TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[airyfairy123]

Has anyone else heard back from linklaters spring vac, W&C summer vac and Latham summer vac?

 

[nj3352]

I was told that the W&C cover letter should not exceed 1k words. I wrote 950 words for my cover letter, which in hindsight, I regret not shortening. Do you think it is possible that it will be rejected based on that alone?

theyre not grad rec 🤣

 

[Cecylia03]

HSF AC!! its for the summer vac scheme, did their first year workshop last year. Is anyone else who got an invitation only shown one date you can select for the assessment?

 

[amrita6399]

Hey @amrita6399,

This is something that I have been asked when I was interviewing last year quite a lot. What I found worked really well was trying to be super honest in terms of expressing my examples from my previous experiences. One of the examples I should to talk about for instance was being part of a group project in one of my previous internships about generation trauma and how that affected marginalised communities. Being the only person of colour in my group, it was really important for me to be able to share my experience and make that relatable to the other group members who might have not been able to understand the question fully. This was able to influence them into following a certain research structure I suggested which ended up being extremely appreciated by the managers and we won the competition.

This was received really well and I think that as a story it not only answers the questions but it also tells a lot about my values, personality and values, which I think it is the point of a great example. An effective example will answer the question but also make you shine in other areas and show what an invaluable asset to the firm you would be too. So I would suggest try to find an example in your life that you can talk about similar to the one I shared.

I hope this is helpful and good luck!

Thank you so much!

 

[axelbeugre]

i reached out to grad rec after submitting an application and made a typo in my email (none in my app itself though) -- is this going to leave a bad taste in grad rec's mouth and send my app straight into the bin? 😭😭😭

This is not a big deal so I would not worry too much! I know it must feel like the end of the world but everyone understands small typos here and there and as you pointed out, it was not your application anyway so nothing will happen! Do not worry!

 

[axelbeugre]

HSF AC!! its for the summer vac scheme, did their first year workshop last year. Is anyone else who got an invitation only shown one date you can select for the assessment?

Congratulations!!! Huge achievement!!

 

[axelbeugre]

I was told that the W&C cover letter should not exceed 1k words. I wrote 950 words for my cover letter, which in hindsight, I regret not shortening. Do you think it is possible that it will be rejected based on that alone?

It is hard to tell but I would not jump into conclusions, there are so many other factors that go into a rejection or acceptance that are out of your control so do not focus too much on that. I would say that if a firm highlights the length of an answer or a cover letter, it should be important to respect that since they might use it to cut people off immediately (but this is something that we will never know unless we get told)!

 

[ttttt:)]

Davis Polk interview invite! If anyone has any advice, I would be extremely grateful!

 

[nj3352]

Davis Polk interview invite! If anyone has any advice, I would be extremely grateful!

when did u apply?

 

[BM99]

Did they call you or email?

 

[allwillbewell]

How do you answer a question about a law firm’s position/place in the legal market? I would appreciate any tips! @axelbeugre

 

[futuretrainee2024]

It is hard to tell but I would not jump into conclusions, there are so many other factors that go into a rejection or acceptance that are out of your control so do not focus too much on that. I would say that if a firm highlights the length of an answer or a cover letter, it should be important to respect that since they might use it to cut people off immediately (but this is something that we will never know unless we get told)!

If there is no max length specified, is 900 words okay?

 

[Izzy1026]

Invited to Stephenson Harwood in-person Open Day on 17 Jan! Anyone else? 😊

 

[Happycloud100]

Does anyone know if it’s too late to apply to Gibson Dunn as they’re rolling ??

 

[LehmanBrothersRiskManagementIntern]

Has anyone here done BCLP’s AC for the vac scheme in the past 2 years?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much! Just want to clarify your last point

Should I focus on discussing how AI is used by law firms for tasks like document review and predictive analytics, or how AI is used by candidates in the recruitment processes within these firms?

The question is asking you about the recruitment process, so your answer should focus on that.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Also, regarding Freshfields, does anyone know why they review applications in batches? Surely without looking at all of the applications they can't be certain if someone is 'worthy' of a WG/AC invite compared to all the other applicants

Volume. One person can’t review all the applications so different people will be working to different timescales, and if one person did screen all of them, they’d have to do it in batches to keep themselves sane.

They have a scoring system and will mark candidates against that. Candidates that meet their benchmark will be invited to the next stage and that’s actually likely to be fairly stable/predictable.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Please explain your motivations for pursuing a career as a commercial solicitor and why you think Norton Rose Fulbright would be a good match for you (750 words) - should this be answered as a cover letter e.g. dear grad rec... i am a 2nd year law student at x uni... thank u for considering my app etc.?

No need to put this in a cover letter format. You can just start with your opening paragraph.

 

[Jessica Booker]

i reached out to grad rec after submitting an application and made a typo in my email (none in my app itself though) -- is this going to leave a bad taste in grad rec's mouth and send my app straight into the bin? 😭😭😭

They probably didn’t even spot it.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Do people prepare for group exercises?
If so, how?

I personally don’t think you can prepare unless you are told the topic of the exercise, and then your prep will be on the topic rather than the exercise itself