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Help! I didn’t do a vacation scheme – An Insider’s Guide to Direct Training Contract Applications

Of our current trainees, around half completed a vacation scheme with Shearman & Sterling. The other half completed direct training contract applications and therefore either did schemes with other firms or didn’t do vacation schemes at all. Whilst we would always encourage aspiring solicitors to gain legal work experience and decide whether the career and particular firm is for them, vacation schemes are not the necessity they are sometimes made out to be.

So for those of you approaching Training Contract deadlines, it’s time to think about how you can utilise your experiences (vac scheme or not) in the most fruitful ways.

How to emphasise the work experience you have

Working in shops and restaurants, admin roles in offices, teaching children on your gap year – all of these have great transferable skills for the world of commercial law. With a little creativity you can effectively pull out all the teamwork, time management, attention to detail, client service, organisation and resilience – amongst many others! – which you gained. If you’ve had experience that you really don’t think is relevant to law then tell us what you didn’t enjoy and why it reassured you that law is the perfect career for you.

What to say about your vac schemes (or lack thereof!) in application forms

Ideally you’ll tailor your significant work experiences to the firm you’re applying to and (for example…) talk about how your internship with a mining company ties into Shearman’s industry-focused group on Metals and Mining – this is a great way to remind the Graduate Recruitment team that their firm is your number one choice and that you’re always connecting the dots to show what a perfect fit you are for them.

If you’ve done open days or attended workshops / presentations with relevant law firms and organisations then you can include these too to show your research and commitment to the industry. You can add a few together with the title ‘Various firms, Various dates’, rather than adding one entry for each event. If you’ve attended events with the firm you’re applying to then do a whole work experience entry on this.

N.B. If you have a vacation scheme or placement coming up in the future, put this down on your application form with the future dates and mention what you’re looking forward to / hoping to learn.

The approach to take in interviews

Legal work experience is so valuable because it’s a clear indicator that you’re likely to understand the industry you’re applying to and what working life as a trainee will really be like. If you haven’t had any legal work experience, you must go above and beyond with your research so reach out to anyone you know who is a lawyer and fully research online. Think about whether you know the following:

• the day to day tasks of a trainee and how involved they’ll get in deals or cases
• the different practice groups likely to be involved in transactions you’re interested in
• the industry teams most likely to be busy in the current economic climate
• the differences between seemingly similar law firms
• the skills required to be a great commercial solicitor

Turned down for vacation schemes in the past?

If you didn’t manage to secure vacation schemes or have completed them elsewhere and didn’t get an offer, then be honest about this. If you were unlucky but got some helpful feedback talk about how you are on an upward trajectory of progress – this is a great way to show you are mature and self-aware (you should also read our other blog on vac scheme feedback!).

If you didn’t like the firm you experienced then don’t be negative about them (it’s very unprofessional), instead talk about what you learnt from the different experiences and why it made you realise you wanted something else. The key is always to tailor your answers to your audience and frame your examples with the context of the firm.

Whether to apply again

If you applied for a vacation scheme and were unsuccessful then you should absolutely re-apply to a firm if you still think it’s a good match for you. A few months will have passed so you need to completely re-write your application form showing all the great research you’ve been doing in the meantime, all the new work and extracurricular experiences you’ve had and any exam results you may have received which show you are an excellent candidate.

If you didn’t apply for our vacation scheme because you hadn’t heard of the firm, or your criteria for a Training Contract has changed, again be honest about this and use it to your advantage to show how positive and enthusiastic you now are.

Many of our Shearman & Sterling trainees were unsuccessful at the vacation scheme stage, and lucky us that they were resilient enough to give it another shot – they are all amazing candidates who we would have been devastated to miss out on.

Next Steps

If you now feel convinced to apply, why not check out our webinar on application tips to improve your chances.

Good luck!

by Katie Makey, Shearman & Sterling

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