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Aspiring Lawyers - Interviews & Vacation Schemes
Vacation Schemes Discussion
Converting your vacation scheme into a training contract - top tips in 2021
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<blockquote data-quote="George Maxwell" data-source="post: 112327" data-attributes="member: 17165"><p>Hey [USER=15838]@jo[/USER],</p><p></p><p>First off, I wanted to say that I really admire your questions. They are clear, open and honest. You have managed to put words to, and accurately describe, anxieties that a lot of people (myself included) would struggle to delineate.</p><p></p><p><strong>Re: networking</strong></p><p></p><p>I empathise with your concerns about <strong>networking</strong>. My biggest tip would be to ask questions that you are <em>genuinely</em> interested in. If you are curious about something, do not be afraid to raise it in conversation. When speaking to someone about their work, they will realise that you are a vacation schemer. They will be aware that you may lack certain pieces of contextual knowledge, so try not to worry about asking (what you worry may be) silly/obvious questions.</p><p></p><p><strong>An example</strong></p><p></p><p>A lawyer I reached out to on a (virtual) vacation scheme worked in Insolvency and Financial Restructuring. They presented to my vacation scheme cohort and I followed up with an email asking whether they would have time for a coffee. If this had been on an in-person scheme, I would have thanked the person who presented afterwards and either:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a. asked my trainee buddy how to find where their office was, or found it myself (so I could find them to ask if they had time for a coffee at some point), or</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">b. sent them an email afterwards to thank them again and ask if they would have time for a coffee to discuss X. I think that now <em>I would most likely default to emailing them</em>, purely because I would not want to interrupt them by knocking on their door.</li> </ul><p>When we spoke, I asked them about what their attraction had been to insolvency and what other seats they considered. I then asked about the team in general. I wanted to know the type of work the group did and their client base. I then asked about their personal experience working in law, whether they enjoyed the job and if they had struggled since starting their training contract.</p><p></p><p>The ending of the conversation was fairly natural. I tried to make clear that I didn't want to take up too much of their time, so they let me know when they had to get back to things.</p><p></p><p><strong>Asking people for coffee </strong></p><p></p><p>In terms of being marked down for not asking people for coffee, again largely I would not worry. Following a few of my vacation schemes, I was told that my enthusiasm and willingness to reach out to people had been flagged as a good thing. That being said, I do know people who didn't go for coffee with anyone during their scheme and they still got it!</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, the most important thing is to do the work that you are given to the highest standard you can manage, whilst building up a strong relationship with your trainee buddy and supervisor. You should prioritise your core tasks in particular, as receiving good marks on these will form the basis of any decision to extend a TC offer (on my understanding at least!).</p><p></p><p><strong>Common pitfalls</strong></p><p></p><p>I would caveat what Jess has said by saying that I think it is important not to ask questions for the sake of it. On one of my schemes there was someone who consistently asked very obvious and unnecessary questions in an effort to be seen by GR and to stand out (that is what it seemed like anyway!). I will say that they did not receive an offer, but this is likely have been based on other things. However, looking back I am certain that GR were <em>not</em> noting down names of people who asked questions and those who did not. Some of the people who got the TC never asked a single question!</p><p></p><p>My advice in general would be to lean into your natural curiosity rather than asking inauthentic questions.</p><p></p><p>I hope that helps! Please let me know if you would like any more advice ahead of your vacation scheme 😊. I wish you all the best for it in any case!</p><p></p><p>Hey [USER=17654]@MN[/USER],</p><p></p><p>Congratulations for receiving a VS offer from LLs!</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately I do not have any direct experience of the type of work given to vacation schemers on the LLs VS. I am sure that you are aware, but the type of work given can vary hugely between firms. Broadly though, from what I have heard VS tasks will be very similar to a lot of paralegal tasks. I actually spoke with my supervisor about this on one of my schemes, who said that some paralegals do a better job than many trainees. Your paralegal experience should set you up very well ahead of your scheme.</p><p></p><p>That said, <a href="https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/vacation-scheme-tasks.5003/#post-107752" target="_blank">this post</a> (and thread) <em>might </em>be helpful in giving you an idea of the sort of work that students might expect to be given on a vacation scheme. I would also suggest having a scroll through the forum using the search bar. You are likely to find plenty of posts about the LLs AC and VS too. This material might be helpful in itself. In addition though you <em>might</em> find it helpful to reach out to users who have posted this content to ask them what to expect!</p><p></p><p>All the best for your scheme. Please do let me know how it goes. Feel free to reach out at any point too 🙌</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="George Maxwell, post: 112327, member: 17165"] Hey [USER=15838]@jo[/USER], First off, I wanted to say that I really admire your questions. They are clear, open and honest. You have managed to put words to, and accurately describe, anxieties that a lot of people (myself included) would struggle to delineate. [B]Re: networking[/B] I empathise with your concerns about [B]networking[/B]. My biggest tip would be to ask questions that you are [I]genuinely[/I] interested in. If you are curious about something, do not be afraid to raise it in conversation. When speaking to someone about their work, they will realise that you are a vacation schemer. They will be aware that you may lack certain pieces of contextual knowledge, so try not to worry about asking (what you worry may be) silly/obvious questions. [B]An example[/B] A lawyer I reached out to on a (virtual) vacation scheme worked in Insolvency and Financial Restructuring. They presented to my vacation scheme cohort and I followed up with an email asking whether they would have time for a coffee. If this had been on an in-person scheme, I would have thanked the person who presented afterwards and either: [LIST] [*]a. asked my trainee buddy how to find where their office was, or found it myself (so I could find them to ask if they had time for a coffee at some point), or [*]b. sent them an email afterwards to thank them again and ask if they would have time for a coffee to discuss X. I think that now [I]I would most likely default to emailing them[/I], purely because I would not want to interrupt them by knocking on their door. [/LIST] When we spoke, I asked them about what their attraction had been to insolvency and what other seats they considered. I then asked about the team in general. I wanted to know the type of work the group did and their client base. I then asked about their personal experience working in law, whether they enjoyed the job and if they had struggled since starting their training contract. The ending of the conversation was fairly natural. I tried to make clear that I didn't want to take up too much of their time, so they let me know when they had to get back to things. [B]Asking people for coffee [/B] In terms of being marked down for not asking people for coffee, again largely I would not worry. Following a few of my vacation schemes, I was told that my enthusiasm and willingness to reach out to people had been flagged as a good thing. That being said, I do know people who didn't go for coffee with anyone during their scheme and they still got it! Ultimately, the most important thing is to do the work that you are given to the highest standard you can manage, whilst building up a strong relationship with your trainee buddy and supervisor. You should prioritise your core tasks in particular, as receiving good marks on these will form the basis of any decision to extend a TC offer (on my understanding at least!). [B]Common pitfalls[/B] I would caveat what Jess has said by saying that I think it is important not to ask questions for the sake of it. On one of my schemes there was someone who consistently asked very obvious and unnecessary questions in an effort to be seen by GR and to stand out (that is what it seemed like anyway!). I will say that they did not receive an offer, but this is likely have been based on other things. However, looking back I am certain that GR were [I]not[/I] noting down names of people who asked questions and those who did not. Some of the people who got the TC never asked a single question! My advice in general would be to lean into your natural curiosity rather than asking inauthentic questions. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you would like any more advice ahead of your vacation scheme 😊. I wish you all the best for it in any case! Hey [USER=17654]@MN[/USER], Congratulations for receiving a VS offer from LLs! Unfortunately I do not have any direct experience of the type of work given to vacation schemers on the LLs VS. I am sure that you are aware, but the type of work given can vary hugely between firms. Broadly though, from what I have heard VS tasks will be very similar to a lot of paralegal tasks. I actually spoke with my supervisor about this on one of my schemes, who said that some paralegals do a better job than many trainees. Your paralegal experience should set you up very well ahead of your scheme. That said, [URL='https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/vacation-scheme-tasks.5003/#post-107752']this post[/URL] (and thread) [I]might [/I]be helpful in giving you an idea of the sort of work that students might expect to be given on a vacation scheme. I would also suggest having a scroll through the forum using the search bar. You are likely to find plenty of posts about the LLs AC and VS too. This material might be helpful in itself. In addition though you [I]might[/I] find it helpful to reach out to users who have posted this content to ask them what to expect! All the best for your scheme. Please do let me know how it goes. Feel free to reach out at any point too 🙌 [/QUOTE]
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Converting your vacation scheme into a training contract - top tips in 2021
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