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Hi [USER=34579]@watsonglazeddonut[/USER]! So for question 1, I do not know anybody who has done this, but this may just be because I have not started doing my SQE yet. [USER=2672]@Jessica Booker[/USER] or [USER=36738]@Ram Sabaratnam[/USER] might be able to tell to answer this better. However, I do know of multiple international students doing vacation schemes doing term time at university after negotiating a flexible arrangement with the graduate recruitment team. I would therefore tentatively assume that the same could apply to SQE students.For your second questions, the short answer is yes - firms are sometimes willing to make special arrangements sometimes. I would even venture to say that if you passed the AC and got a VS offer, more often than not firms will seek not to just reject you because of the visa issues. Sometimes, ways to accommodate you on the scheme can be found, but sometimes this will come in the form of flexibility with assessing you for the TC. I have recently written two detailed posts on options available to international students in this situation which I think may be useful to you. I'll quote them bellow.Just to answer your third question before that - essentially, I think a strategy focusing on spring vacation scheme applications makes sense. I think maybe around 75% of your applications targeting these schemes would be what you should be looking for. I would split the rest between direct TC applications to firms that are know to recruit substantial numbers of people through that track and some summer VS applications which only conflict with term time dates but not exam dates. As is further explained in the quoted posts, I think for such summer VS applications you should seek to target (i) one week schemes; (ii) small firms rather than large firms; (iii) US firms rather than UK firms: (iv) assessment/networking/training-focused rather than work-focused vacation schemes. Finally, I think to maximize your success chances, your general aim should be to submit as many high-quality applications as possible. In case you haven't seen it before I have linked here the guide I wrote for further developing an optimal application strategy.
Hi [USER=34579]@watsonglazeddonut[/USER]! So for question 1, I do not know anybody who has done this, but this may just be because I have not started doing my SQE yet. [USER=2672]@Jessica Booker[/USER] or [USER=36738]@Ram Sabaratnam[/USER] might be able to tell to answer this better. However, I do know of multiple international students doing vacation schemes doing term time at university after negotiating a flexible arrangement with the graduate recruitment team. I would therefore tentatively assume that the same could apply to SQE students.
For your second questions, the short answer is yes - firms are sometimes willing to make special arrangements sometimes. I would even venture to say that if you passed the AC and got a VS offer, more often than not firms will seek not to just reject you because of the visa issues. Sometimes, ways to accommodate you on the scheme can be found, but sometimes this will come in the form of flexibility with assessing you for the TC. I have recently written two detailed posts on options available to international students in this situation which I think may be useful to you. I'll quote them bellow.
Just to answer your third question before that - essentially, I think a strategy focusing on spring vacation scheme applications makes sense. I think maybe around 75% of your applications targeting these schemes would be what you should be looking for. I would split the rest between direct TC applications to firms that are know to recruit substantial numbers of people through that track and some summer VS applications which only conflict with term time dates but not exam dates. As is further explained in the quoted posts, I think for such summer VS applications you should seek to target (i) one week schemes; (ii) small firms rather than large firms; (iii) US firms rather than UK firms: (iv) assessment/networking/training-focused rather than work-focused vacation schemes. Finally, I think to maximize your success chances, your general aim should be to submit as many high-quality applications as possible. In case you haven't seen it before I have linked here the guide I wrote for further developing an optimal application strategy.
