General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[NickMcK]

Guys, i have a question.

I am currently applying to Bakers and I am not understanding why the website states that I wrote 251 words whereas MS Office shows only 250 words?
I am freaking out!!

This is usually down to a recruiter's website counting words in a different way to MS Office. On a website this can also be down to things such as the website counting formatting as words. It varies from website to website.

Try copy-pasting your text into Notepad as this strips out any formatting carried over from Word. Then transfer it to the website. If you are still a word or two over the maximum then try 1) adjusting your paragraph spacing and see if that helps or 2) re-draft a sentence to get you under the word count.

You are only one word over so no need to panic.

You can also usually see a preview of your whole application on the last page before you submit. You can look at this at any time and this is a good tool to help you edit these longer questions or spot where things haven't copied over correctly.

 

[S87]

There is no point freaking out about something like this - just change a sentence so it is 250 words on the system.

MS Office will not recognise certain words or inputs, while an application system will.

I will bet money now it is one of the following

• Paragraph break being read as a "word"
• Bullet point
• Hyphenated word

Yes I have an hyphenated word..sigh!!

 

[thirdtimelucky]

Anyone heard from Mishcon post-VI/Gibson Dunn post-app? Not hopeful but would like to know what's going on

 

[W]

Anyone heard from Mishcon post-VI/Gibson Dunn post-app? Not hopeful but would like to know what's going on

Ain’t heard from Gibson post-app, maybe email?

 

[Camilla]

Anyone heard from Mishcon post-VI/Gibson Dunn post-app? Not hopeful but would like to know what's going on

I was supposed to attend the case study interview at Mishcon on Monday but it has been postponed and I have not had any further updates yet. I wouldn't take silence as bad news, I suspect they are just really busy trying to juggle things around/come up with a new system.

 

[syw]

Hi all, i've just been invited for a watson glaser test at BM. I've attempted WG tests before but really suck at them despite practising How long do you normally practice for? Any obvious online resources would also be v v helpful!

 

[Camilla]

Hi all, i've just been invited for a watson glaser test at BM. I've attempted WG tests before but really suck at them despite practising How long do you normally practice for? Any obvious online resources would also be v v helpful!

I got a paid subscription for Assessment Day and Job Test Prep and did every test 5 times minimum.

Free resources include:

• The Watson Glaser on Clifford Chance's website.
• The practise Watson Glaser on the Pearson Talentlens website.

These are actually pretty good replicas of the real thing and they don't tell you the right answer so you can keep practising and trying to improve your score. If you have a week to complete it that should be enough time. Practise as much as you can.

Good luck!

 

[D]

Hi all, i've just been invited for a watson glaser test at BM. I've attempted WG tests before but really suck at them despite practising How long do you normally practice for? Any obvious online resources would also be v v helpful!

To build on the above mentioned by @Camilla, If you are a university student, often your careers service will have subscriptions to website that allows you to access the paid material that has been mentioned! This was never explained to me by anyone at uni, however, when I asked I was pleasantly surprised!

Also, I highly advise practising in the free material you can get online that links to the central database. Last year, for first-year schemes and open days, I probably sat 8 or 9 WG's. By the end, I'd seen the same questions multiple times and I was able to process them more effectively. You'll really get to know about the French Ski Resort, and the Milk Experiment!

 

[Camilla]

Hey is this for the training contract or vacation scheme at baker? when did you apply?

Not sure if you meant to @ me here - I haven't submitted my app to Bakers yet...

My advice was regarding Watson Glaser tests in general!

 

[Deleted member 5185]

Has anybody heard any news back from Browne Jacobson post online tests ? The deadline for the tests was the 1st of March.

 

[FutureCity]

Not sure if you meant to @ me here - I haven't submitted my app to Bakers yet...

My advice was regarding Watson Glaser tests in general!

sorry, wrong person!

 

[AY]

Has anybody heard any news back from Browne Jacobson post online tests ? The deadline for the tests was the 1st of March.

I haven’t heard back post online tests, but considering everything going on right now (re Covid-19), I’m imagining that firms will delay the recruitment process for a month or two. Could be wrong though :/

 

[futuretraineecity]

Is it too late to apply to TCs with deadlines in July or should I just wait until VS apps?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Is it too late to apply to TCs with deadlines in July or should I just wait until VS apps?

the only time it is too late is when applications are closed

 

[syw]

I got a paid subscription for Assessment Day and Job Test Prep and did every test 5 times minimum.

Free resources include:

• The Watson Glaser on Clifford Chance's website.
• The practise Watson Glaser on the Pearson Talentlens website.

These are actually pretty good replicas of the real thing and they don't tell you the right answer so you can keep practising and trying to improve your score. If you have a week to complete it that should be enough time. Practise as much as you can.

Good luck!

Thank you v much!

 

[c1070]

Has anyone heard anything from Forsters since last week’s ‘sorry for the delay’ email? I’m sure they’re super busy with everything just wondering...

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

@Alice G Huge congratulations again on your Freshfields TC offer! Been following your journey on the forums for a while and it's so refreshing to see you succeed!

I think I speak for all of us in that, it'd be amazing if you wrote about your experiences and your own tips/hints for TCs/VSs applications and your journey to Freshfields too.

Thanks for being such an asset to the forum! Apologies for the belated congratulations, work has been so manic!

 

[Alice G]

@Alice G Huge congratulations again on your Freshfields TC offer! Been following your journey on the forums for a while and it's so refreshing to see you succeed!

I think I speak for all of us in that, it'd be amazing if you wrote about your experiences and your own tips/hints for TCs/VSs applications and your journey to Freshfields too.

Thanks for being such an asset to the forum! Apologies for the belated congratulations, work has been so manic!

This message hugely brightened my Friday - thank you! And please do not apologise - I am in totally the same boat and I am so grateful for your well wishes Another candidate reached out and has asked me to do the same so it is definitely on the agenda! I have just been trying to think about what might actually the best way to go about it! I guess where my journey has been a long one I want to know what would be best to cover. With this in mind - how do you guys feel about a bit of a Q&A thread about my journey and then maybe in future I could look at working with @Jaysen on a video or some content?

Just trying to think about what you guys want to know, what would help the best and how to convey it all to you without me writing something of a Tolstoy novel into the forums!

Honestly really keen to hear your thoughts and opinions!

 

[Ifmhouse4]

This message hugely brightened my Friday - thank you! And please do not apologise - I am in totally the same boat and I am so grateful for your well wishes Another candidate reached out and has asked me to do the same so it is definitely on the agenda! I have just been trying to think about what might actually the best way to go about it! I guess where my journey has been a long one I want to know what would be best to cover. With this in mind - how do you guys feel about a bit of a Q&A thread about my journey and then maybe in future I could look at working with @Jaysen on a video or some content?

Just trying to think about what you guys want to know, what would help the best and how to convey it all to you without me writing something of a Tolstoy novel into the forums!

Honestly really keen to hear your thoughts and opinions!

That would be so helpful I think! a Q&A video or thread I mean

 

[Alice G]

That would be so helpful I think! a Q&A video or thread I mean

Excellent! Thank you for feeding back so soon! Yeah I felt a Q&A might honestly be the best approach and maybe in time I can do a bit of video content with Jaysen or something on our social media to speak in real-time about my journey more generally! Keep letting me know though guys if you agree with this approach or have any other suggestions!