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2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

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The firm could have chosen any one of hundreds of people to attend an AC.

They didn't. They chose you. Because they think you stand a good chance of success.

You got this.
i dont know whether its the pandemic or the fact that I am so engrossed in all these applications but I found this quite romantic ahahaha
Jimmy Fallon Lol GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 
Congratulations @hscd21 I got an invite to the partner interview today too! What makes you think that there are still some spots left on the last two schemes?
Thank you so much! Right back at ya, best of luck :)

I asked about the dates of their schemes as I was worried they'd clash with my Eversheds one and didn't want to take up an interview slot if that meant another person had a chance to get an offer. Grad rec told me that they'd filled up most spaces on their first one but the other two in July still had some. Defo take this info with a grain of salt though!
 
Does anyone have any advice about how to ensure you're prepared for a vac scheme e.g. reading to do, reaching out to people before you start etc? Thanks!

Vacs are super difficult to prepare for in advance because you really have no visibility on the kind of tasks you'll be assessed on or anything. Really the best thing you can do is ensure you stay up to date on commercial awareness, and read around any big news involving the firm. So any big deals they've done, or key lateral hires which then puts you in a good position to ask informed questions during presentations and talks on the scheme. In terms of reaching out to people beforehand, there's really no need to do this in advance as you'll usually be introduced to your supervisor and trainee buddy on the first day. Something I did do was look up in advance people at the firm I wanted to arrange coffee chats with so that I was able to reach out on the first day and give them plenty of time to check their availability to talk to me. There's a lot of mixed opinions on this on the forum, but I also did one Forage virtual internship and I found it helpful to get used to structuring and writing things as a lawyer would, so if you have the time I'd give that a try as well.
 
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Does anyone know where I can find a rundown of important trends happening right now in property law/real estate? I got my AC tomorrow and turns out almost everyone interviewing me is a commercial real estate practicioner...
 
I’ve applied to Winston in December. Still haven’t heard anything. Should I just consider their silence as pfo 😕?
In the same boat with Winston & Strawn.

If anybody has interviewed with them this cycle, could you please let me know if they've started giving out offers yet or what stage they're at with their interviewing process? I'd really appreciate it!
 
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It’s been two weeks post VI, is it appropriate to email the graduate recruitment team to see if they have any updates? I don’t want to bother them of course so would really appreciate your advice!

Hey, I'd honestly just recommend sitting tight and waiting. I know its annoying to have to wait but I've waited a whole month to hear back post VI on multiple occasions. If you haven't heard back already, then its unlikely that chasing them up on it will change how fast they get back to you either since they probably just haven't gotten around to watching all the VIs yet.
 
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Does anyone know where I can find a rundown of important trends happening right now in property law/real estate? I got my AC tomorrow and turns out almost everyone interviewing me is a commercial real estate practicioner...
Personally, I'd be a bit wary of learning stuff like this the day before an interview if you're not already prepared and aware of these issues. Whilst it may be good to have a story that's relevant to them, the last thing you want is to mention something you read about the day before and then being grilled on it further by people who are experts in the field and it becoming clear you don't really know all that much about it.

My advice would be to focus on the commercial awareness areas that interest you as ultimately the interview is designed to get to know your interests, not the interests/areas expertise of the interviewers.

PS: best of luck with your AC!
 
Does anyone know where I can find a rundown of important trends happening right now in property law/real estate? I got my AC tomorrow and turns out almost everyone interviewing me is a commercial real estate practicioner...
I’d suggest Retail Week (but I agree with Dan’s point!)
 
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