The Official Vacation Scheme Thread 2019!

I sat down this morning to start the prep for applications and I'm also surprised this hasn't been made sooner! I'm feeling more ready this year - more experience to talk about so fingers crossed.Where I'm stuck is that I don't really know which firms to go for/if i'm aiming too high. How did everyone figure out what level of firm to focus on?

Hi there! I'm about to start my 3rd Year of a non-law degree and not sure if I should apply straight to TCs or go with VSs. Is there anyone else in the same position?

Well, I use various websites to look at the calibre of candidates firms get (True Picture by Chambers Student is good), including the website of the firm: they usually say which students they go for or just ask for career advice from third-party services.

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(a) I was in a similar situation to you and engaged Getinlaw.com and they advised me to do both but to focus more on VS for my primary firms of choice. They said it would be extremely beneficial for us to gain more experience and exposure to the legal field and so would be wise to do VS apps for our main firms and leave TC apps until later and for the firms that aren't on paper our number one choices per-se.

(b) Yeh definitely in terms of assessing what firms to go for I was also advised to just go back to basics and look at which firms I really want: area of law, size and location then look at other successful candidates on lex100, All about law etc. then come to a reasonable conclusion about which to invest my time in and apply to.

hope this is useful guys.

How does everyone practice for Watson Glazer tests?

Hi there! I'm about to start my 3rd Year of a non-law degree and not sure if I should apply straight to TCs or go with VSs. Is there anyone else in the same position?

Hi - this was me except I waited to apply until I finished as I was super slow off the mark!

As a non-law student I was advised to definitely go for VS - as people who tend to have less law related work exp, it's less risk for the firm to take us on for a week and see what we're like versus giving a TC out. Plus it's a great head-start if you decide you want to apply back to that firm for a TC, and/or can lead to skipping some steps in the TC process if you do well. Even if it doesn't go anywhere, it's great & recognised experience for your CV. I picked up my TC through a firm I had a VS at and my other offer said it was a big factor in offering, so I'd really recommend as a route.

I couldn't find any up to date stats on which firms were more likely to recruit from their VS, but looking through the 2019/2020 TC threads is useful - people tend to pick up through the grapevine/app feedback if firms have recruited totally from VS students. I tried to target those who took a lot of VS students on - not an exact science but can be a useful steer.

I found some places let you do both applications from one, if that makes sense which was a big timesaver!

Squire Patton Boggs, Mishcon De Reya recruit exclusively through their VS whilst others like Vinson & Elkins, FBD, Gibson Dunn, Skadden recruit predominantly from their VS. Try using Getinlaw.com and lawcareers.net for really sound application advice, they helped me loads last term to be honest.

I have one assessment left for this term (with Eversheds Sutherland) so let's see what happens.

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Hi - this was me except I waited to apply until I finished as I was super slow off the mark!

As a non-law student I was advised to definitely go for VS - as people who tend to have less law related work exp, it's less risk for the firm to take us on for a week and see what we're like versus giving a TC out. Plus it's a great head-start if you decide you want to apply back to that firm for a TC, and/or can lead to skipping some steps in the TC process if you do well. Even if it doesn't go anywhere, it's great & recognised experience for your CV. I picked up my TC through a firm I had a VS at and my other offer said it was a big factor in offering, so I'd really recommend as a route.

I couldn't find any up to date stats on which firms were more likely to recruit from their VS, but looking through the 2019/2020 TC threads is useful - people tend to pick up through the grapevine/app feedback if firms have recruited totally from VS students. I tried to target those who took a lot of VS students on - not an exact science but can be a useful steer.

I found some places let you do both applications from one, if that makes sense which was a big timesaver!

Squire Patton Boggs, Mishcon De Reya recruit exclusively through their VS whilst others like Vinson & Elkins, FBD, Gibson Dunn, Skadden recruit predominantly from their VS. Try using Getinlaw.com and lawcareers.net for really sound application advice, they helped me loads last term to be honest.

I have one assessment left for this term (with Eversheds Sutherland) so let's see what happens.

Thank you both so much! Good luck with your assessment, @TCinTraining!

No problem and thank you. What firms are you preparing to apply for, if you don't mind me asking? I'm thinking maybe Osborne Clarke, but I heard they want versatile trainees to move around offices.

Slaughter and May, HSF, Pinsent Masons, maybe Shoosmiths, too. I have quite a long list but am narrowing them down to about 6 at the moment. Are you thinking of any others?

I'm starting at one of these in 2020 and did a VS with them too - am super paranoid about saying which on the off chance they google themselves but PM me, I'll let you know and then happy to help if I can

Slaughter and May, HSF, Pinsent Masons, maybe Shoosmiths, too. I have quite a long list but am narrowing them down to about 6 at the moment. Are you thinking of any others?

I wouldn’t think about it in terms of calibre. I’d be thinking more about whether the individual firm was right for me. Seems a bit mental grouping firms together in terms of some form of perceived status and then eliminating some of them based on myths, the rumour mill and your own self confidence rather than anything factual.