TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[summersun]

CRS chelt SVS offer after being on reserve list! Just wondering if anyone has heard back from BJ post AC as need to give them confirmation by Friday eee

congrats that's amazing !!!

 

[legal world]

Hi! Has anyone gotten any updates regarding Stephenson Harwood's Dubai VS?

 

[Jaysen]

Hi, do people know whether it is possible to extend a TC offer? I've been fortunate to be offered one by a US firm. I have 2 other VS that I'm interested in doing for the experience. It would also help confirm that this TC firm is the one I truly want to be at.

How do I go about doing this? Do I ask to extend the deadline? If they don't permit this, what are my options?

Yes, and I'd arrange a call with graduate recruitment.

In particular, some US firms give offers with short time frames ('exploding offers'). This is partly because they don't want strong candidates to accept offers from other firms.

But it's also okay to push back on this and be clear about why it's important to you to extend the deadline. It just depends on how willing the firm is to do this.

 

[Jaysen]

Hey guys I have a slight conundrum! I am interviewing for several paralegal jobs as I can’t be sure I’m going to convert my VS. I got an offer but I had to tell them I was going to take 2 weeks off in June (practically when I started) and so they said it’s not going to work. I now have another final stage Interview for one tomorrow, but I’m unsure whether I’m going to be able to do the VS and the job. I think the person is leaving in June so I’d need to do a handover before then etc. could I just ask for annual leave for a medical procedure or something? I can’t miss the VS, I worked so hard for it, and I have no idea what to do - but I know it’s not a great look to be starting a job and immediately taking annual leave.

Yes I'd take this as annual leave.

One thing to be aware of is that they could say no to the dates you'd like to take leave. This is why I think it is better to tell them upfront that you've already got these dates booked out. But personally I'd wait until you get the offer to tell them (and then tell them straight away).

 

[Jaysen]

Hey guys!

How do you usually answer “ tell us about a time you had to make a difficult decision” I always get caught out by this question as I don’t know exactly what they’re looking for!!

Thank you very much!

I usually find this question easier if you've worked before. I'd then think about situations with competing objectives. For example, situations where you had to:

1. Prioritise one person's task over another
2. Push back on a customer/client for the benefit of the business/a team member
3. Drop one area of focus to pursue something else