TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[TonyStark]

Withers SVS! The firm that literally drew me to a career in law coming from an engineering background. SO excited. I must say that @Andrei Radu and his guide for interviews was key here and would encourage anyone with an interview to heed that advice.

Congrats. Can you link the guide please?

 

[RS Sanjanaa]

hi,

Hello,
I have an interview with CRS coming up and I understand that the firm has a strong presence in private wealth but also in corporate and commercial clients.
@Amma Usman, @Andrei Radu, @Ram Sabaratnam, I would really appreciate any tips on how to show commercial awareness, as that is where I feel I have been let down in previous ACs

is this for the DTC?

 

[camrxc]

Anyone done a mofo second round interview heard back yet?

 

[TonyStark]

I second this completely! Thank you @Andrei Radu for being the TCLA forum GOAT!!! 🐐🐐

Both his interview guide and forum posts were key in my success (gaining VS offers from both Paul, Weiss and Willkie)! I genuinely would not have found myself to be in this position without them!! I bookmarked and studied them rigorously lmao. 🥲🥲

The posts on the forum that @Andrei Radu made in relation to the competitors of both Paul, Weiss and Willkie, their position in the City of London, and the distinction between debt and equity financing (private equity), were all significantly useful for me. I have quoted them below: 👇
​

Hey can you link the guide please?

 

[weupin2025]

Hey can you link the guide please?

Sure.

A complete guide for competency interview preparation

This is a guide for the purposes of preparing for competency interviews, be they in a VI, another intermediary step or an AC/final stage interview. The advice here is based on my personal approach, as I received VS offers from top US/MC firms 4/4 times I implemented it. This will include: A...

www.thecorporatelawacademy.com

 

[A worried graduate]

I’m tired of waiting (not blaming the firms but I’m literally waking up in the middle of my sleep and refreshing emails in the morning😂😂😂😂) need some good news (or just any news/update atp to stay motivated to do dtc apps😭😭)

On that note, does anybody know if rwk Goodman vi was automatic because I don’t think I put my best app in due to time constraints but received a vi and am now worried that they might go through the app and the vi together all at once and didn’t review the app before sending the vi😔

I got rejected before a VI by RWK last year so your app must be decent.

 

[mariistm]

Any news from WBD this week?

 

[fxy]

hi,

is this for the DTC?

no its for their SVS

 

[James Wakefield]

So who else was up till midnight writing their application for the Macfarlanes senior partner dinner? 😅

 

[Toomanypfo]

no its for their SVS

Hi, does it mean you have already received an offer for the SVS

 

[Chris Brown]

So who else was up till midnight writing their application for the Macfarlanes senior partner dinner? 😅

I did the exact same thing lmao. I made a last minute decision to apply and stayed up till late writing my application for the Macfarlanes senior partner dinner. 😅​

 

[James Wakefield]

I did the exact same thing lmao. I made a last minute decision to apply and stayed up till late writing my application for the Macfarlanes senior partner dinner. 😅​

I can’t believe they have a telephone interview stage for their dinner too. 😅 law applications are just becoming nuts now.

 

[TCpleasex]

Any news from WBD this week?

I have a telephone interview with them on Monday for the Leeds office.

I think I saw someone also got an interview for the London office somewhere in the thread as well but I can’t exactly remember. I’m not sure about any other offices.

 

[Bbhu19]

I have a telephone interview with them on Monday for the Leeds office.

I think I saw someone also got an interview for the London office somewhere in the thread as well but I can’t exactly remember. I’m not sure about any other offices.

What did you get on the online test for wbd btw?

 

[TCpleasex]

What did you get on the online test for wbd btw?

I got 9977 & high for both verbal and numerical!

 

[Zara.Th]

Has anyone got any good information on who HL‘s competitors are?

 

[nbjani]

Is anyone able to get onto the practice Amberjack assessment for SH? It doesn't seem to load for me on my laptop or my phone, wifi or mobile data, Chrome or Safari.

 

[trainee4u]

Has anyone got any good information on who HL‘s competitors are?

You can research that via here

Hogan Lovells International LLP > England

Benchmarking excellence in law since 1987

www.legal500.com

Similarly here

Hogan Lovells

Discover where Hogan Lovells are ranked in the UK legal rankings. Visit Chambers and Partners to learn more.

chambers.com

If you click on the different ranked departments in Chambers you can see details about their practice areas, then e.g., commercial litigation they are tier 1 https://chambers.com/legal-rankings...itigation-london-firms-1:2748:11814:1?l=en-GB and you can see the competitors there.

If you go on their website

https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/people?sortby=relevance&personposition=e7ed6b5ccdeb4f2d897a18d3cc9ed0de&personrelatedlocation_sm=44f9a679f1df4186a054728ef5fbc34f

You can see they have 157 partners in London. And you can read their profiles, filter by practice areas, etc.

Their partner count is likely to reflect where they earn their fees, so a niche area where a firm is Tier 1 is not necessarily the core of that firm's business.

In addition, Hogan Lovells pay well and while they are technically not classified as a Silver Circle firm https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/law-firms/types-of-law-firm/the-silver-circle, they are in reality exactly in that category, so based on size (large intake) , pay, etc., they are competing with firms with similar pay packets and lawyer counts (e.., a US firm who only has 3 trainees would not be a competitor).

 

[Olivialee15]

Random q has Mishcon stated whether they could reimburse travel to and from the assessment centre (and if not, do you guys think it would be rude to ask) as train ticket prices are through the roof atm lol

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Random q has Mishcon stated whether they could reimburse travel to and from the assessment centre (and if not, do you guys think it would be rude to ask) as train ticket prices are through the roof atm lol

It is never rude to ask - the worst they will say is they can't but that does not impact your candidacy in anyway.

I would contact the firm to see whether they do.