TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[James Carrabino]

My first cycle I didn’t make it past app stage once, I went away and really focused on improving my skills but it definitely took a lot of resilience. Just remember the competition is crazy, it can be around 1 in 50-100 make it to the next stage with popular firms. The market is oversaturated and there’s so many strong candidates, but with practice it is possible!

This is such an excellent attitude to go in with! Many candidates will make it past the app stage for the first time when they are 10 or even 20 apps in and 2 or 3 cycles in or more. But, the common tale is that those who stick with the process and work on improving their applications do start to find success - no one is saying it is easy, but the one thing we can guarantee is that the system is not broken; it's just very hard to navigate!

Being willing to take on advice and reassess your approach means everything

 

[James Carrabino]

So it wouldn’t be frowned upon for one of the reasons to be that you genuinely enjoy living in London and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else?

This could be the case although some regional firms will have a London office, despite not being considered a 'city firm'

 

[James Carrabino]

I have an interview with Slaughter and May and have realised there was a spelling/grammar issue in my cover letter - is this something the partners might bring up? If so, how do I address it?😅

I have a friend who interviewed at a magic circle firm and partners teased him about a spelling mistake in his application. He basically just acknowledged it and said he would make sure to avoid such a mistake in future... he got the vac scheme!

They probably won't ask you and if they do, then it would not be because they are planning to reject you for such a mistake, otherwise they would not have invited you for interview. Just be polite an apologetic, don't become defensive or claim that it's not that big of a mistake or anything that could present a red flag as to your ability to deal with criticism.

A simple 'Gosh, you're right - I won't let that slip past me again' would suffice!

 

[James Carrabino]

In virtual interview is it okay to refer to notes?

As to whether it's 'okay', I am not sure there is anything explicit anywhere about this, but I was certainly guilty of doing so on occasion!

It honestly tends to create more stress than it relieves, however, if you have to look through your notes during an interview. Referring to pre-prepared answers is definitely a bad idea as it is unlikely they will be tailored to the exact question you end up getting asked. Also, any indication that you are not responding authentically or are constantly looking away from the camera will be a massive red flag.

The thing I did find useful was to write down a couple statistics or bullet points about things I wanted to make sure I didn't forget to bring up - usually in relation to the question 'Why this firm?' as it tends to be the easiest answer to get mixed up with research you have done for other firms.

It is definitely not necessary though and I tended to figure that it was unproductive trying to do anything which I would not be able to do during an in-person interview!

 

[James Carrabino]

When you are given your interviewer's name, are there particular things you are expected to know/research about them?

'Meant to' - no. But this is a complete gift!

It enables you to build that elusive 'rapport' with your interviewers if you have something interesting to say about their background, including practice area, nationality, affinity groups, or leisure interests (depending on how much digging you are able to do) - see my post on the issue here.

Also, it helps you work out which practice areas you should not risk talking about if there is a possibility that what you say is wrong (obviously this is always the case, but it can be even more of a gaffe if the issue you are talking overconfidently about is one in which the partner is specialised)!

Finally, this knowledge can help to inspire the questions that you ask the partners at the end - it is far more interesting to learn about a complex piece of legal work from the horse's mouth or to discover that you have a similar journey to a top city lawyer than it is to simply ask about a firm initiative that you could find on the website!

 

[James Carrabino]

Incidentally, does anyone know if White & Case recruits meaningfully for direct TC?

They say that roughly 85% of their 50 trainees complete the vac scheme. That leaves open the possibility for 5-10 direct TCs every year!

 

[James Carrabino]

Yes thank you so much for adding to this, I agree 100%!!

I think it's so hard to detach yourself from the rejections. When you succeed, everyone celebrates YOU - but when you lose, everyone wants you to separate the process from you as an individual which makes it so much harder.
People try to reassure me showing how many years it has taken them or other successful people and I know it's meant to help, but I'm honestly not feeling helped by it at all right now. I knew it was going to be hard and might take a while, but getting slapped while you're down is not a good feeling!

The first scenario has really got me down because this 'holistic' review is mentioned absolutely nowhere, current trainees know nothing about it, and it wasn't mentioned in my 'yay you passed!' email at all so I just think it's really disrespectful.. it's not very honest at all and arguably law firms should be setting the standard for honesty in this process, as the regulated profession, not the university students just trying to get by. But I know I need the firm more than they need me so I can't really say anything. So I've just expressed my anger at having my feelings played with here anonymously whilst trying to disguise the firm lol

I think what people are really celebrating when they celebrate YOU is the fact that all the resilience has paid off! Anyone who has gone through this process will know it is naive to associate an individual's success too closely with the firm they got their offer from - their success comes from the fact that they likely suffered rejection after rejection along the way and that they pulled out an offer at the end of it all!

You separate the process from you as an individual when you 'lose', because losing is 90% of the process for everyone. So it is literally not personal! When you win, that is personal... it means you prevailed despite all the odds

 

[CorporateLaw101]

I posted this question earlier today but it was a Sunday and no one was available to offer me advice so I thought I’d try again today!

To cut a long story short. I’m a final year law student and I’m applying to a particular firm which asks me to detail the positions of responsibility, sports, and other achievements both at university and at school.

these are two separate questions (300 words each). other questions on the application form look great! However, I genuinely have zero achievements to speak of both in school and at university.

I’ve worked full time jobs (as a business owner) at university, and I moved schools mid-way through my GCSEs due to a troubled childhood.

to put it bluntly, I haven’t engaged with any societies at university, nor do I have any particular achievements I.e. winning a debating competition.

this is my first cycle and I’ve got through the initial application stage for every single firm that I’ve applied to, but these two questions have completely stumped me.

Do you guys think I should bother applying since a genuinely can’t prose a meaningful answer to the question at hand?

I could really use your advice!

Edit: And when I say nothing in terms of positions at school/university, I genuinely mean nothing! The firm asks 4 other questions, PLUS a 300 word cover letter which I feel confident I can answer. I just don’t know what to do about the 600 word gap in my application that will likely make any grad recruiter automatically reject me.

 

[S87]

I posted this question earlier today but it was a Sunday and no one was available to offer me advice so I thought I’d try again today!

To cut a long story short. I’m a final year law student and I’m applying to a particular firm which asks me to detail the positions of responsibility, sports, and other achievements both at university and at school.

these are two separate questions (300 words each). other questions on the application form look great! However, I genuinely have zero achievements to speak of both in school and at university.

I’ve worked full time jobs (as a business owner) at university, and I moved schools mid-way through my GCSEs due to a troubled childhood.

to put it bluntly, I haven’t engaged with any societies at university, nor do I have any particular achievements I.e. winning a debating competition.

this is my first cycle and I’ve got through the initial application stage for every single firm that I’ve applied to, but these two questions have completely stumped me.

Do you guys think I should bother applying since a genuinely can’t prose a meaningful answer to the question at hand?

I could really use your advice!

Edit: And when I say nothing in terms of positions at school/university, I genuinely mean nothing! The firm asks 4 other questions, PLUS a 300 word cover letter which I feel confident I can answer. I just don’t know what to do about the 600 word gap in my application that will likely make any grad recruiter automatically reject me.

Working full-time as a business owner whilst at university is a great achievement. Talk about your business: where did you start from and where is it know in terms of growth? What kind of business? What did you have to do in order to not succumb? Show your commercial awareness!

 

[CorporateLaw101]

Working full-time as a business owner whilst at university is a great achievement. Talk about your business: where did you start from and where is it know in terms of growth? What kind of business? What did you have to do in order to not succumb? Show your commercial awareness!

The problem is, the other questions on the application form give plenty of room to discuss extra curricular activities I.e. the formation of my business.

the exact question is: ‘Outline the Main Social, Leisure, Sporting Activities including community service and positions of responsibility held both in school and university.’

I’m honestly stumped!

 

[gilo]

The problem is, the other questions on the application form give plenty of room to discuss extra curricular activities I.e. the formation of my business.

the exact question is: ‘Outline the Main Social, Leisure, Sporting Activities including community service and positions of responsibility held both in school and university.’

I’m honestly stumped!

Maybe you could talk about something you are planning on establishing, or in the process of doing, like setting up an entrepreneur society or something like that (and then fill out the forms with the university so at least you have the ball rolling)

 

[CorporateLaw101]

Maybe you could talk about something you are planning on establishing, or in the process of doing, like setting up an entrepreneur society or something like that (and then fill out the forms with the university so at least you have the ball rolling)

Very good idea indeed! Thank you kindly.

 

[Nemo_nana]

Has anyone received any PFO yet from Links for spring/summer vs or any sort of communication?

 

[Nemo_nana]

I wish most firms would give out rejections first before ACs/offers 😅😅 to give us closure and move on sooner…

 

[Tony Stark]

Has anyone received any PFO yet from Links for spring/summer vs or any sort of communication?

I applied for Spring and still haven't heard back either. Same for HSf spring in case anyone is wondering

 

[Jessica Booker]

Wow I am soooo damn grateful to be vaccinated because Covid is a mother fxxxxx baitch!!!

As someone who got Covid pre-vaccinations and now having to go through a very drawn out process for long covid assessments over a year later, l completely agree with this. If you can get your vaccines and you want to get them, don’t wait about IMO!

 

[JunLee2808]

I posted this earlier but would really appreciate some guidance for my situation below:

Hi everyone! Firstly, thank you to everyone who responded to my question about repeating examples from an application to an interview.

Secondly, I'm not sure whether to mention this in the interview. I am planning to do the Bar next year due to it being an international qualification and recognition (I'm an international student). I really want to be a commercial solicitor but the Bar teaches me valuable skills that I won't get under the LPC/SQE, which is also another reason I'm doing it.

Should I mention this in my interview for a VS? I'm worried that it will show lack of passion or seriousness in being a solicitor when in reality, it's the opposite. Will this make me 'stand out'?

Thanks!

 

[vacschemesforeveryone]

Any good articles / videos for understanding 'the city'? A bit late for me to order the book now and have somewhat of an understanding, just looking for something that covers everything so I can choose what to focus more on if that makes sense.. Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

I posted this earlier but would really appreciate some guidance for my situation below:

Hi everyone! Firstly, thank you to everyone who responded to my question about repeating examples from an application to an interview.

Secondly, I'm not sure whether to mention this in the interview. I am planning to do the Bar next year due to it being an international qualification and recognition (I'm an international student). I really want to be a commercial solicitor but the Bar teaches me valuable skills that I won't get under the LPC/SQE, which is also another reason I'm doing it.

Should I mention this in my interview for a VS? I'm worried that it will show lack of passion or seriousness in being a solicitor when in reality, it's the opposite. Will this make me 'stand out'?

Thanks!

If it comes up in conversation, then it’s fine to mention it. You just need to be super clear as to why you are doing it (eg what are the skills it will give you that the LPC/SQE won’t, and why will this help you in your career in London/the U.K.).

I don’t think it makes you stand out either way (good or bad) but you just need to be super clear that this doesn’t impact your longer term commitment to a career in London with this firm.

Many firms will just see this as being a luxurious way to utilise your time before starting a TC - but ultimately it’s your time to use and do what you want with it.

 

[I.Like.UFOs.Not.PFOs]

Guess who’s going on the SullCrom Vacation scheme!!

*I wonder if they’ll send a complimentary UFO to pick me up*