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

[Asil Ahmad]

In regards to Dentons application question Tell us about a challenge you have overcome that showcases your ambition and drive?

I know I have asked about this before and have received feedback and advice from this forum.

I wanted to know if these 2 examples show a challenge.

I was going to talk about mentoring high school students by helping them with their studies by 2 grades and the student was easily distracted.

My second example is durin g university I impoved my grades as I was not good at essays.

Wanted to ask would either of these examples be good answer for this question.

 

[kr253]

At this rate you’ll be given an hours notice lol

Here's hoping 😂

 

[AvniD]

In regards to Dentons application question Tell us about a challenge you have overcome that showcases your ambition and drive?

I know I have asked about this before and have received feedback and advice from this forum.

I wanted to know if these 2 examples show a challenge.

I was going to talk about mentoring high school students by helping them with their studies by 2 grades and the student was easily distracted.

My second example is durin g university I impoved my grades as I was not good at essays.

Wanted to ask would either of these examples be good answer for this question.

I think the way you have phrased these examples currently showcases your resilience and patience better than your drive and ambition. I'm not usually picky about examples and generally feel that any work as long as you're able to explain your thought process behind them and get them to fit what the question is asking, but my advice for this one is going to be a little different and more detailed.

Firstly, I'd say to introspect a bit on your experiences to find examples where you set a goal (ambition) and the way/ways you tried to succeed at it (drive). So if you take your second example, the way I'd phrase it to meet what the question is asking is by stating how you set a goal to achieve a certain grade (rather than to improve your grades) and how you went about this.

Secondly, structure would be really key here. Start off by stating your goal/ambition (getting an XYZ grade) ➡️ what motivated you to achieve this goal (wanting to do well academically for XYZ reason, you wanted to improve from previous year or improve your essay writing skills etc.)➡️ the steps you took to achieve this goal ➡️ any challenges you faced in doing so and how you overcame them ➡️ round off by stating the outcome of your efforts.

Does this make sense?

 

[Asil Ahmad]

I think the way you have phrased these examples currently showcases your resilience and patience better than your drive and ambition. I'm not usually picky about examples and generally feel that any work as long as you're able to explain your thought process behind them and get them to fit what the question is asking, but my advice for this one is going to be a little different and more detailed.

Firstly, I'd say to introspect a bit on your experiences to find examples where you set a goal (ambition) and the way/ways you tried to succeed at it (drive). So if you take your second example, the way I'd phrase it to meet what the question is asking is by stating how you set a goal to achieve a certain grade (rather than to improve your grades) and how you went about this.

Secondly, structure would be really key here. Start off by stating your goal/ambition (getting an XYZ grade) ➡️ what motivated you to achieve this goal (wanting to do well academically for XYZ reason, you wanted to improve from previous year or improve your essay writing skills etc.)➡️ the steps you took to achieve this goal ➡️ any challenges you faced in doing so and how you overcame them ➡️ round off by stating the outcome of your efforts.

Does this make sense?

Thank you very much for this it is really helpful and I was thinking they were not that specific to the question of showing drive and ambition. I will see how I can showcase the mentoring example in a way that shows ambition and drive.

Also I missed your arrows they are always helpful.

 

[AvniD]

Thank you very much for this it is really helpful and I was thinking they were not that specific to the question of showing drive and ambition. I will see how I can showcase the mentoring example in a way that shows ambition and drive.

Also I missed your arrows they are always helpful.

Glad to know this was helpful @Asil Ahmad! I was on annual leave for the past few weeks but it is really good to be back to the forum (and my arrows!) 😊

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Glad to know this was helpful @Asil Ahmad! I was on annual leave for the past few weeks but it is really good to be back to the forum (and my arrows!) 😊

As always thank you very much. I did not know you was away as I have off the forum for a while was focusing on getting a paralegal now but now need to focus on getting that TC thropugh direct TC route.

 

[WAL007]

Hi Guys, hope everyone is well.

I have a TC interview coming in and for it, I need to do a written exercise, a presentation and an interview. I am little bit worried about the written exercise as when I was speaking to future trainees and trainees solicitors, they said the written exercise will be a statement made like an exam type question and we will have 55 minutes to assess both sides of argument and draw own conclusion. Has anyone in this forum been exposed to this sort of written exercise and can you kindly provide tips as to how I can prepare for this? Also, it would be really helpful if anyone can please send a copy of a exercise that is similar to the one I have which I can then practice on?

Many thanks,

AT

 

[AvniD]

Hi Guys, hope everyone is well.

I have a TC interview coming in and for it, I need to do a written exercise, a presentation and an interview. I am little bit worried about the written exercise as when I was speaking to future trainees and trainees solicitors, they said the written exercise will be a statement made like an exam type question and we will have 55 minutes to assess both sides of argument and draw own conclusion. Has anyone in this forum been exposed to this sort of written exercise and can you kindly provide tips as to how I can prepare for this? Also, it would be really helpful if anyone can please send a copy of a exercise that is similar to the one I have which I can then practice on?

Many thanks,

AT

Hey @WAL007, I've never done an exercise like this before but the way I'd approach it is almost like an essay that's broken down into an intro stating what you're going to a argue, making 2-3 points that support your argument and explore any counterarguments within each point, and conclude with which side you think makes most sense. Maybe you can practice some essay Qs that you're currently doing at uni (if you're at uni) or by looking at some debates online to learn how you can hone the ability to argue both sides in a tight timeframe. I really hope this helps and wish you all the best! Let us know how you get on 💪

 

[GXA123]

Has anybody done or attended the welcome session for Shakespeare TC AC? I just want to know what the AC consists of, please PM if you did. Thanks in advance

 

[Jessica Booker]

In regards to Dentons application question Tell us about a challenge you have overcome that showcases your ambition and drive?

I know I have asked about this before and have received feedback and advice from this forum.

I wanted to know if these 2 examples show a challenge.

I was going to talk about mentoring high school students by helping them with their studies by 2 grades and the student was easily distracted.

My second example is durin g university I impoved my grades as I was not good at essays.

Wanted to ask would either of these examples be good answer for this question.

It’s really hard to say whether these examples show challenge. Ultimately it’s not the “example” itself that showcases this, it is more how you describe the actions you undertake to get through the example that will demonstrate challenge.

Therefore either example could be great examples to use - but it’s down to your experiences rather than the “title”.

For example, I was interviewing two people on the same day. Asked a very similar question to both candidates - one candidate talked about running a marathon while another talked about running a 5km charity run. Everyone assumes the marathon runner had the best example, because surely a marathon is more challenging that a 5km run, right? In reality the 5km run person had the much stronger answer - the marathon runner was a distance runner already, they loved running, they just upped their training a bit. While the 5km runner hated running, was very unfit, had bad eating habits, and had to persevere a lot to just be in a situation where they could complete the run.

 

[Asil Ahmad]

It’s really hard to say whether these examples show challenge. Ultimately it’s not the “example” itself that showcases this, it is more how you describe the actions you undertake to get through the example that will demonstrate challenge.

Therefore either example could be great examples to use - but it’s down to your experiences rather than the “title”.

For example, I was interviewing two people on the same day. Asked a very similar question to both candidates - one candidate talked about running a marathon while another talked about running a 5km charity run. Everyone assumes the marathon runner had the best example, because surely a marathon is more challenging that a 5km run, right? In reality the 5km run person had the much stronger answer - the marathon runner was a distance runner already, they loved running, they just upped their training a bit. While the 5km runner hated running, was very unfit, had bad eating habits, and had to persevere a lot to just be in a situation where they could complete the run.

Thank you very much for thids it is really helpful.

Also great example and agreed.

 

[kr253]

Also on the reserve list - seems a rather large one!

Anyone else been put on the reserve list for AC for Shoosmiths post VI, or have been in the past? Wondering if there is point still holding out hope

Despite my cynicism I have actually just been offered a place on the AC after being on the reserve list!

 

[H12345678]

Has anyone heard from DACB yet? Thought we would have heard back by now..

 

[Elinc21]

Has anyone heard from DACB yet? Thought we would have heard back by now..

I haven’t heard anything- I thought we were meant to hear at the start of June…

 

[AI]

Has anyone heard from DACB yet? Thought we would have heard back by now..

Same I haven’t heard back. I’m assuming if we don’t hear anything back by this week, then next week will be the responses.

 

[MP96]

Has anyone heard anything from BDB Pitmans? Applied for VS/TC back in January and haven’t heard anything since…

 

[Rachael.Elisa]

Has anyone heard anything from BDB Pitmans? Applied for VS/TC back in January and haven’t heard anything since…

I've not heard anything either!

 

[GS0W]

Anyone else got an AC for Shoosmiths Birmingham office?!

 

[OliverF77]

Despite my cynicism I have actually just been offered a place on the AC after being on the reserve list!

Congratulations, I hope it’s successful for you!! Can I ask which office this was in?

 

[kr253]

Congratulations, I hope it’s successful for you!! Can I ask which office this was in?

Thanks! It's for Solent