International Student TC Journey

[AbhayDruve]

Hi everyone, I'm an international student interested in a training contract with city law firms in the UK. A bit of background, I applied to over 20 firms this year and got 3 ACs but no success. I'll be trying for direct TCs but my chances of getting a TC from this route are quite slim given my lack of experience.

On a personal note, it's also been difficult to resonate with others as I'm mainly surrounded by non-international students and mentors who are not able to guide me as well, especially on visa and term-time issues. I was wondering if anyone has advice for an international like me or any resources out there I could use to perhaps understand where I'm going wrong

 

[Aks.Khurana]

Hey Abhay, thanks for posting! As an international student with visa issues myself, I hear you - schemes and term time clashes can be very frustrating.

To the best of my knowledge, most international students usually cannot attend schemes that completely clash with term dates. This would violate your 20-hour-a-week work restriction (assuming you're on a Tier 4 visa). Some exceptions to this rule are:

1. If the firm can work an arrangement with you effectively bringing the work hours down to only 20 hours and having the rest as socials (this usually doesn't happen for vacation schemes, but was done for me during a 1-week first-year scheme)
2. If the overlap isn't substantial, and so you'd effectively only be clashing for 20 hours
3. If there's any special procedure your university and firm are willing to work out, such as an official leave of absence letter (this may or may not work, but it is worth a shot).

I would pursue all three. Another common strategy is to apply for winters and springs and then defer to the summer. While this isn't ideal, it can help improve your odds and give you more scope to apply.

 

[Jaysen]

Hi everyone, I'm an international student interested in a training contract with city law firms in the UK. A bit of background, I applied to over 20 firms this year and got 3 ACs but no success. I'll be trying for direct TCs but my chances of getting a TC from this route are quite slim given my lack of experience.

On a personal note, it's also been difficult to resonate with others as I'm mainly surrounded by non-international students and mentors who are not able to guide me as well, especially on visa and term-time issues. I was wondering if anyone has advice for an international like me or any resources out there I could use to perhaps understand where I'm going wrong

Thanks to the member for trying to attach our guide for international applicants (written by International applicants). I hope it helps