and video interview as part of our trainee solicitor application process, we will shortly be in touch regarding your outcome and if successful, next steps.

If you have not yet completed the tests as the initial instruction email went to your junk mail, or if you would like to withdraw from our process, please contact Steffi Ballmann on the following email address - [email protected] - as soon as possible.

We will be in touch as soon as we can with a further update regarding your application.

 

[InNeedofaTC]

Had an email from Gateley. Got all worked up. Opened it and....



Thank you for your application for a vacation scheme and training contract with us! We hope you are keeping well.

If you have recently completed our online tests and video interview as part of our trainee solicitor application process, we will shortly be in touch regarding your outcome and if successful, next steps.

If you have not yet completed the tests as the initial instruction email went to your junk mail, or if you would like to withdraw from our process, please contact Steffi Ballmann on the following email address - [email protected] - as soon as possible.

We will be in touch as soon as we can with a further update regarding your application.

You’re killing me today First WBD and now this

 

[LS12]

Has anyone not recieved tests from Mayer brown? I applied super late and I know It’s rolling but I don’t want to have missed anything lol

 

[ab1147]

Hi guys, is anyone familiar with the written exercise for Hill Dickinson? Or does anyone have any general advice for written exercises? I haven't done one before so really not sure what to expect! I'm also a non-law undergrad so worried about how legal based it might be

 

[Andrew M]

Hi guys, is anyone familiar with the written exercise for Hill Dickinson? Or does anyone have any general advice for written exercises? I haven't done one before so really not sure what to expect! I'm also a non-law undergrad so worried about how legal based it might be

@liverpoollawyer you did it on the insight scheme last year, right?

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Has anyone not recieved tests from Mayer brown? I applied super late and I know It’s rolling but I don’t want to have missed anything lol

I haven’t received the tests and applied on the 18th of Jan x

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Yeh, feel free to add me in!

I just PM you.

 

[Sebastian Clark]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

Would advise against - I did it while working part time, and while I definitely underestimated the requirements of the course, I was still doing long hours with no respite. I ended up with slightly sub par grades from not spending as much time on the course as I should have, which in a competitive TC market is a disadvantage.

if I had a do over, I would commit to the GDL full time and knock it out the park.

 

[KT]

Just got a call saying that I passed the AC and got through to final interview for PwC Legal! If anyone has done the PwC Legal final interview before let me know if you have any tips

 

[Matt_96]

Same! 75%??!! What is going on?

When you're sitting at home worried about getting a job in a difficult market, suddenly working for that startup or going into something trendy like marketing doesn't seem quite as appealing as the safety and predictability of a professional qualification. I would be very very surprised if recruiters in accountancy, medicine (graduate entry and otherwise) and other professions weren't also being totally overwhelmed this year.

 

[Legalmel_99]

Had an email from Gateley. Got all worked up. Opened it and....



Thank you for your application for a vacation scheme and training contract with us! We hope you are keeping well.

If you have recently completed our online tests and video interview as part of our trainee solicitor application process, we will shortly be in touch regarding your outcome and if successful, next steps.

If you have not yet completed the tests as the initial instruction email went to your junk mail, or if you would like to withdraw from our process, please contact Steffi Ballmann on the following email address - [email protected] - as soon as possible.

We will be in touch as soon as we can with a further update regarding your application.

That’s so confusing I assumed PFO then next stage but it was just an update

 

[Sara Costa]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

I'm doing the GDL right now and I worked full time the first two months (from home of course). It is doable but you can't really focus 100% of your energy on one thing which means you started slacking on both. This second semester is going much better because I have more time, and even still I find that I don't have time to do much else! I highly recommend either working part time or just studying full-time

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Same! 75%??!! What is going on?

I am not surprised really.

Generally people have much more time on their hands than they would normally just because they can't do the social things or have no need to commute, so they have more time to commit to applications.

Also in times when there is huge amount of uncertainty in the job market, people make more job applications to hedge their best. In addition, people who are worried about other career opportunities tend to go to careers that are seen as more stable/predictable, of which law is one. Law graduate vacancies have actually remained quite stable over my entire career, but in contrast, the number of grad roles in things like Finance and Investment Banking are nowhere near what they once were and also tend to fluctuate significantly.

I suspect many people considering careers in Consulting and Investment Banking (which are hyper competitive compared to law) will be potentially making some applications to law firms to hedge their bets too. This is what happened in 2008/09 anyway....

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

From most people I have spoken to, I wouldn't really recommend it. You'd have to be super organised and also have an employer that knows you can only commit to 35-40 hours a week, not contracted hours plus picking up more shifts or working longer hours to get work done.

It might be ok if you are working full-time hours on and off, or able to flex things up and down to average out working hours. But I wouldn't really recommend a full-time permanent job plus the GDL.

Unless you are super human and are willing to sacrifice everything else outside of work and study for a year.

 

[liverpoollawyer]

Hi guys, is anyone familiar with the written exercise for Hill Dickinson? Or does anyone have any general advice for written exercises? I haven't done one before so really not sure what to expect! I'm also a non-law undergrad so worried about how legal based it might be

Hey so on the insight scheme it was a letter-writing exercise! Pretty straight forward wasn’t really testing legal knowledge just more on your accuracy etc as they made us switch off all speck check on our Word when we did it. I’ve done one at another firm which was writing an email explaining terms of a contract but the one I did for HD was much more straight forward x

 

[SamTam99]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

I really wouldn’t recommend it, I had to quit my part time job in October (20 hours a week) because I felt I couldn’t manage the GDL workload alongside a job. They aren’t lying when they say it’s 45 hours of independent work per week for the course, my prep for each workshop probably takes about a day and we typically have 3-4 workshops a week. Alongside that you’ll have mocks, consolidation work and lectures to get done- it’s very full on.

 

[BorgP95]

(Random q) How realistic is it to do the GDL full time and while working full time?

I did the MA Law (GDL equivalent) online last year full time whilst working full time in a demanding role in parliament. Overall, it worked - I came away with good grades, built a good reputation for myself at work and have no debt.

But, it was brutal.

You will no longer have a life. My schedule was to get up at 05.30, be in work by 06.30, finish work at 15.00, gym until 16.00, home by 16.45, making tea/prep for next day until 17.30, check back in with work remotely, then ideally start studying by 18.00, usually until ca. 00.00-01.00 and sleep. Weekends I would try and give myself 7-8 hours of sleep and the rest was just pure study time with an hour for exercise and hour for tea with a bit of Netflix (exceptionally 2 hours if my football team was on TV lol). I used all of my annual leave just to be able to have my exam weeks off, so no time for a break anywhere.

I don't necessarily regret doing it but it did have a major impact on my health. After my last exams it's like my body and brain finally accepted defeat. I gained a lot of weight in the later stages, largely due to Covid taking away my ability to maintain my routine at the gym but also because I was consuming so much crap, spending 19 hours per day sat at a desk staring at screens and just trying to push myself to keep going. Because I was relying on dangerous amounts of coffee and energy drinks to stay awake on minimal sleep for a year, I actually developed hyposensitivity to caffeine, so now if I have any it basically knocks me out! Physically it took a toll but the worst was the burnout that followed. I've been exhausted before but I had no idea how much real burnout truly sucks. Has taken me months to recover, I still have long periods of brain fog (although this has now significantly improved),

Sorry, I have now written way more than I thought I would but, in summary, it is very much doable, but my advice would be don't do it. Work part time at most (or do the GDL part time). However, if you do do it, be prepared not to have a life, take at least an hour of exercise every day and maybe don't consume ridiculous amounts of caffeine!

Good luck, whatever you end up doing!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Thank you very much! Special thanks to you too-your work and responses here has been super helpful and reassuring

Considering I can be pretty brutal on here at times, that is very nice to hear!