TCLA General Discussion Thread 2022-23

[wz_13]

@Jessica Booker I was hoping you could provide some insight on the flex trainee programme. I have gotten through the online test stage and have recieved an interview where they will go through the process and allow me to ask questions. To your knowledge, is this stage also assessed as to get to AC you have to be successful at this stage too? Also if you have any tips for me to keep in mind and stand out I would appreciate it to the heavens!

 

[F12M34L]

Hi @Jessica Booker - I submitted my CC app on the 23rd and received an email on Friday requesting additional information for reasonable adjustments before they can send me the link. The initial deadline without any adjustment is on the 26th of November. Considering it's the weekend and I can't take any action, should I wait until next week to receive the link and not worry about it for now?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker - I submitted my CC app on the 23rd and received an email on Friday requesting additional information for reasonable adjustments before they can send me the link. The initial deadline without any adjustment is on the 26th of November. Considering it's the weekend and I can't take any action, should I wait until next week to receive the link and not worry about it for now?

I wouldn’t worry about it - especially given they only emailed on Friday. I am sure they will come back to you at some point next week and then you’ll be able to take the test from there

 

[F12M34L]

I wouldn’t worry about it - especially given they only emailed on Friday. I am sure they will come back to you at some point next week and then you’ll be able to take the test from there

Thanks Jess!

 

[Lopez2017]

Hello,
I keep getting emails for virtual events and office hours between 5-7 each Wednesday. Unfortunately, I can never make that time because it's right in the middle of one of my PGDL modules.

Are these sessions recorded?

 

[atlas2425]

Hi,

I was just curious what the typical dress code is for an insight day.

 

[CallumJR]

I got the following feedback from an online test: "You scored in the 1st percentile. This means that compared with the 8335 times this test has been taken before by a mixed group of people, your score is higher than 1% of these scores." - Is this a good or a bad result?

@Jessica Booker

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me if future trainees can stop their firms from contacting their current employers for some time because the prep courses start a few months after receiving the offer and the candidate would like to continue his job till his prep course begins. Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I got the following feedback from an online test: "You scored in the 1st percentile. This means that compared with the 8335 times this test has been taken before by a mixed group of people, your score is higher than 1% of these scores." - Is this a good or a bad result?

@Jessica Booker

Unfortunately this is a low score. Percentiles work on the basis of 1-99 with 99 behind the highest score.

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me if future trainees can stop their firms from contacting their current employers for some time because the prep courses start a few months after receiving the offer and the candidate would like to continue his job till his prep course begins. Thanks.

I think you can send them an email however I do not know if they will be able to comply, but maybe if you give a convincing reason as to why they should wait (especially highlighting the financial repercussions) I think you could make a case for yourself and they might listen. There is no harm in asking!

 

[axelbeugre]

Hi,

I was just curious what the typical dress code is for an insight day.

I think that you can never go wrong with smart casual. When I used to go to insight days, I always wore either a suit or black trousers, shirt and sweater and it is totally fine. Most people were smart casual, some people dress more casual than others. With smart causal, you will never go wrong. I will say that you always want to dress like you want to be addressed! So I would always follow this logic.

Hope that helps!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

I think you can send them an email however I do not know if they will be able to comply, but maybe if you give a convincing reason as to why they should wait (especially highlighting the financial repercussions) I think you could make a case for yourself and they might listen. There is no harm in asking!

Thanks for your response.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi @Jessica Booker , could you please tell me how I can answer this on CMS's application: "Do you require permission to work in the UK during the role you are applying for? If yes, please give details (including visa type and term dates):" I'm unsure about the latter part of the question since I am also going to require a different visa for the prep courses in my opinion. For context, I am an international applicant. Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker , could you please tell me how I can answer this on CMS's application: "Do you require permission to work in the UK during the role you are applying for? If yes, please give details (including visa type and term dates):" I'm unsure about the latter part of the question since I am also going to require a different visa for the prep courses in my opinion. For context, I am an international applicant. Thanks.

You will just need to explain this for the job rather than the training period. So if you are applying for a training contract, explain either the visa you will be working on and the dates you will have that visa for. If you won’t have a visa and need sponsorship then explain this instead.

 

[Pal22]

Hi everyone,

I have secured a TC

Currently choosing my seats. Certain I want to do IP Tech and Disputes. Choosing between Corporate Finance, M&A, Financial Services Regulatory and Competition, Trade and Foreign Investment. I want to do Corporate Finance, but was wondering if I choose that, would I be able to become an M&A lawyer in the future if a firm had a wide corporate department that one could laterally move in? Also wondering whether my choices seem well rounded?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi everyone,

I have secured a TC

Currently choosing my seats. Certain I want to do IP Tech and Disputes. Choosing between Corporate Finance, M&A, Financial Services Regulatory and Competition, Trade and Foreign Investment. I want to do Corporate Finance, but was wondering if I choose that, would I be able to become an M&A lawyer in the future if a firm had a wide corporate department that one could laterally move in? Also wondering whether my choices seem well rounded?

You may want to join our Junior Lawyers Community as we have a number of future and current trainees in there who will be able to provide their thoughts on this.

Do you have to choose all your seats upfront or will you be able to change your mind as your training contract progresses?

 

[Pal22]

You may want to join our Junior Lawyers Community as we have a number of future and current trainees in there who will be able to provide their thoughts on this.

Do you have to choose all your seats upfront or will you be able to change your mind as your training contract progresses?

Hi Jessica,

Yes, if you could please provide the link I would definitely like to join.

My priority seat cannot change but the remaining 3 can change as before each rotation we will be ranking all the departments in order for our seat preferences.

 

[Erin]

Hi Jessica,

Yes, if you could please provide the link I would definitely like to join.

My priority seat cannot change but the remaining 3 can change as before each rotation we will be ranking all the departments in order for our seat preferences.

Hi @Pal22, I'm so happy to hear that you'd like to join the Junior Lawyers Community! Please fill in this form, and your membership will be approved within 1 working day. 😊

 

[CallumJR]

Hi @Jessica Booker
If you use AI writing assistants like DeepL Write to improve the structure of your answers for an application, will this be considered as cheating? Same question for Grammarly which I have been using for a long time to improve my writing.

I am asking because some firm explicitly mention that you are not allowed to use AI.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker
If you use AI writing assistants like DeepL Write to improve the structure of your answers for an application, will this be considered as cheating? Same question for Grammarly which I have been using for a long time to improve my writing.

I am asking because some firm explicitly mention that you are not allowed to use AI.

There is a difference in using something like Grammarly to refine your content and using ChatGPT to create content.

Grammarly is just an extended spell checker and you have been able to use similar grammar checkers on Word for decades with no issue.

I think the line is crossed though if you either run your general thoughts through AI to generate the writing. 1) it’s usually pretty obvious that has happened anyway, as it lacks personality/individuality and 2) this is not your own work/your words, and so is likely to cause issues if it is flagged/picked up.