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

[T.]

Has anyone done the Kennedys SST yet? Is it just me or was that SST really difficult 😩😩

Have you got the feedback yet?

 

[SOAS22]

Has anyone done the gateley interactive assessment?

Yes, I have

 

[InNeedofaTC]

My Gateley assessment says ‘Please complete by 31 January 2022’. Does that mean within 7 hours or any time tomorrow?

 

[James Carrabino]

@Jessica Booker

Would you know anything about the BCLP situational judgment test? Although the firm has said it won't time you, it still recommends you spend about 45 mins. However, I'm thinking about taking advantage of the situation by spending as much time as I need. I'm just concerned as to whether there is a running timer or not (unlikely, but I had to provision for that possibility)? If there is, I'd probably try to stick to 45 mins as much as I can. If not, why not take as much time as I want?

To clarify, while I won't have a time limit to complete my test, I also want to know whether there is a timer running in the background anyway.

My guess is that if they do not mention anything about time being taken into account, then time will not be taken into account. One can never be 100% sure but I personally would use as much time as I feel that I need to get the answers right.

That said, usually a firm's guidelines are not arbitrary. If you spend significantly in excess of 45 minutes you may start second-guessing your responses and altering correct answers. These tests usually want your gut instinct (and taking this approach usually gets you the best results)!

 

[James Carrabino]

Opinions on shortening phrases in applications?
E.g. 'private equity (PE)' and then referring it to PE then onwards?

I personally do that. I think as long as you fully write out the term first and then put the necessary bracket after (as you've done), you can then refer to the shortened version thereafter. I wouldn't overdo it though, but it can be useful in saving words.

From the applications I have reviewed, most candidates who write 'PE' in their answers do not formally introduce it first as you are proposing, in which case I advise them not to use the abbreviation. If you introduce it in the way that you have shown, then no-one can fault you for using the abbreviation.

My only question is, how many times do you plan to use the phrase private equity? If it is 2-3 times then I am not sure it is worth the hassle!

 

[Jessica Booker]

My Gateley assessment says ‘Please complete by 31 January 2022’. Does that mean within 7 hours or any time tomorrow?

It will mean by 23.59 tomorrow but you might want to do it earlier in case there are any technical issues and you need to speak to the recruitment team.

 

[James Carrabino]

This is a silly question but... when answering 'what difficulty may arise when operating in country X' and discussing political difficulties: what is the reasoning? Is it that general political difficulties may affect clients, re taxation or changes to laws, or the firm itself? My head has gone totally blank!

Good question! There is a broad spectrum of things which could be considered 'political difficulties' - on the one hand, as you mention, a new government could come in which plans to raise the corporate tax rate, change regulation within specialised sectors, change the qualification process to become a lawyer etc. These are all things that affect law firms and their clients, but are challenges that large international law firms could expect to face from time to time.

On the other end of the spectrum, a government could limit or ban foreign investment, seize a clients' business, threaten a law firms' lawyers who support political opponents, or make any other range of radical policy decisions that undermine a law firm's ability to operate effectively within a certain jurisdiction. There are of course many political difficulties which fall somewhere between these two extremes as well!

Please let me know if you have any further questions

 

[James Carrabino]

Can I ask something?
Is networking so fundamental? How much importance do recruiters place on name dropping?

I am not a recruiter but I don't think name dropping for its own sake is very impressive.

Showing that you have truly engaged with the firm, however, is a different story. I had an interview with a firm where I happened to recall a talk by my interviewer from several months back at the firm's open day! I had genuinely found his talk interesting and so at the end of my interview when my interviewers asked if I had any questions, I actually brought up a topic from his talk all those months ago. At a minimum, he seemed somewhat flattered that what he had said was memorable - and he knew that my interest was genuine (not pre-prepared) since we were not told who our interviewers were prior to the interview.

The same goes if you have met with or attended an event with other lawyers at the firm. Should the topic of conversation somehow make its way to a point where it would be natural to bring up your experience with other people at the firm, then feel free to do so.

I sometimes see candidates write things such as, 'I have been particularly attracted to XYZ LLP ever since I met Joe Bloggs last year and he told me about the firm's welcoming culture'. Honestly, that does not tell me anything about your interest in the firm and it is a flagrant and unsophisticated name-dropping attempt 🤣

Know that networking will not help advance your application in any way, shape or form at the vast majority of firms. I wonder whether it may even be possible that the appearance of trying to unfairly gain an upper hand could damage your chances...but to be honest, it probably never gets taken into account at all. The big London firms have such robust recruitment processes that there is simply no room for a partner to shoulder their way into the recruitment deliberations.

I still hear the occasional anecdotal tale of partners at US firms with small London presences guaranteeing interviews to candidates who have reached out and networked with them in the past. I do not know whether these stories are true, but you can bet that such a practice is rapidly dying out and never occurs at the established firms in the London legal market.

So no, networking is not fundamental at all - but by all means reach out to lawyers if it interests you and if you stand to learn something from them, as @Jessica Booker said

 

[summer207]

I've got two ACs next week and I am starting to get overwhelmed with information. I had an interview last week with a different firm where I was unable to answer a competency question and I didn't answer two commercial questions how I would have liked 🥲, and it's stressing me out that maybe I don't know as much as I should. When do you know if you've done enough? I know you cannot prepare for every single thing, but the more time I have, the more I think I should be doing more competency examples, more firm research, etc 😕

 

[letmeintolaw]

Hi all - I have two ACs coming up in two weeks from now, these are my first ever - when should I start preparing for them and how intensive should the preparation be?

 

[S87]

I am not a recruiter but I don't think name dropping for its own sake is very impressive.

Showing that you have truly engaged with the firm, however, is a different story. I had an interview with a firm where I happened to recall a talk by my interviewer from several months back at the firm's open day! I had genuinely found his talk interesting and so at the end of my interview when my interviewers asked if I had any questions, I actually brought up a topic from his talk all those months ago. At a minimum, he seemed somewhat flattered that what he had said was memorable - and he knew that my interest was genuine (not pre-prepared) since we were not told who our interviewers were prior to the interview.

The same goes if you have met with or attended an event with other lawyers at the firm. Should the topic of conversation somehow make its way to a point where it would be natural to bring up your experience with other people at the firm, then feel free to do so.

I sometimes see candidates write things such as, 'I have been particularly attracted to XYZ LLP ever since I met Joe Bloggs last year and he told me about the firm's welcoming culture'. Honestly, that does not tell me anything about your interest in the firm and it is a flagrant and unsophisticated name-dropping attempt 🤣

Know that networking will not help advance your application in any way, shape or form at the vast majority of firms. I wonder whether it may even be possible that the appearance of trying to unfairly gain an upper hand could damage your chances...but to be honest, it probably never gets taken into account at all. The big London firms have such robust recruitment processes that there is simply no room for a partner to shoulder their way into the recruitment deliberations.

I still hear the occasional anecdotal tale of partners at US firms with small London presences guaranteeing interviews to candidates who have reached out and networked with them in the past. I do not know whether these stories are true, but you can bet that such a practice is rapidly dying out and never occurs at the established firms in the London legal market.

So no, networking is not fundamental at all - but by all means reach out to lawyers if it interests you and if you stand to learn something from them, as @Jessica Booker said

This is such a good answer and brought a smile on my face

 

[WillF]

Hey everyone,

One of the tasks for an AC I have this week is to write a short letter of advice to a fictitious client. I was wondering what everyone thought about formatting - should I write addresses etc like a business letter (even if they don't state to specifically)? If so, is there a document/example someone could share of what it should look like? Thank you all

@Jessica Booker @George Maxwell @James Carrabino any help would be appreciated

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey everyone,

One of the tasks for an AC I have this week is to write a short letter of advice to a fictitious client. I was wondering what everyone thought about formatting - should I write addresses etc like a business letter (even if they don't state to specifically)? If so, is there a document/example someone could share of what it should look like? Thank you all

@Jessica Booker @George Maxwell @James Carrabino any help would be appreciated

If it is explicitly stating a letter and you have all the details provided in the document (like addresses), then format it like a letter.

If the information you have been given doesn't provided any address, then just date the letter and start with Dear......

Something like the following will be appropriate in terms of formatting: LTRletter1.jpg (800×1132) (freshonthenet.co.uk)

 

[WillF]

If it is explicitly stating a letter and you have all the details provided in the document (like addresses), then format it like a letter.

If the information you have been given doesn't provided any address, then just date the letter and start with Dear......

Something like the following will be appropriate in terms of formatting: LTRletter1.jpg (800×1132) (freshonthenet.co.uk)

Great - thank you so much Jessica

 

[LawInTheNorth]

Anyone heard anything from HL recently?

 

[rose0904]

Does anyone have any tips for a Simmons & Simmons AC please?

I wouldn't say you can prep too much for the written exercise and case study other than making sure you're really aware of the time. The interview is a pretty standard competency interview with a few motivational questions thrown in as well, so I'd focus preparations on having competency examples prepped and knowing all your 'whys'.

 

[Asil Ahmad]

For this application question If applicable please state any additional information which you think is relevant to your application or which you think has not been covered adequately in this form?

Is it okay to add more extra curriculum activities and achievements or is this question not for that.

 

[rose0904]

Do you guys think that having mental health as a setback that you overcame is too personal?

I used this as part of an answer for one of my apps and made it to VI (yet to hear back afterwards) so I'd say no! I didn't go into loads of detail but I think it's fine as long as you can focus on what you learnt from it etc rather than the negatives

 

[James Carrabino]

For this application question If applicable please state any additional information which you think is relevant to your application or which you think has not been covered adequately in this form?

Is it okay to add more extra curriculum activities and achievements or is this question not for that.

If there is another question for that and you ran out of space to write it there, then I am not sure that this is the right place to mention it. But if there is no other question relating to extra-curricular activities or achievements then I would feel comfortable mentioning it here!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

I've got two ACs next week and I am starting to get overwhelmed with information. I had an interview last week with a different firm where I was unable to answer a competency question and I didn't answer two commercial questions how I would have liked 🥲, and it's stressing me out that maybe I don't know as much as I should. When do you know if you've done enough? I know you cannot prepare for every single thing, but the more time I have, the more I think I should be doing more competency examples, more firm research, etc 😕

All I will say is good luck you got this and the thing I usually do in situations like these I usually watch a movie or spend the evening going out with family it will help and make you more refreshed then it will make you more prepared for the AC's.