- Feb 17, 2018
- 4,695
- 8,577
Thank you to Varis from The Student Room for providing some excellent vacation scheme application tips. This year, Varis has secured vacation schemes at Clifford Chance, White & Case, Gibson Dunn, HSF, Travers Smith, Sidley Austin and Davis Polk.
"I think the application process is very much a 'game' in which it may be useful to think about each component of the application process and break it down to better prepare for it.
Writing the application - I think here, I cannot speak with certain authority in how one should write their application. There are many elements that make an application good, such as being well written, having no spell or grammatical mistakes, having a clear structure, being well researched and evidenced when you make a point, being substantive rather than superficial with points (don't recount quotable marketing material if you aren't able to contextualise it or personalise the point), etc.
I personally have found great success from my 'style' when writing very concisely. The pros of this style means that due to the lack of adjectives and conciseness of my writing, I am able to really get in a lot of information within the word count. However, the drawbacks of this style means that my vacation scheme applications are very dry to read and at times lacks a nice linking narrative or flow between each paragraph or point.
I also know other people who take a very personal, emotive and colorful writing approach and have found similarish success (Although I have found this to be in the minority of cases). Perhaps it is very much down to the firm and the graduate recruitment's preference. But to that, I can only say it would be quite difficult to swap from style to style just to optimise your vacation scheme application due to the fundamental differences each approach takes and the uncertainty in how much 'better' your application would become if you took X approach over Y. The application process is ultimately a very personal journey and it is imperative that the person applying is able to feel comfortable and confident in what they've done. It is much harder to copy someone else's style, get rejected despite that, and improve in light of that rejection.
For the Assessment Centres / Interviews - I think breaking down and researching what type of assessments you will face is crucial to success. I personally perform poorly under pressure and I make up for that weakness by providing myself as much comfort and certainty when going into an assessment centre. If you're going to Clifford Chance, for example, you can definitely do a lot to prepare yourself by practicing case studies, practicing answering competency questions and reading commercial news stories. For Sidley Austin, you perhaps should place more focus on understanding your application, the experiences you've had, and being able to articulate all the points that may flow out of your application and experiences so that you are not caught off guard.
Broadly speaking, there are therefore different categories of interviews and assessments. Commercial case study-centric interviews, competency focused interviews, strength based focus interviews, written interpretation exercises, legal case study-centric interviews, ethics and morality based interviews, application-focused interviews, etc. There are also styles, whether it is conversational, robotic and to the point, etc. Identifying which of these components will be relevant for your assessment centre and preparing accordingly will place you in the strongest position to remain calm, prepared and allow you to execute well.
In terms of things I wished I knew beforehand - I think the importance of a person's network should not be understated. Being able to find out specific details of a case study, or interview, or types of questions being asked for any component of the vacation scheme application process is greatly advantageous. Although this perhaps goes against the idea of being tested purely on your own individual merit, it is certainly a very useful thing that people do in practice. Thus, get out there and ask people who are better than you for help! I found myself struggling in my first year to secure vacation schemes and only until I was able to let people see all my strengths and weaknesses was I able to really get proper, tailored and useful advise.
Because the vacation scheme application process is so personal, people often like to lie or hide their weaknesses. Everyone wants to appear to be perfect candidate, even to people who have no bearing on our success. If you are not able to tell someone about your low grades, or personal and vulnerable areas, it is very hard to actually get meaningful help.
As for the rest of the tips and tricks, there is a plethora of 'good advice' out there. Although, insofar as it is actually taken to heart and applied, that is another story."
Thank you Varis!
"I think the application process is very much a 'game' in which it may be useful to think about each component of the application process and break it down to better prepare for it.
Writing the application - I think here, I cannot speak with certain authority in how one should write their application. There are many elements that make an application good, such as being well written, having no spell or grammatical mistakes, having a clear structure, being well researched and evidenced when you make a point, being substantive rather than superficial with points (don't recount quotable marketing material if you aren't able to contextualise it or personalise the point), etc.
I personally have found great success from my 'style' when writing very concisely. The pros of this style means that due to the lack of adjectives and conciseness of my writing, I am able to really get in a lot of information within the word count. However, the drawbacks of this style means that my vacation scheme applications are very dry to read and at times lacks a nice linking narrative or flow between each paragraph or point.
I also know other people who take a very personal, emotive and colorful writing approach and have found similarish success (Although I have found this to be in the minority of cases). Perhaps it is very much down to the firm and the graduate recruitment's preference. But to that, I can only say it would be quite difficult to swap from style to style just to optimise your vacation scheme application due to the fundamental differences each approach takes and the uncertainty in how much 'better' your application would become if you took X approach over Y. The application process is ultimately a very personal journey and it is imperative that the person applying is able to feel comfortable and confident in what they've done. It is much harder to copy someone else's style, get rejected despite that, and improve in light of that rejection.
For the Assessment Centres / Interviews - I think breaking down and researching what type of assessments you will face is crucial to success. I personally perform poorly under pressure and I make up for that weakness by providing myself as much comfort and certainty when going into an assessment centre. If you're going to Clifford Chance, for example, you can definitely do a lot to prepare yourself by practicing case studies, practicing answering competency questions and reading commercial news stories. For Sidley Austin, you perhaps should place more focus on understanding your application, the experiences you've had, and being able to articulate all the points that may flow out of your application and experiences so that you are not caught off guard.
Broadly speaking, there are therefore different categories of interviews and assessments. Commercial case study-centric interviews, competency focused interviews, strength based focus interviews, written interpretation exercises, legal case study-centric interviews, ethics and morality based interviews, application-focused interviews, etc. There are also styles, whether it is conversational, robotic and to the point, etc. Identifying which of these components will be relevant for your assessment centre and preparing accordingly will place you in the strongest position to remain calm, prepared and allow you to execute well.
In terms of things I wished I knew beforehand - I think the importance of a person's network should not be understated. Being able to find out specific details of a case study, or interview, or types of questions being asked for any component of the vacation scheme application process is greatly advantageous. Although this perhaps goes against the idea of being tested purely on your own individual merit, it is certainly a very useful thing that people do in practice. Thus, get out there and ask people who are better than you for help! I found myself struggling in my first year to secure vacation schemes and only until I was able to let people see all my strengths and weaknesses was I able to really get proper, tailored and useful advise.
Because the vacation scheme application process is so personal, people often like to lie or hide their weaknesses. Everyone wants to appear to be perfect candidate, even to people who have no bearing on our success. If you are not able to tell someone about your low grades, or personal and vulnerable areas, it is very hard to actually get meaningful help.
As for the rest of the tips and tricks, there is a plethora of 'good advice' out there. Although, insofar as it is actually taken to heart and applied, that is another story."
Thank you Varis!
Last edited:
