TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[flower]

For skadden, you won't hear back until after the deadline x

Does this mean Skadden isn't rolling then?

 

[Jessica Booker]

I believe so as they said they would be in touch with an outcome by end of Feb 2024 the latest.

To me this suggests they got many more applications than they expected earlier than expected, and so are pushing the later applicants to the next programme.

 

[ab01]

Any insights for Ashurst final interview for Winter VS and I thought I messed up the case study. Thank you in advance.

Hey - congratulations !! is the Ashurst final interview in person or virtual? Is it just an interview with a partner?

You’ll smash it I’m sure!

 

[s9111]

Haven’t heard back from a single firm re Summer Vac Scheme applications. Starting to worry!

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Hey - congratulations !! is the Ashurst final interview in person or virtual? Is it just an interview with a partner?

You’ll smash it I’m sure!

In person and have not been told but guess it will be with a partner/senior associate

Thank you very much appreciate it

 

[estimur]

To me this suggests they got many more applications than they expected earlier than expected, and so are pushing the later applicants to the next programme.

Hi Jessica,
I’m a premium member but can’t access the premium database. Could you please advise? Thank you

 

[Manuchelsout]

Has anyone heard back from Akin post test yet?

Still waiting post app

 

[Manuchelsout]

Akin's Online Assessment invite!!
Does anyone have tips for this?

Many thanks in advance

Also Akin online assessment - applied 18/11.

When did you submit the app

 

[Legalstalker]

This is quite random but I did an AC at pwc today this was for a non law grad role and my interviewer also mentioned that they lead interviews for legal roles e.g. vacation schemes. As well as being big into pro bono opportunities.

I only knew this as when I spoke about why I wanted to work there I touched on their pro bono and work they’ve done. She was very happy with the answer of looking at their pro bono area so if you get to AC stage ensure you mention that! As well as where you see your career within a few years/what you expect to be doing on a day to day basis.

 

[Aaj03]

When did you submit the app

10th of November

 

[NW Law]

When did you submit the app

18th of Nov.

 

[bella98]

Very similar to TopScore by the looks of it.

It means it is highly likely to be an autogenerated report. What is likely to be the case is that you are scored against competencies and then the feedback is automatically generated on the basis of that scoring. The telling sign would be that there is no personal information relating to you or your answers represented in the feedback.

If that is the case, then it does mean reports will look very similar and in some places identical to other people's reports. If they score the same for you for something like analytical skills, they are going to get the same feedback. Because of this, it is not unfeasible for someone to have the same report as someone else - you could have just scored very similarly throughout the assessments and therefore got the same autogenerated feedback.

Typically these platforms do have the ability to pass on bespoke feedback - e.g. the equivalent someone saying "your teamworking example regarding your paralegal role at Joe Bloggs LLP could have provided more context of your input into the team". And in the best situation, I would expect firms to provide some of this detail in reports (even if it is just a summary paragraph at the end of the report) to complement to autogenerated parts. But that does require work/input and it might be that firms do not have the capacity to do this or aren't getting the necessary input from assessors to do it.

I completely understand the value of actionable feedback and ideally, firms should be giving it though. I know it is something I could have been better at in periods of my career - often capacity has been a major obstacle for me being able to do so.

Thank you so much for the clarification. Now I have a better understanding of how these reports work! It makes sense now why our feedback reports were identical, especially since we both recognised the case study as our weakest area and the competency-based interview as our strongest, even before receiving the feedback.

Hopefully, more firms will acknowledge the importance of personalised feedback and find ways to integrate it effectively into their processes, even amidst resource constraints.

 

[bella98]

Is there anyone who has not yet received the Hogan Lovells WG? I applied two weeks ago for the summer vacation scheme. Same with Mayer Brown and their test. Should I contact Grad Rec?

 

[legallyells]

Is there anyone who has not yet received the Hogan Lovells WG? I applied two weeks ago for the summer vacation scheme. Same with Mayer Brown and their test. Should I contact Grad Rec?

I'm the same for Hogan Lovells SVS, not received WG.

 

[Mike Wazaoski]

This is quite random but I did an AC at pwc today this was for a non law grad role and my interviewer also mentioned that they lead interviews for legal roles e.g. vacation schemes. As well as being big into pro bono opportunities.

I only knew this as when I spoke about why I wanted to work there I touched on their pro bono and work they’ve done. She was very happy with the answer of looking at their pro bono area so if you get to AC stage ensure you mention that! As well as where you see your career within a few years/what you expect to be doing on a day to day basis.

Any tips for the PwC video interview?

 

[SalmaNasser]

Is there anyone who has not yet received the Hogan Lovells WG? I applied two weeks ago for the summer vacation scheme. Same with Mayer Brown and their test. Should I contact Grad Rec?

I haven't received anything from Mayer Brown so I emailed them and waiting now for their response

 

[F12M34L]

I require information on the DLA app procedure. Are the WGTs automatically processed, and do they screen the apps initially?

 

[Flavius Aurelius]

Is there anyone who has not yet received the Hogan Lovells WG? I applied two weeks ago for the summer vacation scheme. Same with Mayer Brown and their test. Should I contact Grad Rec?

If it's been two weeks maybe contact them. When I applied to HL I received the WG within a week and their grad rec advisor had said that they send out invites approx once every week. If it's been 2 weeks though maybe drop them a quick email to check all is good, won't do any harm.

 

[ccfuturetraineesolicitor]

does anyone know how to prepare for the latham online test? there is not a lot of info on it on the website

 

[flower]

does anyone know how to prepare for the latham online test? there is not a lot of info on it on the website

it's pretty much just the SJT, and there are some practice SJT tests online, though I'm not sure how helpful they might be considering Latham is looking for a specific set of competencies