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

[Crystal86]

Hey @Crystal86,

Again this is only my opinion, but yes!

I tried to be curious during my interview and enthusiastic about the issues that we were discussing. This approach indicates that are you engaged and interested, as well as being keen and willing to learn/improve, which bodes well for when you become a trainee. For example, from what I remember, I asked my interviewers (as I had two scenario interviews when I was applying) what their thoughts were about X or Y (even during the interview rather than just at the end) and what they found difficult etc.

I think this worked well for this style of interview partly because it (in some ways) replicates a conversation between two lawyers trying to work through a new legal scenario together and questions would naturally arise during this sort of discussion.

That being said, I would not force it. I tend to be one of those people who naturally asks a lot of questions and am generally enthusiastic, so for me this came relatively naturally. But I do not think that you need to ask lots of questions to be successful.


I hope that helps. Do ask if anything is unclear etc. 💪

Thanks again @George Maxwell . As a non-law student, I am a little worried that I might not understand some terms the partner may use, do you think it's okay to ask them to clarify? Also, do you think the scenario interview is supposed to be a formal or an informal discussion?

 

[Lumree]

Has anyone found themselves in a position where they had an AC for a direct TC that you could/did attend when halfway through a VS at another firm?

 

[Username9999]

I have an odd question. If you miss a law firm's phone call, do they eventually e-mail you? I'm currently not in the UK and I can't get phone calls from the UK so I'm a bit worried that I missed a call

In my experience email them to let them know and they will give you your response by email or schedule a call via zoom/ teams

 

[psr23]

Has anyone heard back from orrick for the summer vs?

 

[Desk Chair]

Mayer Brown vac scheme!!!

 

[letmeintolaw]

Just curious - after a final interview, is it the partner/employee that interviewed who decides if you get an offer? Or do they feedback to graduate recruitment who then decide considering your overall performance? Any insight is massively appreciated!

 

[YUKI1201]

W&C AC x

 

[Jessica Booker]

Just curious - after a final interview, is it the partner/employee that interviewed who decides if you get an offer? Or do they feedback to graduate recruitment who then decide considering your overall performance? Any insight is massively appreciated!

Generally decided by graduate recruitment as loads of other people are interviewing other candidates and they need to ensure there is consistency between assessors and also make sure they make enough offers (and not too many).

Will only be your interviewer(s) if you are going to work in their team. As most vacation schemes/training contracts are recruited across a firm, it really needs to be coordinated centrally rather than individual interviewers making offers.

 

[Deleted member 11671]

Thanks again @George Maxwell . As a non-law student, I am a little worried that I might not understand some terms the partner may use, do you think it's okay to ask them to clarify? Also, do you think the scenario interview is supposed to be a formal or an informal discussion?

Non-law student here and it's perfectly fine to ask for clarification. I wasn't asked anything with legal jargon in it, but it might be helpful if you understood some of the business terms in the sector - an example of such a term would be SPAC (which I had no clue about until I started following news articles more closely). For interviews, I felt that they were treated as a two-way conversation.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi, everyone. Quick question ahead of the next cycle: are there any firms that are known to be "pro-" or "anti-" career changers?

I'm phrasing it more bluntly than what I expect the reality to be, but I'd love to hear thoughts on whether XYZ firms tend to only welcome non-law grads from certain industries, if there are some known for taking on people in their 30's, etc. - any of this sort of insight would be most appreciated!

My view is if the firm is actively marketing to career changers, then that shows their interest. Look for events and advertising that may suggest this. For instance:

How to get into law as a career changer - with Shearman & Sterling, Irwin Mitchell, 2TG and ULaw - Legal Cheek

How to get into law as a career changer: Stem Future Lawyers

How To Get Into Law As A Career Changer — With BCLP, Shearman & Sterling, 2 Temple Gardens, And ULaw - Xperta Insights

I used to do this event with the Law Society too: Slide 1 (lawsociety.org.uk) and they had a whole load of firms' representatives attend.

From my experience, Freshfields used to be pretty good at taking on career changers - we had a fair number of career changers, albeit through the direct TC route back in the day.

 

[AvniD]

Hi, everyone. Quick question ahead of the next cycle: are there any firms that are known to be "pro-" or "anti-" career changers?

I'm phrasing it more bluntly than what I expect the reality to be, but I'd love to hear thoughts on whether XYZ firms tend to only welcome non-law grads from certain industries, if there are some known for taking on people in their 30's, etc. - any of this sort of insight would be most appreciated!

It's going to be hard to slot firms into these categories because while they may choose to recruit differently it may not be with the intention of keeping career-changers out of the profession.

I would encourage you to instead look for firms with direct TC routes and who have career-changer specific events/recruitment programmes (see Jessica's post here).

 

[AvniD]

AG rejection post VI, very upset about this one please send tissues to me
The only thing keeping me going is this forum tbh, I've been applying for the past two years...

@LS07 I'm sorry to hear about this. I would encourage you to take a break from applications-related work for as long as you need to process your rejection and see where you want to go from here. Rejections test the strength of your response and will so give yourself the time and space you require to deal with this disappointment in the best manner possible.

 

[AvniD]

Just done my final partner interview, feel like I completely bombed all 3 of the scenario questions! My answers were sooo weak. And then the interviewer said 'and the next questions will be competancy based' and then I went and answered the first one with no personal example!!!!! Gutted as this was for THE firm

What may feel like 'the' firm for you right now may not be 'the' firm in a few weeks, months, years and tying yourself to this notion can be limiting at times. Interviews are incredibly stressful and testing for even the best of us- you gave it a good shot and that's really what matters at the end of the day. If the outcome is not in your favour, then take some time to process it and see how you could deal with this situation better next time and try to move forward to making new applications to other firms you like. Who knows- maybe there are other firms out there who are an even better fit.

 

[AvniD]

When discussing a deal for example I heard that Dentons were involved in the Newcastle United FC takeover do you think it is okay to discuss that the deal interests me by linking my interest in football. By discussing how that can lead to other football clubs in the Premier League being brought by Arab entrepreneurs something on the lines of that. Would that add my commercial knowledge and would that be good to include my personal interest in football.

Go for it! I would be quite brief while talking about your interest in football because you don't want to go off-topic but linking deals back to why they interest you is always a good thing.

 

[Jessica Booker]

When discussing a deal for example I heard that Dentons were involved in the Newcastle United FC takeover do you think it is okay to discuss that the deal interests me by linking my interest in football. By discussing how that can lead to other football clubs in the Premier League being brought by Arab entrepreneurs something on the lines of that. Would that add my commercial knowledge and would that be good to include my personal interest in football.

I have seen this work many times, so not a problem to use something like this.

 

[Jessica444]

Can anyone who has an AC for SPB please DM me!!

 

[GXA123]

So happy for you !!!! CONGRATS!

Thank you so much 😭😭

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Guys I just got an email from Travers Smith this morning.

Dear Asil

Thank you for your application for a summer scheme.

We apologise for the delay in getting back to you but due to the volume of applications the process is taking longer than anticipated. We hope to be in touch in the next few weeks.

Yours sincerely,

So there is still hope.

 

[s10]

I have an odd question. If you miss a law firm's phone call, do they eventually e-mail you? I'm currently not in the UK and I can't get phone calls from the UK so I'm a bit worried that I missed a call

Dont really have a conclusive answer to this, but from my experience if a firm wants to get in touch with you, they will! I missed a call about the outcome of my CMS AC, and was sent an email with phone numbers to call back on. So yes, most likely, if they have made the effort to contact you they will ask you to call back. Hope this helps!

 

[s10]

Covington vac scheme offer 🥳 looking like a fabulous summer ahead