TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

[legalgirlie]

what's the etiquette for sending a 'continued interest' email? haven't heard from a firm in ages, was wondering if reiterating how interested I am would show passion or potentially be annoying?

 

[MG1996]

anyone else here who glided through the Reed Smith SJT last time round but got abysmal scores this time? I don't know but I very strongly felt that the test scores were not quite accurate :/

 

[Z_H02]

Anyone who got no holding email nor AC invite from Reed Smith?

 

[jplaw1010]

Speaking of WG tests, if anybody has any tips on how to pass WG tests I would really appreciate this. It’s a huge hurdle for me and I have tried practicing and using YouTube videos but they just aren’t working

 

[LOLm]

Speaking of WG tests, if anybody has any tips on how to pass WG tests I would really appreciate this. It’s a huge hurdle for me and I have tried practicing and using YouTube videos but they just aren’t working

if you go the instagram page 'lifewithnum' she has a link in her bio that takes you to some watson glaser help sheets. i downloaded these and went through all the different sections, and made notes. There is a clear method for each section and when you understand what that is, the watson glaser is so much easier. Secondly, if you are willing to pay £15-£20, you can access assessment day's practice Watson Glaser tests. They have 9 tests, and the best thing is that they break down each test by the different sections, so you can really focus on what you are bad at. I think its an investment that is worth it. I went from getting like 20th percentile to 75% to 80 percentile using the help sheets and assesment day.

 

[jplaw1010]

if you go the instagram page 'lifewithnum' she has a link in her bio that takes you to some watson glaser help sheets. i downloaded these and went through all the different sections, and made notes. There is a clear method for each section and when you understand what that is, the watson glaser is so much easier. Secondly, if you are willing to pay £15-£20, you can access assessment day's practice Watson Glaser tests. They have 9 tests, and the best thing is that they break down each test by the different sections, so you can really focus on what you are bad at. I think it’s an investment that is worth it. I went from getting like 20th percentile to 75% to 80 percentile using the help sheets and assesment day

Thank you so much ☺️

 

[LehmanBrothersRiskManagementIntern]

Sorry to hear that. Was this post app or post WG?

Post app

 

[axelbeugre]

In the midst of application season, many people wonder which are the best tips to succeed at the assessment centre stage for the law firms they have applied to.

Firstly, getting an assessment centre is impressive as it is so congratulations to those of you who managed to get one this application cycle. I remember how I felt when I received mine so I can only imagine how you might feel. With that excitement, fear was also something that overwhelmed me. Looking for people who were successful in this process is something that helped me massively when I started receiving interviews and assessment centres. This ended up being even more reassuring when speaking to people with my similar background and insecurities as they represented the fact that I could be successful and achieve my goal as they manage to do.

Some general tips that I can share when it comes to preparing for assessment centres are:

• Know what is expected of you on the day: this is absolutely fundamental, you need to know everything that will be asked of you in order to fully prepare for the assessment centre. This can be done by familiarizing yourself with the website and the information provided there, talking to people on LinkedIn and in your circle who did the same assessment centre you are about to do.
• Keep your commercial awareness up: sometimes, there is the pressure of trying to understand everything they might ask you in an interview or in an assessment centre that you tend to forget to go over the basics. It is fundamental to still keep listening to the commercial news podcasts you are used to listen to or keep reading the financial times and the economist religiously to understand how markets and businesses work. Additionally, it will beneficial for you to try and think how the news you are engaging with relates to the legal sector and how, potentially, law firms might get involved in a commercial issue that sparked your interest. This will help you to start thinking like a lawyer and analyse a piece of news from different angles, which is usually what is asked of you during an assessment centre.
• Do not underestimate practicing interviews or assessments with your friends, family and everyone that is free to listen to you. This was very beneficial for me when I was preparing for my interviews as it allowed me to practice dealing with unseen scenarios (if I was preparing on articles that I had never seen before sent to me by my friends), anxiety (being able to think on my feet even though I do not know the exact answer to a question and confidence (through believing in the points I was making even though the person interviewing me was going against it).
• For in-person assessment centres, it is important to make a good impression from the start and so you should be kind to everyone you meet as soon as you step foot in the law firm as your assessment starts from that moment until you leave. Beware of that!
• Control what you can control. In an interview, you should feel extremely confident in your answers for ‘tell me about yourself’, ‘why law’, ‘why this firm’, ‘why this experience’, ‘what area of law are you most interested in’? These are questions you should know by heart now and that should come off as very genuine and not rehearsed. These are answers that you can prepare beforehand and it is a part of the assessment that you is definitely in your hands.
• Be yourself! Always remember that there is not a specific type of person that law firms are looking for so it is important for you to show your personality as that will differentiate you from others! I feel like when I was interviewing I sometimes forgot this but I had people reminding me that being different is the key to succeed in this industry.

I hope these tips are helpful and good luck with your assessments!

 

[Standardlawapplicant]

If anyone is able to provide insight into what the SPB or Vinson & Elkins VI questions are like, please pm me.

 

[icebear]

Yeah I was gonna say this anyone with AG AC coming up ask if there is any future ACs for London (and if so how many)

any updates on this?

 

[illegallyblonde]

AG VS 🥳

 

[SirLancelot7777]

Anyone done CRS VI?

 

[lonelycruise]

Cooley pre-AC interview invite!

 

[CallumJR]

For Reed Smith you need apparently 31 point to get an AC

 

[blopclop]

Did you figure out how to access it? I'm thinking of contacting gr to find out how to ...

No not yet - have noticed that if you press "print" it does show part of your application (work experience/grades etc) but I'm quite certain there were a few questions for which we had to provide written responses to as well (unless I'm imagining this)

 

[pb15]

Cooley pre-AC interview invite!

Same here! Do you have any idea what the interview will entail?

 

[dms21]

Anyone who got no holding email nor AC invite from Reed Smith?

I didn't get either and its making me think they forgot about me

 

[dms21]

For Reed Smith you need apparently 31 point to get an AC

Hey how did you find out about this? and how do calculate the points?

 

[CallumJR]

Hey how did you find out about this? and how do calculate the points?

It is the sum of the bars across the four pillars (grit, digital mindset...)

 

[lonelycruise]

Same here! Do you have any idea what the interview will entail?

Congrats - and no clue! It seems like it's new this year. It says associates so most likely commercial?