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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26
- Thread starter Ram Sabaratnam
- Start date
Genuinely same, I spend so long ruminating over a sentenceSame - I think I'm just too much of a perfectionist with my applications. One application can take me days. I need to get a wriggle on and stop deeping it too much lol
me too lolll my answers are painful tbh but it's at the point where i can't bring myself to care
What do you use to get your university grade? also do you include the first year?
Praying for all of us to get a very sudden and long-lasting burst of energy that will push us through our next applications xxx
1. Tell us why you decided to pursue a career as a solicitor.
2. Why would you like to work for Blake Morgan?
3. Please explain why you are interested in applying for one of our Training Contract places, and detail any additional skills, experiences or attributes that you'd like to bring to our attention. (Cover note)
What would be the ideal word count for these questions? There's no word limit. Maybe 300 for the first two and whatever a page length is for the cover note? Idk
2. Why would you like to work for Blake Morgan?
3. Please explain why you are interested in applying for one of our Training Contract places, and detail any additional skills, experiences or attributes that you'd like to bring to our attention. (Cover note)
What would be the ideal word count for these questions? There's no word limit. Maybe 300 for the first two and whatever a page length is for the cover note? Idk
I somehow managed to submit 🥲 atp I cba to spend ages on an app that will just get rejected
Yeah I agree, I would do the same 250 - 300 words
Hey @elle woods,
It's actually very common to stutter/trip over your words during public speaking and it's definitely not a sign of being inarticulate or bad at speaking. In fact, I think it boils down to a rush of thoughts, nerves, and the pressure we place on ourselves to sound "perfect".
So, in order to improve here, you essentially need to work on removing that pressure to sound like someone else, and slowing down a little to give yourself time to process what you're thinking. For this, my tips are:
1. Speak slower than your normal pace of speech
Often or not, especially in the company of friends and family, we speak at infinite speed, lazying the enunciation of our words and filling each sentence with sounds that make little sense. Instead, work towards slowing down the pace of speaking and taking a second to breathe. You'll find that these little pauses not only give you time to think about what it is you're trying to say, but they can actually elude a sense of confidence - which you'll feel from the attention of your audience. In time, you'll learn to register this attention as self-reassurance and naturally you will become more confident (so it feeds into itself).
2. Believe in yourself
I know this probably sounds like some Disney fodder, but it's very important. Self-doubt is often reflective in behaviours, tone, and delivery, and when you don't believe in yourself, you automatically lack the direct tone and persuasion that's needed when speaking publicly. Instead, remind yourself that your opinions/thoughts are valid - regardless of qualification - what you have to say is important. Sometimes, you may be wrong, the listener may have a different view to you, and someone may disagree with what you're saying BUT that's okay. Don't let the pressure of trying to be right politically, economically, factually, keep you from sharing what it is you have to say - you'll never know where that conversation leads to in the end.
3. Don't compare
Everyone speaks differently and carries certain nuances in their tone/delivery which you don't register because you end up focusing on their positive whilst reminding yourself of your negatives. Instead, accept your own mistakes and don't overthink them on the spot so as to distract your complete train of thought and derail the rest of your sentence. Learn to let it go, laugh at yourself if its so serious, correct yourself, and simply be human. It's natural, and you'll find that even the greatest of speakers do this, but what sets them apart is their ability to capture the audience - so do that, but you can only do that by being yourself (flaws and uhm's included).
I hope this helps
P.S. My friend set herself the challenge of moving away from pop culture references and brain rot terminology last year in a bid to improve her articulation - she practised with her friends. Although it seemed to work for her, I really miss how funny she was 💔
i love paying tax❤️❤️Times New Roman to Comic Sans - reminds me of when the Government paid an insane amount just to move a dot
They can pry pop culture references out of my cold, dead hands xHey @elle woods,
It's actually very common to stutter/trip over your words during public speaking and it's definitely not a sign of being inarticulate or bad at speaking. In fact, I think it boils down to a rush of thoughts, nerves, and the pressure we place on ourselves to sound "perfect".
So, in order to improve here, you essentially need to work on removing that pressure to sound like someone else, and slowing down a little to give yourself time to process what you're thinking. For this, my tips are:
1. Speak slower than your normal pace of speech
Often or not, especially in the company of friends and family, we speak at infinite speed, lazying the enunciation of our words and filling each sentence with sounds that make little sense. Instead, work towards slowing down the pace of speaking and taking a second to breathe. You'll find that these little pauses not only give you time to think about what it is you're trying to say, but they can actually elude a sense of confidence - which you'll feel from the attention of your audience. In time, you'll learn to register this attention as self-reassurance and naturally you will become more confident (so it feeds into itself).
2. Believe in yourself
I know this probably sounds like some Disney fodder, but it's very important. Self-doubt is often reflective in behaviours, tone, and delivery, and when you don't believe in yourself, you automatically lack the direct tone and persuasion that's needed when speaking publicly. Instead, remind yourself that your opinions/thoughts are valid - regardless of qualification - what you have to say is important. Sometimes, you may be wrong, the listener may have a different view to you, and someone may disagree with what you're saying BUT that's okay. Don't let the pressure of trying to be right politically, economically, factually, keep you from sharing what it is you have to say - you'll never know where that conversation leads to in the end.
3. Don't compare
Everyone speaks differently and carries certain nuances in their tone/delivery which you don't register because you end up focusing on their positive whilst reminding yourself of your negatives. Instead, accept your own mistakes and don't overthink them on the spot so as to distract your complete train of thought and derail the rest of your sentence. Learn to let it go, laugh at yourself if its so serious, correct yourself, and simply be human. It's natural, and you'll find that even the greatest of speakers do this, but what sets them apart is their ability to capture the audience - so do that, but you can only do that by being yourself (flaws and uhm's included).
I hope this helps
P.S. My friend set herself the challenge of moving away from pop culture references and brain rot terminology last year in a bid to improve her articulation - she practised with her friends. Although it seemed to work for her, I really miss how funny she was 💔
Me when the partner asks me to explain my rationale in the case study : ”The girls that get it, get it. The girls that don’t, don’t.”They can pry pop culture references out of my cold, dead hands x
Just submitted Osborne Clarke.
For those who were wondering how badly Candid ATS/Vantage/Rare Recruitment sucks and why all law firms should switch to Allhires, here's the time per page just to click 'next':
That's more than 3.5 minutes, and every time you login you have to go through the same BS with no way to skip forward even if the pages have already been completed.
For those who were wondering how badly Candid ATS/Vantage/Rare Recruitment sucks and why all law firms should switch to Allhires, here's the time per page just to click 'next':
- Introduction 19 seconds
- Eligibility 19 seconds
- Personal Information 21 seconds
- Secondary education 22 seconds
- Sixth form 5 (!) seconds
- Uni 22 seconds
- Work experience 18 seconds
- Contextual information 23 seconds
- Additional questions 22 seconds
- Equal opps 18s
- Submit 25s
That's more than 3.5 minutes, and every time you login you have to go through the same BS with no way to skip forward even if the pages have already been completed.
@Wanda Maximoff
Although curveball questions aren't really things you can predict, I do feel that you can still prepare for them. The difference here though is that the preparation is less to do with being able to predict all possible questions/answers and more about improving how you think and respond under pressure.
To do this, study yourself through and through. I think everyone assumes they know everything there is to know about themselves, but when you consider the fact that you've embarked on a - what's probably 5 year journey from A-Levels to Graduation, you'll find that you forget a lot of things. Reasons for certain module choices, experiences in old jobs, how you dealt with certain situations you were presented with. So, take the time to learn your journey in a way that makes recollection a lot easier. This sort of knowledge will help tackle certain questions surrounding your motivations and competencies where you've not pre-prepared them.
During that study, identify any weak spots in your abilities, whether that's competencies or commercial knowledge based and seek the opportunity to improve it e.g. reading up on certain news developments, doing some extracurriculars etc.
Lastly, become more comfortable taking the time to think or acknowledging your uncertainties. Often or not, the issue with curveball questions isn't the lack of knowledge, it's the lack of time to recollect, and this can be made easier with a simple "Hmm, that's an interesting question - sorry, I just need a moment to think it through". There is no harm in taking the time to think, and it's a skill you'll learn to adopt in many business situations. Where, the knowledge simply isn't coming to you, even after that pause, just acknowledge it. Again, there is no harm, nobody knows everything and you're not expected to. However, what you are expected to do is deal with those situations, and what's most appropriate is acknowledging your shortcomings, and offering to try anyway.
Hope this helps
P.S. I hope MARVEL renew your spinoff show.
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