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Will not securing a winter vacation scheme hinder my chances of a training contract?

As title suggests, I'm not sure whether I've left the process of applying for winter vacation schemes too late?

Am in my second year.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

sublime-baths

You’re fine. Plenty of chances, particularly as you’re just in your second year.

Reply 2

zazzy.r

Sorry to revive an old thread, but since you mentioned leaving it too late- when are vac schemes usually open for Winter? Have seen some Jul and some Oct- is there any kind of central database that someone's created? It's pretty overwhelming going through every single firm in the UK but not sure how else I'd go about it (I'm going into 3rd yr as a non-law student)

Reply 3

AMac86

Zazzy, unless it's changed drastically over the past few years it tends to be the larger firms that offer winter vac schemes (it was certainly the case when I was applying 15 years ago!)

A quick google shows a couple of pages that have gathered a few together, but they're far, far from comprehensive - what I did was to find a reasonably recent list of "top/largest 100 UK firms" and manually go through the website of each to see if they have one. It's a little tedious but will only take a couple of hours and is time well spent to maximise your chances of getting those all important vac schemes on the CV.

Reply 4

sublime-baths

Original post by AdB09

Hey!

Usually winter vac schemes are for finalists and graduates whereas spring and summer schemes are for penultimate year students. If you missed the deadline for the winter schemes, I wouldn't worry too much because you also have the chance to apply for spring and summer. You should focus on making your applications tailored to the firms you are applying to and make sure you clearly express your interest for joining a firm and why you want to pursue a career in commercial law.

For tips regarding application writing, I have found this course writing successful applications by Commercial Law Academy very helpful. It provides guidance on how to talk about your motivation for joining a law firm as well as talking about your experiences such as part-time jobs, uni society roles and other activities.