General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[Flora2580]

Hello - could anyone point me to where bronze and silver members can sign up to the M&A crash course webinar on Wednesday?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hello - could anyone point me to where bronze and silver members can sign up to the M&A crash course webinar on Wednesday?

@Jaysen - would you be able to help with this?

 

[Holly]

Hello - could anyone point me to where bronze and silver members can sign up to the M&A crash course webinar on Wednesday?

Hey I hope this helps

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Case Study Interview Crash Course. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

This crash course is devoted to mastering case study interviews. It's run by Alice G, a future trainee at a magic circle firm, who completed case study interviews at many of the top commercial law firms. In this session, exclusively for TCLA Premium members, she'll break down her best advice...

us02web.zoom.us

 

[Veep9]

For a question about innovation, would it suffice to talk about introducing a practice which isn’t earth-shattering in itself but which faced some resistance from my manager and which eventually completely changed our systems and delivery for the better. Think about it as introducing folders for different things which is a completely normal thing to do but at this job was considered absolutely out there and ridiculous.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

For a question about innovation, would it suffice to talk about introducing a practice which isn’t earth-shattering in itself but which faced some resistance from my manager and which eventually completely changed our systems and delivery for the better. Think about it as introducing folders for different things which is a completely normal thing to do but at this job was considered absolutely out there and ridiculous.

Sounds perfectly reasonable example to me. You saw a issue, you found a solution, it resulted in a better outcome. That really is all that innovation is.

 

[Veep9]

Sounds perfectly reasonable example to me. You saw a issue, you found a solution, it resulted in a better outcome. That really is all that innovation is.

Amazing, thank you so much!

 

[CDKelley]

It is different if you are an international student studying in the U.K. Then a visa is straight forward and as of next June will be the case even if you have graduated in the last 2 years.

Look to whether you are eligible for a youth mobility visa - will depend on your home country, but this is one way you can work in the U.K. Its just you will need to pay for it

This may seem like a silly question-- but can international students who are studying in the UK on a long-term student visa participate in vacation schemes? In Arnold & Porter's application, they state: "we are not able to act as a visa sponsor. Should your application be successful, you will be asked to provide proof of your visa eligibility to complete the duration of a Vacation Scheme or Training Contract." I'm a bit confused if my student visa is enough for me to participate on a VC.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

This may seem like a silly question-- but can international students who are studying in the UK on a long-term student visa participate in vacation schemes? In Arnold & Porter's application, they state: "we are not able to act as a visa sponsor. Should your application be successful, you will be asked to provide proof of your visa eligibility to complete the duration of a Vacation Scheme or Training Contract." I'm a bit confused if my student visa is enough for me to participate on a VC.

It is enough to participate on a vacation scheme as long as the scheme runs outside of your university term time. However, considering many firms use vacation schemes as a recruitment process for their training contracts, they have a preference for those who could have the right to work for a TC.

 

[CDKelley]

It is enough to participate on a vacation scheme as long as the scheme runs outside of your university term time. However, considering many firms use vacation schemes as a recruitment process for their training contracts, they have a preference for those who could have the right to work for a TC.

Thank you!

 

[cryingoverTCs]

hey guys so I'm completing the WBD app and in the work exp section is says this:
"Please describe how your experience in this role matches the job you are applying for. Think about how the experience you've gained would help you be successful in performing your duties."

do I have to do something different to normal work exp sections?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

hey guys so I'm completing the WBD app and in the work exp section is says this:
"Please describe how your experience in this role matches the job you are applying for. Think about how the experience you've gained would help you be successful in performing your duties."

do I have to do something different to normal work exp sections?

Yes - it’s a very clever question from them to spin a standard question and make sure people don’t just copy and paste their work experience from other applications.

 

[cryingoverTCs]

Yes - it’s a very clever question from them to spin a standard question and make sure people don’t just copy and paste their work experience from other applications.

Ah ok, thanks, Jessica! Would this basically mean that I have to write (for example) "Whilst working at Waitrose, I developed invaluable customer service skills, which would help me during my vacation scheme at WBD, as I would be able to successfully interact with clients"?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Ah ok, thanks, Jessica! Would this basically mean that I have to write (for example) "Whilst working at Waitrose, I developed invaluable customer service skills, which would help me during my vacation scheme at WBD, as I would be able to successfully interact with clients"?

That sort of thing, possibly. But rather than just saying “customer service skills” that’s quite vague could you drill down and be a bit more precise in what you mean by that?

 

[philjones]

Hey yes done it last year theres a few free practice tests online just Google - speed and accuracy is key 50 Qs expectation is not to finish all Qs in 15mins a score in mid 20s - 30s is average. The percentile factor will impact overall ranking but generally much better test than WGT. Good Luck

Do most firms establish a mark you need to get, or just select the top x amount of scores? What sort of score do we need to get to succeed? Thanks!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Do most firms establish a mark you need to get, or just select the top x amount of scores? What sort of score do we need to get to succeed? Thanks!

You get assessed against what is called a norm group which gives you a percentile ranking and a percentile ranking (1-99) will be set.

 

[philjones]

You get assessed against what is called a norm group which gives you a percentile ranking and a percentile ranking (1-99) will be set.

Thanks Jessica, I realise this means there isn't always a standard set mark to reach, but in general/on average, what sort of score will likely pass? Thanks!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Thanks Jessica, I realise this means there isn't always a standard set mark to reach, but in general/on average, what sort of score will likely pass? Thanks!

How percentiles are calculated are different form one another. You could be assessed against 5 years olds or you could be assessed against senior partners. The first should lead to a really high percentile benchmark, the latter a really low one.

it can range between as low as the 15th percentile, and typically only goes up to around the 75th percentile depending on the norm groups and the weighting of the exercise.

But my point every time this conversation comes up is don’t concern yourself about scores. It means very little to you as an applicant outside of the initial yes or no decision, because it rarely has any indication of whether the next one will be a yes or a no.

 

[josemourinho]

question about international law experience: I am British but live in another country and have most of my legal experience in a firm in the foreign country. I do have UK experience but the most extensive experience is from this country. Has anyone who has foreign experience ever been asked to justify why London, and why not the country they have the experience in?
Also, do firms tend to see UK experience as better than experience in a different jurisdiction?

 

[Jacob Miller]

question about international law experience: I am British but live in another country and have most of my legal experience in a firm in the foreign country. I do have UK experience but the most extensive experience is from this country. Has anyone who has foreign experience ever been asked to justify why London, and why not the country they have the experience in?
Also, do firms tend to see UK experience as better than experience in a different jurisdiction?

Not a million miles away from your situation: I'm on a Scots Law LLB programme, live in Scotland and have legal experience across both jurisdictions. I'll be training and qualifying as a solicitor in England (eventually!)

"Why London and not Scotland?" Is something I've been asked regularly, and I'm always honest in my answer: London, to me, is a more exciting place to be with a bigger, more dynamic legal market and the opportunity to work on massive things that simply don't come up in Scotland.

In my experience of my CV as a whole, I've always tended to find that it's basically been everything apart from my legal work experience that's been asked about: end of the day, interviewers know what open days/ internships/ vac schemes are and what they're there for, they want to hear about more interesting stuff than that. To that end, I would actually leverage international experience both to justify your decision to train in London but also about any unique or different outlooks/ perspectives that has given you on the issues you've encountered. In my own experience, I've noticed that Scots law-backgrounded people think and approach issues quite differently to English law-backgrounded folks - I dare say this will be similar for you

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

question about international law experience: I am British but live in another country and have most of my legal experience in a firm in the foreign country. I do have UK experience but the most extensive experience is from this country. Has anyone who has foreign experience ever been asked to justify why London, and why not the country they have the experience in?
Also, do firms tend to see UK experience as better than experience in a different jurisdiction?

The UK experience will have more correlations to the work a UK firm does. You’ll be dealing with English law much more regularly than you would do in another jurisdiction. If you have been working in another country for sometime, there will be a question of why don’t you qualify under that system and then come to the UK as a qualified lawyer, rather than having to start from scratch again. So that’s often the logic you have to explain when your experience is outside of the UK.