TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2024-25

[TCLA Community Assistant]

This may be a weird question, but how likely are you to convert your first VS?

I'd stress that firms run vacation schemes to try and recruit trainees, so generally you have a good chance of converting.

However, your chances are going to be dependent on too many variable factors, including your individual performance, which will make it impossible for anyone to determine what any vacation schemer's actual chances of converting are. Once you then factor in the things you cannot control (other vacation scheme students' performances, how many TCs to VS there are, and a whole range of other points) its becomes far too complicated to even try to consider what your chances would be.

 

[lolasparks]

Hey did anyone apply to the summer legal internship for bbc and heard anything back after the second stage?

Just the email saying they will get back to us before the 4th!

 

[HrishikaG]

Has anyone heard from Brabners yet? It has been over a month since the deadline. Do they usually take this long? New to all this- very overwhelmed!

 

[badmintonflyinginsect]

Are we allowed to bring our personal devices (ie laptop for writing notes/instructions) to a VS?
@Jessica Booker

 

[BobThebIlly]

Hi guys,

Should I assume a PFO if I haven’t received a test invitation for SH’s SVS?

Also, has anyone heard back from Paul Hastings?

 

[Legalstudies]

Guys does anyone know when I might get a response back from SH I know some people have been rejected already and people have been given offers for VC but I haven't heard back at all from them 😭

 

[Wannabe_Lawyer]

does anyone know what time the baker Mckenzie tc deadline is?

I'd like to know this too...it was midnight in previous years

 

[sc13]

Hiya @M_m

Although I try not to get too bogged down with this question, I think it really depends. Some people do convert their very first vacation scheme (I know a few! Not me though, lol), and for others, it takes a second or third go. I've also never seen conversion stats disaggregated to tell you how likely you are to get a TC on your first attempt at a VS. Moreover, if your scheme is at a firm that offer a large number of training contracts, the numbers can be a bit misleading. Even if maybe 60–70% of vac schemers end up getting offers, that figure also includes people who get offers elsewhere and so choose not to accept the offers they might receive at your firm.

Instead of trying to beat the odds by gaming how likely it is you'll convert on the first attempt, I'd say just focus on bringing your best self to the vacation scheme. That is fundamentally all you can do (and often, that’s more than enough). I'm sure @Jessica Booker would have much more wise things to say, so I'll tag her here too.

Hi @Ram Sabaratnam

Can I ask what changes did you make in approaching the later VS schemes that you think helped you convert (setting up coffee chats, the work etc) especially since my first scheme is my first preference😓

Thank you!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Are we allowed to bring our personal devices (ie laptop for writing notes/instructions) to a VS?
@Jessica Booker

I would check with the firm - they are likely to have policies on what can/can't be stored on electronic devices outside of the firm's equipment. You are likely going to be given a laptop though and so I would generally recommend saving most things on this rather than a personal device.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

No chance getting off the CRS reserve list I assume

Reserve lists can be utilised even weeks before the scheme starts, so if this is for a summer scheme, I would say there is still a chance of the firm contacting the reserve list.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Are we allowed to bring our personal devices (ie laptop for writing notes/instructions) to a VS?
@Jessica Booker

I think this will depend on each firm's specific policies, to the extent they have any policies in this regard. I have brought my bag with personal devices to a number of ACs and this was never an issue. I was allowed to use my laptop and notes to revise during break times and I would assume in most cases firms will not explicitly forbid it. However, for the purposes of the actual exercises and assessments, I doubt most firms would allow you to use them. If you have to use a laptop for the task, one will likely be given to you by the firm to ensure you only have access to permitted materials.

 

[Smart water 0403]

@Andrei Radu - You mentioned before the Westlaw and Practical Law practice area guides. Would you please be able to provide a link ?

 

[Andrei Radu]

This may be a weird question, but how likely are you to convert your first VS?

As @Ram Sabaratnam and @Jessica Booker have said, there is no objective way to estimate your chances - they are influenced by way too many variables. That said, from my personal experience, I do not think whether this is your first VS or not impacts your odds too much. While my sample size is admittedly limited, across my 4 vacation schemes I have observed that: (i) the majority to people who converted were indeed doing their first scheme; and (ii) there were substantial numbers of people who had done prior vacation schemes and did not convert.

In truth, during some schemes I was positively surprised to see that most offers did not go to the people who looked more "polished" on paper. In one of them, around half of the cohort had either an Oxbridge undergrad/postgrad; prior vacation schemes; and/or had substantial work experience at finance/consulting jobs in the City. Interestingly enough, however, more than half of the TC offers were made to non-Oxbridge penultimate year students. The conclusion I drew from that was that your CV will only carry you so far - it opens the door to the VS, but, beyond that point, conversion is mostly just down to one's performance.

 

[studentdelaw786]

Anyone heard from Faegre Drinker? Or know when we can expect to hear?

The deadline closed yesterday. Maybe give it 2-3 weeks as people heard back around mid-April last year

 

[legallyells]

Any advice on how to make the most of your trainee buddy during a two-week long VS? Are there any specific questions I should be asking, and how much can I rely on them for support with any work I'm struggling with? Thank you!!

 

[Andrei Radu]

@Andrei Radu - You mentioned before the Westlaw and Practical Law practice area guides. Would you please be able to provide a link ?

There are a couple of Westlaw/Practical Law practice area resources I have referred to and that you should consider, I will list them bellow:

1. The UK Quick Guides: this is meant to give a quick snapshot of what the work of the given practice area looks like. However, for some practice areas this will not be sufficiently comprehensive to give you a good understanding - for instance, on a quick look it seems to me that the competition guide might suffice, but the corporate one will very likely not.
2. The UK Practice Area Notes: this will provide you with the most detailed and comprehensive information on all that is relevant for a major practice area in the UK legal market. That said, the disadvantage is that it is not under each practice area heading there will be a lot of different notes - some treating more general subjects that will be useful for you (ie 'Overview of UK takeovers') while some are so specific they may not be too relevant for anything you will be involved in (ie 'Use of material adverse change clauses in acquisitions'). Thus, for these guides you should use the search bar and filters to find the best resources. Perhaps the best way to do it is to go to Practical Law and use the Browse Menu function, then click on UK practice areas, and then select the relevant one. This will give you a significantly more organized list of resources for overviews/specific subparts of each practice area and should be thus easier to navigate (I have a link here to what the UK corporate page looks like to give you some indication).
3. Global/US Practice Area Essentials: the best in-between resources (in terms of ease of navigation and comprehensiveness) are the Practice Area Essentials, but, unfortunately, they are not published with a UK focus but with a US one. That said, at least for PE/private M&A the differences between deals in the two jurisdictions are not seen as huge; and as such I think these can still be useful resources.

 

[thelawstudent]

are there any firms that run insight schemes for second year non-law students that have applications still open?

 

[Smart water 0403]

There are a couple of Westlaw/Practical Law practice area resources I have referred to and that you should consider, I will list them bellow:

1. The UK Quick Guides: this is meant to give a quick snapshot of what the work of the given practice area looks like. However, for some practice areas this will not be sufficiently comprehensive to give you a good understanding - for instance, on a quick look it seems to me that the competition guide might suffice, but the corporate one will very likely not.
2. The UK Practice Area Notes: this will provide you with the most detailed and comprehensive information on all that is relevant for a major practice area in the UK legal market. That said, the disadvantage is that it is not under each practice area heading there will be a lot of different notes - some treating more general subjects that will be useful for you (ie 'Overview of UK takeovers') while some are so specific they may not be too relevant for anything you will be involved in (ie 'Use of material adverse change clauses in acquisitions'). Thus, for these guides you should use the search bar and filters to find the best resources. Perhaps the best way to do it is to go to Practical Law and use the Browse Menu function, then click on UK practice areas, and then select the relevant one. This will give you a significantly more organized list of resources for overviews/specific subparts of each practice area and should be thus easier to navigate (I have a link here to what the UK corporate page looks like to give you some indication).
3. Global/US Practice Area Essentials: the best in-between resources (in terms of ease of navigation and comprehensiveness) are the Practice Area Essentials, but, unfortunately, they are not published with a UK focus but with a US one. That said, at least for PE/private M&A the differences between deals in the two jurisdictions are not seen as huge; and as such I think these can still be useful resources.

Thank you!

 

[futuretrainee2025]

@Andrei Radu

Hello, I hope you are well!

I am a non-Law student. On a VS, where do we start with legal research? If we are tasked with a specific query, do we check LexisNexis for the current law? Kinda unsure how to find relevant statute or case law etc.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Any advice on how to make the most of your trainee buddy during a two-week long VS? Are there any specific questions I should be asking, and how much can I rely on them for support with any work I'm struggling with? Thank you!!

The level to which a trainee buddy can and will help you will depend on a number of variables. Quite a few of them are out of your control, such as:

• VS policies: in some firms HR will make it a point to emphasize that trainee buddies are meant to be proactive and do all they can to help you out; while in others while this will still be the "role" the trainee has to play, they will have a lot more leeway as to how they go about it.
• Firm culture: in some firms, the general culture is one where people see it as very natural to be proactive in engaging with and helping colleagues; while in others the culture may be more reserved, individualistic, or internally competitive.
• The trainee's workload: the level to which the trainee can afford to engage with you will greatly depend on their own workload. If they are at absolute capacity (say, they're in the last few days before signing of a major PE deal they have been staffed on) this will unfortunately influence their ability to help you out a lot. Most firms will generally do their best not to staff trainee buddies on important matters with impending deadlines during a VS, but it does unfortunately happen sometimes. However, if you are lucky and your trainee buddy is currently enjoying a quieter period, they may actually not have that much to do and be more willing than most to go above and beyond for you.
• Assessment type: the level to which your relationship with your trainee buddy will influence your chances will depend a lot on what conversion comes down to in any given firm. If the firm really emphasizes social integration and thus places a lot on weigh on feedback from your department, it will matter a lot. However, if it mostly comes down to formal assessments, there will not be that much that they can do.

However, there are also factors within your control influencing your relationship with the trainee buddy and thus indirectly influences your conversion chances:

• The trainee's feedback: to get good feedback from a trainee buddy you want to have a good relationship with them. To set up the right dynamic, you should show yourself as enthusiastic and proactive but also be very flexible and responsive to the cues you get from them. If you see they are very busy, or seem to not enjoy talking much about work, or want to take a more 'self-aware' view of the job (ie not always signing praises to commercial law or the firm), you should be willing to change your attitude to fit that. In terms of what questions to ask them initially, I advise a mix of questions about their journey and personal life, their work and experience in the firm, and advice for you. You should then let the flow of the conversation and of your relationship naturally develop.
• Help with social integration: this is perhaps the core area where your trainee buddy can be of most help to you. You should ask your trainee who he advises you to meet, how to approach them, what topics to focus on, and sometimes even for an introduction.
• Shaping your VS strategy: if the firm is not completely transparent with how much they weigh the different assessment criteria during the scheme, you may be able to obtain a bit more insight from the trainee buddy - perhaps they have noticed patterns as to what types of candidates end up converting etc. They should thus be able to give you valuable advice as to what you should be investing most of your time doing.
• Help with finding/completing work: while your first point of contact work-wise should generally be your supervisor, if they are away, very busy, or just not very helpful, you can definitely approach your trainee buddy to see if they can help you find some work to get involved in or complete some current task you are struggling with.