General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[tractor12]

Today has been really weird, received a rejection from Sidley Austin after completing a vacation scheme with them... on top of that received rejections from FF and Hogan. I have just been deeping life, and I randomly received an AC with Slaughter and May, guys pray for me.. I am so over this

Sorry about the rejections but just shows you have to keep the faith. Smash that AC !

 

[Law200]

Just received an interview invite from Slaughter and May

Today has been really weird, received a rejection from Sidley Austin after completing a vacation scheme with them... on top of that received rejections from FF and Hogan. I have just been deeping life, and I randomly received an AC with Slaughter and May, guys pray for me.. I am so over this

congratulations! I have previously interviewed so let me know if you want any advice etc

 

[billalchowdhury]

This is good news. Please when did you apply?

I applied on the first of June. They then requested my second year results almost immediately and I was able to provide the information requested on the 30th of July. Hope this helps!

 

[EA]

I applied on the first of June. They then requested my second year results almost immediately and I was able to provide the information requested on the 30th of July. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[XARA]

Does anyone know if A&O give you a pass/fail after the SJT?

 

[billalchowdhury]

Does anyone know if A&O give you a pass/fail after the SJT?

When I last applied, I was sent an email after completing the SJT that I had met the benchmark so I'm guessing they would've sent a rejection email if I didn't meet the threshold

 

[XARA]

When I last applied, I was sent an email after completing the SJT that I had met the benchmark so I'm guessing they would've sent a rejection email if I didn't meet the threshold

Thanks!

 

[M777]

Speaking of A&O, has anyone heard back from A&O for 2020/21 vacation schemes yet (post-passing the SJT)?

 

[D]

Does anyone know if A&O give you a pass/fail after the SJT?

From my understanding, last year was pass/fail.

 

[D]

To all of those receiving FF rejections, I'm sorry to hear it. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. In my view, applying Direct for a TC is always much harder than going through a VS. I think that task has been made even more difficult with Covid which may affect the number of places on offer. While we can only hypothesize, I can only assume that if a firm was going to adjust numbers, their direct applicants would likely take the hit as they have had the "opportunity" to see the other candidates for 2 weeks during a VS.

The beauty of TCLA though is that you have a future FF Trainee Resident here in @Alice G who is incredibly helpful on the forums. She may be able to offer some assistance. While I await the outcome of my own application post-VS, I'm happy to give your application a "once-over" to cast my views, if they are of any use to you.

Stay strong! The window is open for this season so you can start applying again to all of the firms that interest you!

 

[Daniel Boden]

@Jessica Booker

On a vacation scheme, I have been asked to write a report to a client less than 1 A4 page, what format and structure should I use for this, any precedent I can follow? Thank you!!

Are you able to access a template from the firm? I'd ask your supervisor or trainee buddy for their advice on how to structure it. They'll be more than happy to help in my experience

 

[Jooooopp7]

SARs are useful but don't they make extra work for grad rec and possibly lead to an applicant being viewed less favourably if they were to reapply? Just a concern I have.

In my experience, I submitted an SAR after a law firm stated they wouldn't give feedback and I know of another person who did aswell to the same firm, in response to the 2 SARs (there might have been more) they completely change their stance and gave feedback to everyone including me in addition to responding to the SAR. I'd say that it's well worth it, and really the law firm shouldn't be looking unfavourably at you since its well within your rights to get the information thats related to you. So I'd would say go for it! the information i received was way more detailed than the standard phone call was anyway!

 

[2019grad31]

Hi, did you apply for direct TC? And when did you hear back from them? Thanks !

Hi! Yes I applied direct TC and applied on 15th May. I think I got my WG invite the same day. I did my first stage interview early June and then had to wait two months till the AC, but they invited me to AC three weeks after the interview and let me know that the dates for next ACs weren’t confirmed yet. Hope this helps!

 

[A L]

Today has been really weird, received a rejection from Sidley Austin after completing a vacation scheme with them... on top of that received rejections from FF and Hogan. I have just been deeping life, and I randomly received an AC with Slaughter and May, guys pray for me.. I am so over this

Congrats on the AC invite and sorry for the rejections.

Most importantly, focus on the AC preparation and forget about the rejections, Abgaal.

Not just because it is what you have now: Slaughter and May is one of the most prestigious law firms and its invitation is great recognition of your ability. Believe in yourself and concentrate.

Good luck and hope you will have more good news to come.

 

[XARA]

Guys, I was wondering whether anyone has had a look at A&O's vac scheme questions. None of them really relate to A&O/A&O's practices. Do you think it is okay to just answer the questions for what they are, ie. explaining a challenging situation faced, or do you need to somehow link it to the Firm?
Thanks so much!!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

I do agree with the luck point. I've seen many exceptional applications (in my eyes) go on to receive rejections from a particular firm.

So many factors play a role: your work experience, grades, the number of applications received v places, the preference of a recruiter etc., but that's not to say there's no point focusing on quality. The idea is you want to be consistently writing applications to the best of your ability in order to maximise your chances.

As Jess said, I also rarely see applications without at least one typo, so something worth keeping an eye on!

I still spot mistakes on my CV after 15 years of adapting it/updating - it drives me mad how I didn’t spot it the last time I needed to send it to someone

 

[nymi]

Hi! Yes I applied direct TC and applied on 15th May. I think I got my WG invite the same day. I did my first stage interview early June and then had to wait two months till the AC, but they invited me to AC three weeks after the interview and let me know that the dates for next ACs weren’t confirmed yet. Hope this helps!

Oh great! Wondering if I’ll even hear back considering I applied on the 29th july

 

[tractor12]

Guys, I was wondering whether anyone has had a look at A&O's vac scheme questions. None of them really relate to A&O/A&O's practices. Do you think it is okay to just answer the questions for what they are, ie. explaining a challenging situation faced, or do you need to somehow link it to the Firm?
Thanks so much!!

Yeah I thought the same. I think perhaps the new law question could be linked to the firm.

 

[XARA]

Yeah I thought the same. I think perhaps the new law question could be linked to the firm.

It's quite a difficult one isn't it!

 

[S87]

Guys, I was wondering whether anyone has had a look at A&O's vac scheme questions. None of them really relate to A&O/A&O's practices. Do you think it is okay to just answer the questions for what they are, ie. explaining a challenging situation faced, or do you need to somehow link it to the Firm?
Thanks so much!!

I actually disagree, I am not applying to A&O because they would never hire me, but I had a look at the app. The new law question is actually linked to the firm. It is a commercial awareness question and therefore you have to analyse what’s the firm’s position in regards to that particular topic. For example, recent low interest rate so increase in M&A deals. However, this might by a bluff because of possible second interview wave and we are in recession. Clients may turn their backs to deals and explore other infrastructure opportunities. How is A&O positioned? A&O (from what I remember) is ranked Tier 1 in private m&a deals so In case the m&a magic goes on they are well positioned. Moreover, they are also quite good with restructuring so in cases there are no mergers but closures then they are ready. Plus, many of the corporate nq could be used in the restructuring departments. Finally, clients may also want to spend less. How can A&O help? A&O has tech hub so works alongside many startups who could offer more for less.

I do not know if my analysis is correct maybe ask @Daniel Boden or @Alice G