TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[Rachael.Elisa]

Withers first stage interview invite!!

 

[John Travoni]

I'm assuming the person you're replying to applied for one of the regional offices. If you applied for the London office, don't worry they're still in the screening process and haven't contacted any applicants yet. I would expect a response if not at some point today, then certainly early next week.

No. I applied for the London office and received the email last Friday to complete the online tests.
Hope that’s useful x

 

[malvern3142]

No. I applied for the London office and received the email last Friday to complete the online tests.
Hope that’s useful x

oh interesting, I remember the TC application giving you the option to apply for multiple offices. Did you maybe select any regional offices too? It might explain why you've heard back sooner. What kind of test did you have to complete?

I was in contact with their grad rec team on Thursday the 30th, they said they're still in the screening process for London and haven't begun contacting any applicants yet for the first round of testing

 

[AvniD]

hi guys - could anyone give me some thoughts on whether it would be alright to talk about doing pole dancing (in a university society)?? Is this something frowned upon..? Where I'm from it would probably not be smart to mention as it might be received poorly but I'm not sure about UK applications since a lot of universities have a pole society. I would be talking about this in my extra curriculars section.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

@Jessica Booker in case you have any thoughts as a grad recruiter

The way I'd include it in my applications to ensure that it is received exactly the way I want is by ensuring that I highlight the aspects of the activity that were meaningful to me. While I cannot be sure whether any of these are true for you, the feeling of community and the athleticism of the dance itself could probably be some of the things you learnt/enjoyed from being in the pole society. When you show people why and how an activity made a positive impact on you and helped you change for the better, then you can set the ground for it to command the respect you believe it deserves. Go ahead, draft a strong answer for this, and if you feel you've done a good enough job communicating the purpose and impact of being in the pole society, then include it in your application. All the best!

 

[John Travoni]

oh interesting, I remember the TC application giving you the option to apply for multiple offices. Did you maybe select any regional offices too? It might explain why you've heard back sooner. What kind of test did you have to complete?

I was in contact with their grad rec team on Thursday the 30th, they said they're still in the screening process for London and haven't begun contacting any applicants yet for the first round of testing

No, I specifically chose to apply for the London TC. I’m based in London so there’s no reason for me to apply to their regional offices.
I’m confused then, bc I received the email to complete their online tests last Friday and the deadline for me to complete it was the 29 June.
They even said in the email that they should get back to me quite fast bc their ACs for English offices is all on the week 18th July.

 

[CSmith]

Is anyone doing the Winckworth Sherwood AC on Tuesday?

 

[born&raised]

Hi, has anyone heard back from Dentons or received a WG invite post applying on the deadline?

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Hi, has anyone heard back from Dentons or received a WG invite post applying on the deadline?

I submitted my application on 25th for direct TC so am waiting still but it is early days.

 

[kr253]

PFO from Shoosmiths post AC - FYI for anyone waiting!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

The Freshfields TC application statement is - Please write about yourself in the space provided below. You may wish to mention any positions of responsibility held at school or subsequently, any regular employment or other work experience and any achievements, interests and personal qualities which are relevant. Please also state briefly why you are making this application.

Just want to double check do I have to illustrate my interest in commercial law and why Freshfields also. It is my first time doing Freshfields application so just want to be sure about the structure of the personal statement.

 

[Adrian_S]

The Freshfields TC application statement is - Please write about yourself in the space provided below. You may wish to mention any positions of responsibility held at school or subsequently, any regular employment or other work experience and any achievements, interests and personal qualities which are relevant. Please also state briefly why you are making this application.

Just want to double check do I have to illustrate my interest in commercial law and why Freshfields also. It is my first time doing Freshfields application so just want to be sure about the structure of the personal statement.

Yep, that’s right. TCLA has a good guide to writing the statement, but effectively you want your statement to address three questions: (1) why commercial law? (2) why Freshfields? And (3) why you would make a good fit for the firm?

Good luck, Asil!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Yep, that’s right. TCLA has a good guide to writing the statement, but effectively you want your statement to address three questions: (1) why commercial law? (2) why Freshfields? And (3) why you would make a good fit for the firm?

Good luck, Asil!

Thank you for this it is really helpful.

 

[Aisha SC]

Hi Everyone

For future applicants for Shoosmiths, I have provided a breakdown of my tips how to prepare for the day. I would just like to remind everyone also that this forum is designed to help, I particularly experienced a lot of hesitance when I reached out for help, at the end of the day everyone is struggling so please don't give the generic responses that anyone can find on the firm's website. People who are reaching out are in genuine need of help. I also did not find reaching out to current trainees helpful at all.

Training Contract Direct Application / Breakdown of Virtual Assessment Centre Day:

(**moderator's comment** - items redacted and edited below to ensure compliance with TCLA's forum terms and conditions).

9.00-4.15

9.00-9.30- Introduction
9.35-10.05 - Group Presentation Preparation - You are sent a document on their platform to review. The pdf is quite long and you literally have time to skim read. For this you need a lot of commercial awareness.
10.15-11.00 - You join a group of 4, there are lots of assessors watching you with their cameras off. You then have to discuss the previous exercise's information
10.45 - An assessor will interrupt you and present a question to you
11.00 - 11.30 - You join a networking session with partners and are able to questions.
11.35 - 12.20 - Individual Presentation Preparation - you are sent a random topic and asked to prepare a 5 minute presentation on this to present to two partners. So please do try and revise / understand commercial implications.
12.30-1.00 lunch.
1.00 - 1.45 - Presentation and interview, the interview was competency based examples (6 in total and a lot of follow on questions). they ask follow on questions from the presentation as well. You are also asked standard motivational questions.
2.00 - 2.45 - Trainee networking session.
3.00-3.45 - Written Exercise - It is an in tray exercise - they tell you how many marks they are, 15 questions in total. Bit annoying really as you have to click in each one to see and the time is limited. There is one ten mark question that is written so I would try to find that first.
4.00-4.15 end of day round off discussion.

I found the AC extremely hard, had a headache from the timing of the activities and I found the constant reminder of the grad team saying how many people applied and that there was 174 of us on assessment centres immense pressure as it stayed in the back of my mind all day.

I was not successful but this is just for future candidates so you have a true insight. For those who have experienced and were successful, well done. But I would also like to say that everyone is unique and brings a different quality. Being evasive and giving generic answers for help that you can find on the firm's website is pointless.

Wish everyone the best of luck.

 

[IT7]

Hi, does anyone know any free resources/mentorship systems available where you can get your TC application reviewed? I understand TCLA also offers this, however its a paid service And I haven't had much success through contacting trainees at the particular firm, most of them are extremely busy, so don't usually agree to reviewing applications. Is there any other way I can get some suggestions on my applications?

I don't think reviewing my application would take too long tbh, I've gone through to the AC stage for a few firms with the same application writing style and substance, so I think the basic content is fine. But I just wanted to understand if there are any places I can improve the application, any additions/removals that should be made etc. So if anyone on this community is also willing to review an application, that would be really appreciated!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, does anyone know any free resources/mentorship systems available where you can get your TC application reviewed? I understand TCLA also offers this, however its a paid service And I haven't had much success through contacting trainees at the particular firm, most of them are extremely busy, so don't usually agree to reviewing applications. Is there any other way I can get some suggestions on my applications?

I don't think reviewing my application would take too long tbh, I've gone through to the AC stage for a few firms with the same application writing style and substance, so I think the basic content is fine. But I just wanted to understand if there are any places I can improve the application, any additions/removals that should be made etc. So if anyone on this community is also willing to review an application, that would be really appreciated!

Your university careers service should offer this type of service, even if you graduated a few years ago.

I think most people underestimate how long it takes to review an application and consider it carefully. Depend on the length of the application it can easily take over an hour for a detailed review to happen. That is why many people cannot dedicate the time to reviews.

 

[Rachael.Elisa]

Government Legal Department AC! If anyone has any advice please let me know 🙏 😊

 

[Raynz]

Has anyone done a document review/contract review for an AC? If so, did you practice for this and are there any recommended resources available to practice?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks for the response Jessica! Unfortunately I'm at an Indian law school, and our university does not have any careers services like this. Nor are there many university seniors/alumni who have gone through the same process for UK firms and can help out. So online resources are the only place I can go to for this :/

I think @Asil Ahmad 's suggestion of finding a peer you can review each other's applications with is a good idea then. I know we have seen some success through the TCLA community through these type of initiatives.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Has anyone done a document review/contract review for an AC? If so, did you practice for this and are there any recommended resources available to practice?

I don't think you need to practice as such, its more a mindset when you go into the exercise. Try to consider the following:

• Typos
• Mispellings
• Inconsistencies in spelling (e.g. names like Thompson/Thomson)
• Grammatical errors
• Transposed numbers
• Incorrect dates (e.g. timeframes say 5 months but the calendar months suggest it will be 7)
• Incorrect headings/titles/subject lines
• Incorrect identification of parties/people (e.g. referencing the client as the other party in a deal or vice versa)
• Language - where sentences or bullet points are ambiguous, unclear, or over-written
• Structure - where things could be reordered to make a more logical/clearer layout (might be particularly relevant in this instance if there is a timeline aspect)

 

[AvniD]

Hi, does anyone know any free resources/mentorship systems available where you can get your TC application reviewed? I understand TCLA also offers this, however its a paid service And I haven't had much success through contacting trainees at the particular firm, most of them are extremely busy, so don't usually agree to reviewing applications. Is there any other way I can get some suggestions on my applications?

I don't think reviewing my application would take too long tbh, I've gone through to the AC stage for a few firms with the same application writing style and substance, so I think the basic content is fine. But I just wanted to understand if there are any places I can improve the application, any additions/removals that should be made etc. So if anyone on this community is also willing to review an application, that would be really appreciated!

Sorry to hear about the lack of free resources for you. I would highly suggest that you don’t underestimate the advice you can get from family/friends/professors- their perspective was the most invaluable to me while making applications because they knew me well enough to know when my tone was off or if I was sounding disingenuous. Wishing you the very best for your applications 🤞