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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

I agree with this completely. Unconverted Sidley winter vac schemer here. Hopefully will take stuff I learned and try it out at vac scheme this summer (have a second chance but will be doing things differently for sure). I went on TONS of coffee chats at Sidley - about 15, and I didn’t get the TC. I deffo treated it like more of an exercise rather than actually doing it meaningfully, as everyone gives you different advice (ie, ‘it’s all about networking’) but it’s also about showing you can balance, and also form actual connections. I think be more relaxed about coffees. Sidley ended up not asking coffee people for feedback, it was just a nice thing for us, so don’t feel like you need to perform in there either - just be natural. My two cents lol.
Just adding my thoughts as well as someone else who did the Sidley winter scheme lol.

I definitely agree with one of the other posts above about not giving anyone a reason to not hire you. The coffee chats are mainly useful to illustrate interest in the firm in the interview (which is something I did and got good feedback on). One of my supervisors also gave positive feedback on my time management with coffee chats as part of their feedback.

I would say from my experiences, the main things are performing well on all the formal assessments as the most important element (e.g. at Sidley there was a drafting exercise and a negotiation), giving a good impression at the interview (with the coffee chats there to help) and integrating well with your team and them liking you (so they give feedback that you're hireable and they'd want to staff you on work).
 

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