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Aspiring Lawyers - Applications & General Advice
Applications Discussion
TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26
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<blockquote data-quote="Andrei Radu" data-source="post: 224703" data-attributes="member: 36777"><p>Unfortunately, I have no specific Kirkland VI tips as I did not apply to the firm, but I still thought to share some general tips and resources - from what heard from some friends who did the Kirkland VI in prior years, it did not seem to differ a lot from a "usual" VI experience. </p><p></p><p><strong>Firstly, in terms of usual questions that often com up in VIs, besides the 3 classic motivational Qs (why you, why commercial law, why the firm), some of the ones I encountered most often/heard about others encountering are</strong>:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tell me about a time you demonstrated teamwork</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tell me about a time you demonstrated resilience/worked under pressure/solved a problem</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What are the key qualities a trainee at our firm needs?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What is your biggest weakness? </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tell me about a time you made a mistake</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tell me about a time you worked with tight deadlines</li> </ul><p>I have compiled a more thorough list with typical VIs questions and a more detailed description of the preparation method I used in my<a href="https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/a-complete-guide-for-competency-interview-preparation.9380/" target="_blank"> Complete Competency Interview Guide.</a> This leads me to my second point - the most important thing for me was just <strong>practice</strong>. As many people initially do, I also had an issue dealing with nerves at first, as VIs can feel uniquely awkward. Nonetheless, believe me, if you put yourself in VI conditions and just practice continuously for several hours, you will get a lot more accustomed to it. <strong>My advice would be to just take around 3-4 hours in which you do nothing but choose random questions, give yourself 1 minute to prepare and then record yourself for 1-2 minutes</strong>. You will see you will get remarkably better over time.</p><p></p><p>Thirdly, while practicing, and then during the actual VI, I would also advise you to constantly remind yourself to:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Speak more slowly</strong> - this gives you more time to think and articulate your ideas and makes it less likely to to find yourself having to continuously rephrase midsentence; I also find speaking in this way makes me feel more in control and calms my nerves; and </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Realize that <strong>your performance does not have to be perfect, but merely good enough.</strong> I think a lot of candidates end up overthinking and panicking when making the smallest mistake, which ends up derailing their entire speech. Being too perfectionistic in this way often works to your detriment. Thus, you should internalize the idea that it is fine if your response is not absolutely perfect - many candidates (myself included) have progressed by merely making sure we communicated decent substantive points in a reasonably clear and structured manner. You do not have to blow anyone away. If you start thinking in this way, it is more likely that when a small error inevitably occurs, you are able to overlook it and still have an overall good response.</li> </ol><p>Finally, if I were to give a Kirkland-specific tip, I would say to <strong>refresh your understanding of PE and what has been happening in this industry in recent months;</strong> as if you get any technical questions, they will likely be related to this,</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andrei Radu, post: 224703, member: 36777"] Unfortunately, I have no specific Kirkland VI tips as I did not apply to the firm, but I still thought to share some general tips and resources - from what heard from some friends who did the Kirkland VI in prior years, it did not seem to differ a lot from a "usual" VI experience. [B]Firstly, in terms of usual questions that often com up in VIs, besides the 3 classic motivational Qs (why you, why commercial law, why the firm), some of the ones I encountered most often/heard about others encountering are[/B]: [LIST] [*]Tell me about a time you demonstrated teamwork [*]Tell me about a time you demonstrated resilience/worked under pressure/solved a problem [*]What are the key qualities a trainee at our firm needs? [*]What is your biggest weakness? [*]Tell me about a time you made a mistake [*]Tell me about a time you worked with tight deadlines [/LIST] I have compiled a more thorough list with typical VIs questions and a more detailed description of the preparation method I used in my[URL='https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/a-complete-guide-for-competency-interview-preparation.9380/'] Complete Competency Interview Guide.[/URL] This leads me to my second point - the most important thing for me was just [B]practice[/B]. As many people initially do, I also had an issue dealing with nerves at first, as VIs can feel uniquely awkward. Nonetheless, believe me, if you put yourself in VI conditions and just practice continuously for several hours, you will get a lot more accustomed to it. [B]My advice would be to just take around 3-4 hours in which you do nothing but choose random questions, give yourself 1 minute to prepare and then record yourself for 1-2 minutes[/B]. You will see you will get remarkably better over time. Thirdly, while practicing, and then during the actual VI, I would also advise you to constantly remind yourself to: [LIST=1] [*][B]Speak more slowly[/B] - this gives you more time to think and articulate your ideas and makes it less likely to to find yourself having to continuously rephrase midsentence; I also find speaking in this way makes me feel more in control and calms my nerves; and [*]Realize that [B]your performance does not have to be perfect, but merely good enough.[/B] I think a lot of candidates end up overthinking and panicking when making the smallest mistake, which ends up derailing their entire speech. Being too perfectionistic in this way often works to your detriment. Thus, you should internalize the idea that it is fine if your response is not absolutely perfect - many candidates (myself included) have progressed by merely making sure we communicated decent substantive points in a reasonably clear and structured manner. You do not have to blow anyone away. If you start thinking in this way, it is more likely that when a small error inevitably occurs, you are able to overlook it and still have an overall good response. [/LIST] Finally, if I were to give a Kirkland-specific tip, I would say to [B]refresh your understanding of PE and what has been happening in this industry in recent months;[/B] as if you get any technical questions, they will likely be related to this, [/QUOTE]
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