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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

rachl_shep

Active Member
Dec 28, 2025
10
4
for pathfinder, no follow-up after sjt and wg. shame because I had attended like 3 links events, 2 being application-based (if that matters which i doubt) and was overall most confident for that one. not shaping up to be a great first year but who knows.
Theres still time plus you got 2 years left or so and even then you can still apply after graduating keep up hopee maybe tommorow we will find out archived doesnt mean PFO
 

alanshore

Standard Member
Nov 4, 2025
8
4
Theres still time plus you got 2 years left or so and even then you can still apply after graduating keep up hopee maybe tommorow we will find out archived doesnt mean PFO
i'm intl so don't really have that time after graduating. its a horrendous job market for intl students but i figured if i start early i might have some luck, but i guess we'll see tomorrow.
 
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Did you guys also find the personality questions so weird lol I personally decided that if i don't hear by the end of this week i'll assume it's most likely a rejection since it's an asap start but idk, they may also want to be thorough
Yess, I thought the culture questions were so odd. I do hope we hear back by this week or the beginning of the next for interviews, which I assume would be the last stage (and hope).
 

alanshore

Standard Member
Nov 4, 2025
8
4
yeah I think it's common with them. as someone waiting to hear back from pathfinder, I literally know I've been rejected - because they seem to be done with the next stage (interviews). Yet it's been over a month and they haven't updated me
pathfinder applicant here. I believe they sent out phone interview invites in 2 rounds a few weeks ago, don't know why they don't just update our profiles. might as well make it official that I was rejected no need to put me on hold.
 

Abbie Whitlock

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Sep 11, 2025
975
1,107
Hi @Abbie Whitlock, I had a quick question on how deep our insights are expected to be in interviews when looking at case studies. Obviously, we can talk about general trends but are we expected to mention very specific aspects of the deal e.g potential risks or threats or why it might take a long time? I'm a bit confused in general about commercial awarness in how deep our knowledge is expected to be.
Hey!

This is a great question, and you aren’t necessarily expected to have in-depth technical knowledge for these types of exercises.

In a case study, I would start by explaining the commercial rationale behind the deal. Why is the client doing this? Are they expanding into a new market, acquiring technology, increasing market share, or diversifying revenue? It is important to show that you understand the clients underlying business objective, as it shows you balanced the commercial factors that apply.

Then, I would identify a few logical risks or considerations that flow naturally from the situation you have been given. These could include regulatory approval, financing, integration challenges, or reputational issues. You don’t need niche legal points, I would focus on sensible and commercially grounded comments.

Lastly, and most importantly, briefly explain why those risks matter. For example, regulatory delays could increase costs or create uncertainty, and integration issues could reduce the expected value of the deal.

Commercial awareness at interview level is about linking the business aim to potential obstacles and then to commercial consequences. This is what the interviewers or assessors are usually looking for, rather than in-depth technical knowledge :)
 

Abbie Whitlock

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Sep 11, 2025
975
1,107
Hi @Abbie Whitlock, I had a quick question on how to find good resources to practice summarisation tasks in Acs?

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Hey!

I’d say that a good starting point is to take a news article, e.g. from the FT or BBC News, and challenge yourself to summarise it in 150-200 words. This should focus on the key facts, any potential issues, and the wider implications. This is a great way of practising identifying what the assessors are looking for in an actual assessment.

The key skill isn’t necessarily shortening for the sake of it - it is all about prioritisation. Therefore, it might help to ask yourself: “If a busy partner only had 30 seconds, what would they need to know?”

I found that consistently practising this skill was the best way to become more familiar and confident in these tasks :)
 

Abbie Whitlock

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Sep 11, 2025
975
1,107
Question for any TC holders: how long after the telephone offer did you receive written offer letter?
Hey!

I remember that there were a few days between the phone call and the formal offer letter, so it isn’t necessarily the same day! It is likely that firms will have different processes that they follow - for example, they might wait until they have called all the successful candidates before they send out formal offers, or they might deal with it on an individual basis :)
 
Jul 4, 2024
1,307
4,681
Genuinely worst thing ever. Thankfully everyone seems to think the same😭
Is it that bad? I’m mid way through the DTC app and now I’m having second thoughts. I’ve done one amberjack this cycle for Weil and felt that it was okay ish. Is this one harder than the Weil SJT?

Daffy Duck Waiting GIF
 

Donna Paulsen

Legendary Member
  • Sep 23, 2025
    381
    1,226
    Is it that bad? I’m mid way through the DTC app and now I’m having second thoughts. I’ve done one amberjack this cycle for Weil and felt that it was okay ish. Is this one harder than the Weil SJT?

    Daffy Duck Waiting GIF
    Haven’t done Weil’s but there were numerical questions I hadn’t seen before, one of them took me like 15 minutes to work out😭 and despite spending much more time on this one, double-checking calculations etc, I scored worse than on other Amberjacks. Mid numerical and mid verbal - usually get high on both.

    My pillar scores made no sense either, got 6 on digital mindset when that’s the easiest pillar to score high on imo. For every tech question I chose the most tech-forward answer. Just don’t understand how it works hahah.

    I’ve done at least 5 or 6 amberjacks this cycle so I recognise a lot of the questions every time but there seemed to be lots of new numerical and verbal reasoning questions.
     

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