• Get Everything You Need to Secure a Training Contract
    Now half the price. Join TCLA Premium for £30/month and get step-by-step application support, daily commercial awareness practice, and 700+ successful examples of past applications and interview experiences. Plus so much more.
    Join Premium →

TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

Afraz Akhtar

Esteemed Member
Staff member
Premium Member
  • Dec 22, 2025
    80
    173
    for w&c work experience section, if the role is current, do we have to put something for the duration box or the end date box.. it says the fields are mandatory but like i'm still working at these places 😭 (with no current intention to leave)
    @ilikelaw this is strange, it usually allows you to tick whether the job is current, in which case it wouldn't require an end date. If that isn't the case here, and its an open text box, I'd just write 'Present" and if its a date box, then write today's date.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Jaysen and ilikelaw

    Afraz Akhtar

    Esteemed Member
    Staff member
    Premium Member
  • Dec 22, 2025
    80
    173
    @Abbie Whitlock @Afraz Akhtar SJT: You are a trainee and have a meeting starting in 5 minutes and there is an error in work you must present to a client, alongside your supervisor. What do you do if you catch your supervisor 5 mins prior and what would you do if you only identify the error mid client meeting?
    @alphabravocharlie well.. I'd obviously panic and look over my shoulder because I know the SRA is lurking somewhere. Jokes aside, I would flag this to the supervisor as soon as I get a chance, if I know the solution I'd let them know that too and if not, ask them for some help and see if we could possible push back the meeting a little while. If the issue was noticed during the client meeting, to be honest I would probably take the supervisor to the side to double check or send them a message on teams, where this isn't possible, I would flag everyones attention to the mistake and rectify it there and then.

    Honesty and early detection is key here, as embarrassing and awkward as it may be.
     

    Gottagetthroughthis101

    Distinguished Member
  • May 28, 2025
    61
    114
    Just wanted to get thoughts on how you guys would approach this scenario " You are new to your role and have just come out of your meeting. A manager from a different department approaches you to say that they liked your ideas and they think it would be beneficial for others to hear. They invite you to join a call with other colleagues. What are you most and least likely to do?"

    A Politely decline as you are new to the role.
    B Politely decline but recommend a more experienced colleague to share your ideas.
    C Accept the call as you enjoy sharing your ideas with others.
    D Thank the manager for the opportunity but explain you would need to check with your manager first.

    I was toying between C and D, before eventually going for D as most likely. Initially I thought C would show more initiave? But then, as in the scenario you are new to the role, your manager may have things planned that might clash with the call etc. I know sometimes with the manager scenario it sounds like you are unsure of yourself and keep asking for reassurance (kind of like asking your teacher if you can go to the toilet).
     

    ilikelaw

    Active Member
    Aug 14, 2025
    17
    22
    Just wanted to get thoughts on how you guys would approach this scenario " You are new to your role and have just come out of your meeting. A manager from a different department approaches you to say that they liked your ideas and they think it would be beneficial for others to hear. They invite you to join a call with other colleagues. What are you most and least likely to do?"

    A Politely decline as you are new to the role.
    B Politely decline but recommend a more experienced colleague to share your ideas.
    C Accept the call as you enjoy sharing your ideas with others.
    D Thank the manager for the opportunity but explain you would need to check with your manager first.

    I was toying between C and D, before eventually going for D as most likely. Initially I thought C would show more initiave? But then, as in the scenario you are new to the role, your manager may have things planned that might clash with the call etc. I know sometimes with the manager scenario it sounds like you are unsure of yourself and keep asking for reassurance (kind of like asking your teacher if you can go to the toilet).
    im curious to see what others say as well, i would be torn between c and d too
     

    Novaa

    Distinguished Member
    Dec 2, 2022
    60
    223
    Just wanted to get thoughts on how you guys would approach this scenario " You are new to your role and have just come out of your meeting. A manager from a different department approaches you to say that they liked your ideas and they think it would be beneficial for others to hear. They invite you to join a call with other colleagues. What are you most and least likely to do?"

    A Politely decline as you are new to the role.
    B Politely decline but recommend a more experienced colleague to share your ideas.
    C Accept the call as you enjoy sharing your ideas with others.
    D Thank the manager for the opportunity but explain you would need to check with your manager first.

    I was toying between C and D, before eventually going for D as most likely.
    I would personally pick C, because you’re saying yes to an opportunity to grow and connect with your wider team and learn from their ideas.

    To me option D can make option C look like you aren’t respecting your manager by not getting their permission. But there’s nothing flagging to me that attending the meeting would jeopardise something. Like if it said “Your manager has said they may have additional urgent work to assign you” at the start, then I may have gone for option D.

    Ugh these situations test your relationships with seniority in such subtle ways. I always hate the ones which reference your supervisor not knowing something in a client meeting.
     

    About Us

    The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

    Get Our 2026 Vacation Scheme Guide

    Nail your vacation scheme applications this year with our latest guide, with sample answers to law firm questions.