TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[SamiyaJ]

I'm autistic and used to struggle a LOT with SJTs. In my opinion, what helps is to read the firm's values so you can apply them to the SJTs. Do not choose extreme options or you won't seem very balanced and there are also a few general rules (with exceptions, hence the need to check the firm's values).

1. Firms are generally efficient, if there is a more efficient way of doing something, do so.
2. Firms are generally collaborative, so pick a more collaborative option if necessary.
3. You are a trainee, so whilst you need to showcase some level of independence and competency, if you truly don't know something, the better option is to seek clarification.
4. The client generally comes first and it is important to be the most careful when it comes to that.
5. Don't do anything which will negatively impact the firm's reputation.
6. Maintain professionalism and calm under pressure.

This thinking helped me go from passing no SJTs to passing them most of the time.

Thank you so much!

 

[JasmineM9]

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Hello everyone, I have AC experience with Sidley Austin, Davis Polk, Milbank and A&O Shearman from this past recruiting cycle. I also did vacation schemes at a couple of them. The application grind is gruelling and not particularly enjoyable at the best of times, so please feel free to ask me any questions you may have! Happy to help if I can.

Hii! Do you know roughly Sidley’s response time once you submit your application? 😊

 

[ashwright]

Hiya @ashwright

Call me old school, but I’ve always been an unapologetic Excel loyalist (and yes, this is a hill I will die on).

Although some of my colleagues who use other tools would probably disagree, I never really felt the need for Notion or other tools. During my second year, I used an excel spreadsheet to track absolutely everything in one place, e.g. firm names, deadlines, application status, interview dates, and a section for little "miscellaneous notes/links" that were relevant to each firm. I'm also a big fan of the conditional formatting and just generally using colour-codes (e.g. green for submitted, yellow for in-progress, red for “oh no, deadline tomorrow”). This was just my preference though, so I'd say just use whatever platform is helpful to you

I did the same as @Ram Sabaratnam! I used an excel spreadsheet to organise and keep track of my applications. I had separate columns for all of the following categories: 😅

1. Firm names (usually in alphabetical order).
2. VS/TC deadlines for each firm (in order from earliest to latest e.g., WVS or SVS).
3. Application stages e.g., SJT, VI, AC and what stage of the process I was at.
4. Interview dates and type of interview (was it solely commercial or competency etc).
5. Application outcome (whether successful or unsuccessful) for VS and/or TC.

I am also a fiend for formatting and so I colour coded everything (green for submitting an app, blue for passing a certain stage, yellow if it was still in progress and red for a PFO). 🥲

I didn’t even know there was something called notion until now lmao. I think ultimately it just depends on personal preferences but I found it easier to use excel over word. 🙂​

Thank you so much, @Ram Sabaratnam and @Chris Brown ! Excel sounds like the way forward - it should be a lot less fussy than Notion & a lot more practical than Word!

I really appreciate the breakdown of what you guys included in your spreadsheets; it's really helped me to get a sense of the main things I should keep an eye on.

I have one quick follow up, if that's alright 😁 When researching a firm, we go through quite a bit of content on a given firm (e.g., podcasts, articles, news). Unfortunately, this 'information collecting' process is still something I haven't quite got a handle on!

Do you guys think it's worthwhile taking notes on each source that you come across? Ram, you mentioned a 'miscellaneous notes/links' section - what was your approach to this section? Chris, did you have a similar process of collection or did you take a more ad hoc approach?

Thank you again - you're both the best!