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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

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#6,143
milo said:
Hi there, obviously I appreciate an application can always be refined or updated, but do you know whether firms can access/retain old applications and if not, how will they know whether or not you've updated your app?
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Hiya @milo


I think @Jessica Booker would have a better sense of this, but my impression is that this will depend on a firm's data retention policy, as well as other factors. I know some firms have application forms which explicitly ask whether you're re-applying and what stage you'd previously reached (you should answer this question honestly). I suspect firms who do so will look for evidence to see if much has changed since your previous application. Additionally, I've spoken to some recruiters who've told me their firms use anti-plagiarism software which can bring up similarities between different applications. If your answer is exactly the same as an application from a previous cycle, this could potentially be another way to raise a red flag. Overall, I think the safe option here is just to update your application, which shouldn't be too time consuming. Again, I'd be curious to see what Jess has to say here, but hope this was helpful/accurate.
 
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#6,147
Jessica Booker said:
You total application word count cannot be more than 25% over the word limit, or up to 200 words over the limit if the total application word limit is less than 800 words.

Therefore, if this is just one question that is 100 words over, then this wonā€™t be an issue. But if you had three questions that were all 100 words or more over, this would equate to a 33% over the limit, and weā€™d either ask you to cut down your application answers or purchase an additional word count reduction service.
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If it is 3 questions with 300 words each, my total word count canā€™t exceed 1,125? Just want to be sure :)
 
#6,148
@Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam @Andrei Radu
Got rejected at from DLA piper which stings because the AC was actually quite fun and I liked the firm. Owell, does anyone have know whether you are supposed to filter in firm specific facts about, Eversheds Sutherland for the application.
When have you worked in an ambitious goal?
When have you delivered a piece of work where quality was an important factor?
 
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#6,149
Tclarocks123 said:
I am reapplying to a firm after failing the video interview. The issue is I do not want to fix what is not broken. How do I go about "updating" my app without losing the essence? @Jessica Booker @Ram Sabaratnam
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I think the trick is to consider that just because your application was successful last time, does not mean it will be successful the next time around.

You will either be applying to a different type of vacancy or will be applying later on in the recruitment cycle/next cycle, and so it is important to go in with the mindset of what has changed/what has improved since my last application and making sure that is reflected in the next one.

It can be important to also review with a fresh pair of critical eyes what you have presented and change where needed. For instance, certain aspects of my CV havenā€™t really changed (eg my past work experiences havenā€™t changed) but everytime I review my CV I question why I focused on something or think I could redraft the same point in a more persuasive style.
 
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#6,151
bella98 said:
@Ram Sabaratnam I recall you previously mentioned avoiding the generic response, 'I am interested in both law and business,' when addressing the question of why I chose commercial law. I typically prefer a structured approach to these types of questions where I write three key points, starting with how my interest in the field began and so on. Could the intersection of law and business be one of those points, or does that come across as too broad? The reason I ask is that I studied law and also ran a small business, so I often incorporate that into my answer as one of the key points. Thank youu :)
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Hiya @bella98

That's so impressive that you ran a small business whilst studying - wowza!

Yes, I think a structured approach is great (it's how I typically answered this type of question). I also recommend adding a tad bit of nuance when discussing your interest in both law and business. Oftentimes, applicants simply make this point without much further explanation.

Instead, try to think about what makes the blend of law and business interesting. For instance, working with businesses means helping them with legal decisions that can affect not just one person but entire organisations, their employees, shareholders, and customers. For this reason, commercial law often requires engaging with legal issues that are both complex and multi-faceted. Alternatively, maybe you're interested in this area of law because of the high level of collaboration it typically demands. Again, in commercial law, youā€™re not just working with your own team to offer legal advise, but also with other departments at your firm, as well as engaging with teams of in-house counsel, executives, regulators, and professionals from other fields like finance or consulting. This level of collaboration can make commercial law particularly interesting when compared to other types of client services or other areas of law.

Overall, just try to be specific and demonstrate that you can make the point in a more sophisticated way. Thus, you should avoid simply stating that that the blend of the two is 'complex', 'collaborative', or 'dynamic'. Rather, you should try to show the reader how that's the case (in the way I've tried to do above).

Hope this helps and best of luck with your application!
 
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#6,152
Szofi66 said:
@Andrei Radu and others, thank you in advance for answering: if a firm allows max 5 experiences including actual WE, extracurriculars, volunteering, sport activities etc. on its application form, is it a good idea to merge some of them into one? such as all extracurriculars done at uni societies as 1 experience, or all volunteering activities as another one. Further, if limited to 5, should I include the firm's Forage job simulation or that'd be a waste? (they don't ask elsewhere on the app form if I did it or not). I feel like I have much more valuable work experience but they could care about their own job sim more
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I think it is a good idea to list more experiences under one heading when there is a natural way you can organize them under a label. What you mentioned are good examples of that, so you can definitely put down broader headings such as 'university society roles' or 'volunteering roles' or 'law firm events'. A bad example would be something like 'Internships' when you have done internships in very different roles and in different industries. This is because there would not be enough commonality between the experiences to justify bundling them together and this might be interpreted by recruiters as just an attempt to sidestep their listing limit.

As for your second question about the Forage experience, I think given the space constraints, if you cannot find a way to bundle it with other work experiences it may indeed be preferrable to prioritize more substantive jobs. However, I would still try to mention it, even if very briefly, in one of your answer to application form questions or in the cover letter.
 
#6,159
bella98 said:
@Ram Sabaratnam I recall you previously mentioned avoiding the generic response, 'I am interested in both law and business,' when addressing the question of why I chose commercial law. I typically prefer a structured approach to these types of questions where I write three key points, starting with how my interest in the field began and so on. Could the intersection of law and business be one of those points, or does that come across as too broad? The reason I ask is that I studied law and also ran a small business, so I often incorporate that into my answer as one of the key points. Thank youu :)
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Hi @bella98 I just wanted to add my perspective to @Ram Sabaratnam's excellent points and to also use the opportunity to do a bit of overanalysis of the 'theory' behind an optimal 'why commercial law' answer. I think there are essentially two ways you can make a 'intersection of business and law' reasoning work. One of them, as Ram explained, is to focus on the intersection directly. Essentially, this means looking at the most important features of work that involves both commercial and legal thinking and explaining how that attracts you. The advantage of such an approach is that it is very direct, clear, and will not take up a lot of word count. The disadvantage is that it will likely not in itself be sufficiently specific to justify your choice of law over any other career. For instance, say you make your point about how the work of a commercial solicitor involves a lot of collaboration with sophisticated parties like opposing counsel, bankers, consultants and so on. And this is a good thing to mention. This reasoning explains, for instance, why you prefer a career as a commercial solicitor to one as an academic or sole legal practitioner. From the point of view of the recruiter, writing about this collaboration-centered interest restricts the field of potential career options compatible with your fundamental motivations. However, it does not restrict it to only commercial law and nothing else. Investment banking and consulting for instance require similar levels of collaboration. And this problem persists with a number of other commonly-cited motivations, such as a desire to work in a client-facing role or to use analytic skills for problem solving.

Essentially, I think whichever are the two or three reasons you cite, you want to picture them as Venn diagrams. Each of them will exclude a number of careers and include a number of other careers, and each circle will have some overlap with the others. To be sufficiently specific, you want to ensure that you only find commercial law at the intersection. This can definitely work with the aforementioned type of 'direct' reasoning, but you will need to supplement it with reasons that will eliminate other applicable careers such as consulting or finance.

The second approach, which is the one I used, has the disadvantages of being less direct and of taking up more space. However, if done correctly, I think it has the important benefit of ensuring that only commercial law will be at the intersection of your "motivational" Venn diagrams. The approach involves stating the same 'intersection of business and law' point, but instead of trying to pick up one attractive aspect of the job to justify the claim directly, it splits it up into a 'Why law' and a 'Why business' part. As Ram explained, you cannot simply assert this, so then you go on to explain (i) what about working with law interests you - examples of what I have seen work well here included focusing on an interest in legal reasoning; advocacy; textual analysis skills; and (ii) what specifically makes you interested in the business world - examples of what I've seen work is a general interest in learning about the inner workings of the economy; how relationships between institutions and individuals work in different industries and geographies.

This further focused analysis on what about the concept of law and business attracts you does not need to go into too much depth. In theory, we could always ask further whys to any answer you give, and recruiters are not absurd. As long as you pick up one one central aspect of law and once central aspect of business that draws you and you then illustrate that with a concrete experience/achievement, I think you will have a great answer.
 
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