TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Hi everyone, @Jessica Booker , @Amma Usman , would appreciate some help with Mayer Brown! Is it necessary to tailor each work experience to the firm and/or highlight skills developed in the work experience section? considering that the word count is only 150. (same Q for the Additional Info/Extracurriculars section). At the same time, they don't have any additional questions on the app form so i suppose they'd like to see some kind of link with the firm besides just listing tasks and responsibilities. Thank you in advance!

Hiya @Szofi66

Just before @Jessica Booker and @Amma Usman get back to you, I wanted to quickly share my thoughts. I don’t think it's necessary to tie back your entries to the firm. Having gotten past their application stage myself, I’d suggest focusing on clearly setting out your experiences and making sure you describe each role in enough detail. When I was filling out my applications, I did make a point of highlighting the specific tasks and skills from certain roles that were particularly relevant or transferable to a legal career. That said, I’d really encourage you to focus on what you actually did in each role rather than trying to tie everything back to the firm.

Hope that helps, and best of luck with your application!

 

[pleasepleaseplease]

Freshfields pfo post AC

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi everyone, @Jessica Booker , @Amma Usman , would appreciate some help with Mayer Brown! Is it necessary to tailor each work experience to the firm and/or highlight skills developed in the work experience section? considering that the word count is only 150. (same Q for the Additional Info/Extracurriculars section). At the same time, they don't have any additional questions on the app form so i suppose they'd like to see some kind of link with the firm besides just listing tasks and responsibilities. Thank you in advance!

Just to add to @Ram Sabaratnam's great advice.

Not everything needs linking back to the firm specifically - sometimes firms don't need to see this at the application stage but may assess it later on in the recruitment process. As Ram has suggested, I think its important to focus on your key skills, achievements and impact you had, especially given the tight word limit. What you can do is think about the skills maybe the firm values the most and weave that into answers on occasion, but I don't think you need to transform everything, especially if it is as the cost of you demonstrating some of your more interesting or impactful experiences.

 

[Ram Sabaratnam]

Regarding direct TCs at US firms. Do you have to paralegal first? Wondering how realistic my apps are. Thinking Fried Frank, K&S, Paul Hastings. Anyone know non-paralegals get their TCs? Thank you very much in advance.

Hiya @Tintin06

I’m not entirely sure about King & Spalding, but I’ve met a sizeable number of future trainees at Fried Frank and Paul Hastings, and none of them had any paralegal experience. That said, they did have a number of vacation schemes under their belts by the time they applied. Given that you’ve also completed several vacation schemes at excellent firms, I’d definitely say it’s worth applying for their direct training contracts. Best of luck with your applications.

 

[Tintin06]

Hiya @Tintin06

I’m not entirely sure about King & Spalding, but I’ve met a sizeable number of future trainees at Fried Frank and Paul Hastings, and none of them had any paralegal experience. That said, they did have a number of vacation schemes under their belts by the time they applied. Given that you’ve also completed several vacation schemes at excellent firms, I’d definitely say it’s worth applying for their direct training contracts. Best of luck with your applications.

Thank you.

 

[Amiyrerose]

What do you need to know?

I wanted to know about ashursts application process in terms of what you learned from it? so any feedback

 

[Deleted member 31571]

Hiya @Szofi66

Just before @Jessica Booker and @Amma Usman get back to you, I wanted to quickly share my thoughts. I don’t think it's necessary to tie back your entries to the firm. Having gotten past their application stage myself, I’d suggest focusing on clearly setting out your experiences and making sure you describe each role in enough detail. When I was filling out my applications, I did make a point of highlighting the specific tasks and skills from certain roles that were particularly relevant or transferable to a legal career. That said, I’d really encourage you to focus on what you actually did in each role rather than trying to tie everything back to the firm.

Hope that helps, and best of luck with your application!

Thank you!!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi everyone, @Jessica Booker , @Amma Usman , would appreciate some help with Mayer Brown! Is it necessary to tailor each work experience to the firm and/or highlight skills developed in the work experience section? considering that the word count is only 150. (same Q for the Additional Info/Extracurriculars section). At the same time, they don't have any additional questions on the app form so i suppose they'd like to see some kind of link with the firm besides just listing tasks and responsibilities. Thank you in advance!

Mayer Brown's application process is known to be quite idiosyncratic and I do not think they have much of an expectation for you to make many links to your 'why the firm' reasons at this stage. That said, I think if you have any good opportunities to do so (ie. where there is a clear alignment between a skill/experience and a differentiating feature of the firm) you should take them, as it can't do anything but elevate your application.

However, I definitely think you should not seek to tailor each work experience to the firm. The connections and resulting reasoning would likely look weak as a result, and you do not want to seem like you are pulling at straws. Moreover, it is generally thought that writing in the work experience section should be quite descriptive and to the point; if you consider Mayer Brown's tight word limit as well it's difficult to imagine they might have a different expectation. As such, I would say the same applies for inferences about skills: you can draw them, but do so sparsely and only where the link is very clear - you do not want to have a repetitive writing style.

 

[yellowponytwin]

hello,

anyone heard back from CRS for the DTC app?

thanks

it seems a fair few have but I personally havent (I applied to the Chelt office).

 

[yellowponytwin]

5 days ago they sent out the VI invites

not necessarily all of them though, surely? I've only heard from people who applied to the London office, and I didn't go for that one. trying to still hold out hope...

 

[RS Sanjanaa]

not necessarily all of them though, surely? I've only heard from people who applied to the London office, and I didn't go for that one. trying to still hold out hope...

yes yes ofc, I only meant for those who heard back for now since they had asked when we heard back.

 

[RS Sanjanaa]

did anybody hear back from HL today?

 

[yellowponytwin]

yes yes ofc, I only meant for those who heard back for now since they had asked when we heard back.

ahh thanks, I mean at this point it isn't looking too hopeful but I suppose it's possible still... I really like CRS so am trying to stay positive, anyway!

 

[sb04]

Hey there, has anyone got the Greenberg Traurig interview? I'd be more than willing to prep together or trade insights for other firms like Mills & Reeve, Forsters, White & Case, and other US firms!

 

[rapunzel]

Hey, I wanted to ask generally if you haven’t got a vac scheme offer, training contract or paralegal offer in your final year of university. Would you still do the SQE by itself? If you still apply to law firms on the SQE will they question why you’re not working at a firm whilst doing the SQE as a paralegal? Would it be a less favourable position you put yourself in compared to other candidates who are doing that?

I was just wondering as I’ve been struggling a lot in my final year of university with extenuating circumstances. I just haven’t gotten a lot of time time to spend on sending many applications and fear I may just have to go down this route

 

[RaniaH062002]

Is anyone else applying to Ashurst having issues with their application? On section 4 of academic details it’s marked as having not been done at all even though I filled all the sections and I’ve gone in and out of the application and it has saved. I’ve even deleted and re-added it to see if that’s the issue.

I’ve emailed the application support team so I hope it gets resolved! I’m just wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue too?

 

[Amiyrerose]

Is anyone else applying to Ashurst having issues with their application? On section 4 of academic details it’s marked as having not been done at all even though I filled all the sections and I’ve gone in and out of the application and it has saved. I’ve even deleted and re-added it to see if that’s the issue.

I’ve emailed the application support team so I hope it gets resolved! I’m just wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue too?

YES ! this was happening to me i just thought it was an error on my part

 

[RaniaH062002]

YES ! this was happening to me i just thought it was an error on my part

I’m so glad I’m not the only one. Luckily all parts of my application are completed and saved so hopefully I get a response soon.

 

[eeeefh]

I've just received an assessment centre invite for DAC! As this is my first AC, I would be very grateful if anybody had any tips on DAC's AC or just in general. Thank you!!

 

[Lapistuskin]

hi everyone! does NRF no longer have the Direct Training Contract route? I couldn't find it on the application portal