TCLA General Discussion Thread #2 (2021)

[SamTam99]

Thank you and is it the Freshfields graduate recruitment email you contact?

Yes, they get back to you pretty quickly!

 

[Matt_96]

Thank you! It's looking at: Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, and Working Together. The link Jessica shared was really helpful in understanding it, but I'm just wondering how specific/general to be. For context, I've got 4 years of full-time work experience, most recently working at a very senior level in a small PR agency - so I am confident I have the skills/behaviours they are looking for, but just unsure how best to illustrate these here.

Unless the brief specifies that one or more of those points will be addressed in a specific format (e.g. a presentation or group exercise, for instance) I would interpret each of those as a separate topic and come up with different examples for each. In terms of how to structure them, whether it's at the interview stage or on the application form, use the STAR approach but make sure your answers address the points made in every sentence that falls under each heading.

For instance, let's look at the blurb for delivering at pace:

"Regularly review the success of activities in the team to identify barriers to progress or challenging objectives. Identify who and what is required to ensure success, set clear goals and areas of responsibility and continually assess workloads considering individual needs. Follow relevant policies, procedures and legislation to complete your work. Ensure colleagues have the correct tools and resources available to them to do their jobs. Have a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks. Regularly check performance against objectives, making suggestions for improvement or taking corrective action where necessary. Ensure that colleagues are supported where tasks are challenging."

This is not just questioning how you organise yourself and achieve goals under pressure in the workplace. It is assessing:

• How you approach solving problems (sentence 1)
• How you set goals and assign work within a team, considering everyone's individual skillsets (sentence 2)
• How you ensure that your work meets professional standards and codes of practice (sentence 3)
• How you help colleagues succeed in tasks - if you had to step away and delegate work to someone else, what would you do to ensure they had enough support to get the job done? (sentence 4)
• Your resilience and motivation under pressure (sentence 5)
• How you keep tasks on target under pressure (sentence 6)
• How you support others in your team when they are finding the work to be difficult, which sort of repeats sentence 4 (sentence 7)

What I did when applying for the CPS and other civil service roles was to go through the blurb line by line and make sure my answers hit all of those points within a STAR format.

 

[W]

How long does Freshfilds get back to you after doing the WG test?

 

[Etudierlaw2022]

I've always been curious about this and I don't mean any harm or hate by this, because I love watching vloggers talk about their lpc and TC journeys, but do firms look down upon this? I've always wanted to dapple in this but have been too scared by clients/the firm judging me based on content before really getting to know me.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

I've always been curious about this and I don't mean any harm or hate by this, because I love watching vloggers talk about their lpc and TC journeys, but do firms look down upon this? I've always wanted to dapple in this but have been too scared by clients/the firm judging me based on content before really getting to know me.

Plenty of people have secured TCs who have done this. I am sure there will be some firms who are more sniffy about it (probably those that avoid social media themselves), but a lot of firms see a lot of positives in those who decide to engage with these type of activities.

I will stress though that making yourself very public means you are up to scrutiny and that isn’t any different in law firms. I have seen interviewers really challenge vlogging, not because they blogged but because of the content they put out.

 

[erose98]

Hey guys - hope everyone's well! Was just wondering if anyone knew how long (approximately) BPP could take to offer you a place on the GDL from applying? I'm currently trying to firm up a few life details (where I'm going to do it) and I'm worried about them taking a few weeks to respond and not confirming a place by the end of the month!

 

[TC fiend]

Hey guys - hope everyone's well! Was just wondering if anyone knew how long (approximately) BPP could take to offer you a place on the GDL from applying? I'm currently trying to firm up a few life details (where I'm going to do it) and I'm worried about them taking a few weeks to respond and not confirming a place by the end of the month!

I think they took about 3 days when I applied last December.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hey guys - hope everyone's well! Was just wondering if anyone knew how long (approximately) BPP could take to offer you a place on the GDL from applying? I'm currently trying to firm up a few life details (where I'm going to do it) and I'm worried about them taking a few weeks to respond and not confirming a place by the end of the month!

Typically tends to be pretty quick as they try to tie you down as quickly as possible.

 

[Brokentoaster87]

Hi

Hope everyone is well. Just wondering the difficulty of a NQ/1-2 years PQE associate from a regional firm transitioning to a top tier London firm (MC/US/SC)?

I’m sure this is dependant on the demand for the practice area but, assuming the demand is there, how likely is it?

 

[Legalmel_99]

Didn’t manage to convert one of my vacation schemes to a Tc very devastating at this point

Had a TC interview yesterday for my second vacation scheme hopefully this one went better

 

[nina_123]

Hello! For anyone that has done/is going to do the GDL at ULaw (on-campus or live stream), do you know if the first term Legal Method open-book MCQ exam is an online assessment or do you have to physically go to an exam venue?

Thanks!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi

Hope everyone is well. Just wondering the difficulty of a NQ/1-2 years PQE associate from a regional firm transitioning to a top tier London firm (MC/US/SC)?

I’m sure this is dependant on the demand for the practice area but, assuming the demand is there, how likely is it?

Impossible to state how likely it is. It will depend on a number of factors that mean your chances could vary significantly based on things like: which firm you are at, which firm you move to, where you qualify into, what you experience as a lawyer both as a trainee and NQ, what clients you work with, whether your specialisms are in growing demand.

It does happen but there is usually a reason as to why it happens. And for many qualified lawyers there won’t be that reason why it would happen.

 

[kr253]

Unless the brief specifies that one or more of those points will be addressed in a specific format (e.g. a presentation or group exercise, for instance) I would interpret each of those as a separate topic and come up with different examples for each. In terms of how to structure them, whether it's at the interview stage or on the application form, use the STAR approach but make sure your answers address the points made in every sentence that falls under each heading.

For instance, let's look at the blurb for delivering at pace:

"Regularly review the success of activities in the team to identify barriers to progress or challenging objectives. Identify who and what is required to ensure success, set clear goals and areas of responsibility and continually assess workloads considering individual needs. Follow relevant policies, procedures and legislation to complete your work. Ensure colleagues have the correct tools and resources available to them to do their jobs. Have a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks. Regularly check performance against objectives, making suggestions for improvement or taking corrective action where necessary. Ensure that colleagues are supported where tasks are challenging."

This is not just questioning how you organise yourself and achieve goals under pressure in the workplace. It is assessing:

• How you approach solving problems (sentence 1)
• How you set goals and assign work within a team, considering everyone's individual skillsets (sentence 2)
• How you ensure that your work meets professional standards and codes of practice (sentence 3)
• How you help colleagues succeed in tasks - if you had to step away and delegate work to someone else, what would you do to ensure they had enough support to get the job done? (sentence 4)
• Your resilience and motivation under pressure (sentence 5)
• How you keep tasks on target under pressure (sentence 6)
• How you support others in your team when they are finding the work to be difficult, which sort of repeats sentence 4 (sentence 7)

What I did when applying for the CPS and other civil service roles was to go through the blurb line by line and make sure my answers hit all of those points within a STAR format.

Thank you so much, this is really helpful!

 

[RoughWood]

Hello! For anyone that has done/is going to do the GDL at ULaw (on-campus or live stream), do you know if the first term Legal Method open-book MCQ exam is an online assessment or do you have to physically go to an exam venue?

Thanks!

I am nearing the end of the GDL online atm and if you are studying online then you can choose to take all of your exams online. We have been told to register for in-person sittings so currently it is our choice. Don't know if that is usual though or a result of the pandemic

 

[Brokentoaster87]

Your best bet is to search this regional firm on Linkedin and see how many of their lawyers have made similar moves. Something I've noticed is lawyers tend to move from regional firms to SC firms then finally to MC/US firms.

Yeah I had done this previously and found about 9 who went straight to US or SC firms (no MC interestingly).

was just wondering whether these are blips and it is usually pretty difficult

 

[nina_123]

I am nearing the end of the GDL online atm and if you are studying online then you can choose to take all of your exams online. We have been told to register for in-person sittings so currently it is our choice. Don't know if that is usual though or a result of the pandemic

Thank you!! Does anyone else have any info on whether GDL exams this year will be online, in person, or are you allowed to choose?

@Daniel Boden - do you have any insight on this?

Thanks

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Yeah I had done this previously and found about 9 who went straight to US or SC firms (no MC interestingly).

was just wondering whether these are blips and it is usually pretty difficult

It is going to really depend on your client base and the complexity of the work you are doing in regional firms. The more aligned this is to the work you could be doing at MC firms, the easier it is to make the move.

For instance, I have seen regional lawyers transition from places like Aberdeen due to their expertise in oil/energy clients. I have seen people move from firms in Bristol as they have an expertise in areas like airspace that have then been in demand by law firms in the city. But when these people have moved, it’s generally because they have the experience/expertise that’s in demand at that time. They sometimes are poached from regional firms from city firms because they have been working on matters either with the firm or for other parties.

If you find yourself working in a regional firm and predominately doing domestic work or working on matters where you are talking hundreds of thousands in value compared to millions/billions in value, you are far less likely to make the transition.

 

[Daniel Boden]

Thank you!! Does anyone else have any info on whether GDL exams this year will be online, in person, or are you allowed to choose?

@Daniel Boden - do you have any insight on this?

Thanks

I think people will be given the choice as that's what is happening for August exams at the moment but definitely worth confirming with your university to be sure

 

[lawgal101]

Just had an interview with two partners for one of my dream firms. I have actually spoken to associates from the firm on many occasions from different departments who have been very friendly and welcoming. However, my experience with the partners was very different. Think my experience from the interview has put me off, certainly from that specific sector. They really didn’t seem like they were interested at all or even engaging with my answers.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Just had an interview with two partners for one of my dream firms. I have actually spoken to associates from the firm on many occasions from different departments who have been very friendly and welcoming. However, my experience with the partners was very different. Think my experience from the interview has put me off, certainly from that specific sector. They really didn’t seem like they were interested at all or even engaging with my answers.

If you get progressed to the next stage, see how those interviews go and see if it feels any different. If you get an offer, maybe ask to connect with some more people within the firm to see what they are like. I personally wouldn’t take one interview with two people (assuming the firm has a fair number of partners/staff) as a clear indication of what the firm is like, and especially if this was over Zoom/Teams (as put frankly lots of partners could do with some training on how to conduct themselves in virtual interviews).