TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Ijustwanttobealawyer]

Does anyone know graduate recruitment's stance on saying 'PW' instead of 'Paul, Weiss'? I'm really trying to reach the word count....

 

[Donna Paulsen]

ik im rlly not helping here BUT EVERYTIME I PAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE IVE FORGOTTEN SMTH LORD I HATE THIS

So yeah I’m also looking for advice 😭😭

I pause too but it ends up with me just staring at the camera with a creepy smile and I hate it omfg

 

[c.t.tc]

ik im rlly not helping here BUT EVERYTIME I PAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE IVE FORGOTTEN SMTH LORD I HATE THIS

So yeah I’m also looking for advice 😭😭

I have the worst tendency to look around as I’m speaking so even if I’m super prepared I look like I’m looking at my notes UGH

 

[llblawstudent]

Hi Guys,

I have just received an interview invitation for Slaughter and May's Summer Work Experience Programme (Non-Law). I would like to know if anyone has gone through the interview process before and could share any insights on how to best prepare for it. The interview will consist of a written exercise on the Talview platform, which will take 30 minutes, and a discussion of a current affairs article, as well as a discussion around my CV and cover

Unrelated but Slaughters sending stuff out on the last Sunday night before Christmas is genuinely crazy work, fair play to their grad rec

 

[Harvey Specter - Presiding Partner]

I pause too but it ends up with me just staring at the camera with a creepy smile and I hate it omfg

These VIs have yous looking at the camera like this to come across slightly more ‘personable’:​

 

[londonlawyer]

Hi Guys,

I have just received an interview invitation for Slaughter and May's Summer Work Experience Programme (Non-Law). I would like to know if anyone has gone through the interview process before and could share any insights on how to best prepare for it. The interview will consist of a written exercise on the Talview platform, which will take 30 minutes, and a discussion of a current affairs article, as well as a discussion around my CV and cover letter.

Thanks in advance!

DM me - I did their interview last year!

 

[Bree]

Just completed 20 applications for my first cycle with 1 acceptance and 5 rejections, really hoping the rest work

 

[Maria56]

Hi, can anyone provide insights on Mayer Brown assessment? Especially the VI
I am so bad at those, totally blew my Weil one today..

 

[James Wakefield]

5 VIs done this week. No wonder I feel burnt out. Hopefully that’s it now until Christmas!

 

[Donna Paulsen]

These VIs have yous looking at the camera like this to come across slightly more ‘personable’:​

Next year's halloween costume: me in a video interview

 

[Lawlawland]

I just completed the Mishcon de Reya test and got the impression that their scoring system was back to front.

I usually score highly for verbal reasoning but middling for maths (that is often my downfall with these tests).

But with Mishcon, I got top marks for maths and middling for verbal reasoning. The first time that has happened.

Anyone else notice that something was off?

I just completed the test, I realised they have the same scenario for verbal intelligence test like other Amberjacks (Simmons, Weil, Mayer Brown etc) but have tweaked the questions and answers to some extent... So it's possible to go in with the confirmation bias (I did!!!) and that might have to some extent impacted the verbal score, as we might not have flagged the minor tweaks.

I luckily flagged them, helped be get full scale on it 🙏🏾!

So I would suggest anyone who's doing the Mishcon SJT to read the question fully before clicking the answer, as they've definitely tweaked it a little.

 

[c.t.tc]

Oh also anyone doing the MDR sjt reminder that it isn’t actually untimed! They factor time into the scores

 

[Lawlawland]

Oh also anyone doing the MDR sjt reminder that it isn’t actually untimed! They factor time into the scores

Me, who attended a wholeasss phone call from my family in between the test, about to crash out after scoring 30/36...

 

[abc124]

Oh also anyone doing the MDR sjt reminder that it isn’t actually untimed! They factor time into the scores

OMG really?? Do you mean Mishcon takes it into account or that it impacts your pillar scores??

 

[Sharkfin]

I hate to burst your bubble but I got the same for MB and didn’t progress (my VI answers were probably not very good). I think the MB test is just scored differently because I did absolutely nothing different compared to other Amberjacks

My bubble is burst (pause) - I got the same score and was so gassed

 

[johnsmith]

Does anyone know graduate recruitment's stance on saying 'PW' instead of 'Paul, Weiss'? I'm really trying to reach the word count....

P,W*

 

[c.t.tc]

OMG really?? Do you mean Mishcon takes it into account or that it impacts your pillar scores??

I just remember from the open day that grad rec said timing is taken into account! I’m not sure if that’s an amberjack or Mishcon thing though sorry!

 

[Bread]

I just remember from the open day that grad rec said timing is taken into account! I’m not sure if that’s an amberjack or Mishcon thing though sorry!

It better not be the chat interview omg I had to type the whole thing

 

[TheLegalEdit]

My strategy of changing my answers for Amberjack worked. 6,9,9,7 for Mayer Brown! 😅

These tests are a joke, I won’t even say what I got for Weil…

Please could you share your strategy

 

[Lawlawland]

I just remember from the open day that grad rec said timing is taken into account! I’m not sure if that’s an amberjack or Mishcon thing though sorry!

I think it defeats the purpose of have a third party to run the test and produce a score if Mischon ia gonna look deep beyond the score provided by Amberjack.

And I took about 45 mns gap while the test screen was still on to attend an emergency call, and still scored 30 (my best score yet). So I think the time didn't impact my score.