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- 📩 There's a smarter way to apply for vacation schemes
📩 There's a smarter way to apply for vacation schemes
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Many candidates apply to dozens of firms and hope something works. Rachael Ward took a different approach, and secured five vacation scheme offers.
This Friday at 12:00, she’s joining us to break down exactly how she did it, from choosing the right firms to writing applications that genuinely stood out.
You’ll learn why applying to fewer firms can actually lead to more offers, how to write answers that feel personal rather than generic, what recruiters are really looking for beyond polished wording, and the small decisions that made a big difference to her success.
If you’re planning to apply this cycle, this is one of those sessions that could completely change how you approach your applications.
You’ll also have the chance to ask Rachael your own questions during the live Q&A.
We’re growing our events programme and are looking for someone to help us run it. From inviting speakers to hosting live sessions, you’ll play a key role in delivering events that help thousands of aspiring lawyers prepare for their careers.
We're recruiting our next group of EOC Campus Ambassadors for 2026/27. We are looking for students who will help us make career opportunities fairer by reaching more people on their campus.
As an ambassador, you'll bring EOC to your university, connect us with students and societies, work directly with our team, and be recognised and rewarded for the impact you make.
Tap on the image to access the full list
Over three days, Mark Dubes, a former legal graduate recruiter with over 20 years' experience who has interviewed more than 10,000 candidates including at Mayer Brown, will take you from a blank page to application-ready before the season even begins.
DAY 1 - Monday 18 August - Choosing your firms
How to build a realistic firm list and a clear application strategy before the season fully opens.
DAY 2 - Tuesday 19 August - Researching them properly
What genuine research looks like beyond the website, and what recruiters notice when you haven't done it.
DAY 3 - Wednesday 20 August - Writing your answers early
How to draft strong answers to the most common questions firms ask, ready to adapt the moment applications open.
Attend all three days and you'll receive a certificate of completion to add to your LinkedIn profile, showing firms you put in the work before applications even opened.
One registration covers all three days.
We’re looking to partner with law societies across the UK to provide members with free access to practical resources, events, and support designed to improve their chances of securing more opportunities.
This includes:
Exclusive events with former graduate recruiters and future trainees, run specifically for your society/university;
The Future Trainee Academy, including application frameworks, interview prep, assessment centre guidance;
Unlimited Watson Glaser practice through our dedicated hub,
and much more.
If you’re a part of a law society committee and would be interested in exploring a partnership, please fill out the form below.
Applications
Research for your applications
Access over 20 law firm profiles, complete with breakdowns, seats, secondments, and other requirements.
A 9-step law firm research checklist that shows you what to look for, where to find it, and how to use it.
This breaks down recent transactions and explains how to move beyond simply mentioning a deal, towards demonstrating real commercial understanding and relevance.
How to structure your answers, apply the rule of three and build a compelling narrative for your applications.
15 real application answers samples from major firms along with an explanation of what worked and why
What to do if your efforts still aren’t converting, despite trying everything.
Application tracker, CV & Cover Letter Guidance
Track your applications, access CV and Cover Letter templates, and more.
Psychometric Tests
A clear breakdown of the key skills tested in critical thinking tests, along with where to practice, mistakes and red flags to watch out for.
Interviews
Commercial Awareness Starter Pack
Guidance on how to develop your commercial awareness and a worked example showing what a strong answers looks like.
Over 80+ interview questions asked by leading law firms.
Covering common formats, how firms assess answers, and how to communicate clearly and confidently on camera.
Work Experience
How to gain Legal Work Experience
This covers six avenues you could explore to gain relevant legal work experience.
Explore free virtual internships and DIY vacation schemes. Build real-world skills you can showcase on applications.
80+ opportunities across law firms, chambers, early-careers programmes and paralegal roles.
Studying
Includes proven tips for managing time, revision, and exams.
First Class Problem Question Model Answer
How to structure a problem question answer and showcase your legal reasoning.
Covers how to open with impact, write clearly and finish with a focused conclusion.
Oscola Referencing Cheat Sheet
A simplified guide to OSCOLA referencing, covering how to cite cases, legislation, books, journal articles, and more.
Spotify recently removed over 500,000 streams from a pop song called ‘Earrings. ’ This comes after Spotify discovered that the song had a 70% surge in US streams over the weekend, which coincides with suspicious betting activity on a prediction market called Kalshi. Prediction markets are digital platforms that allow people to bet on the outcome of future events, with the prices of bets reflecting the probability of the future event happening.
What Spotify discovered with ‘Earrings’ is that bots had been programmed to play the song on repeat in order to manipulate its ranking on Spotify’s daily US charts - when ‘Earrings’ reached the top of these charts, Kalshi paid out to traders that had betted on this outcome despite the odds of this happening earlier being pegged at only 2.5%.
Analysis
This incident sits within a broader pattern of prediction market manipulation, as the emergence of these prediction markets have made insider trading a lot more viable. For example, US prosecutors charged a soldier this past April for making prediction market bets on a military raid occurring, when they themselves had helped plan this very military raid.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket operate in a regulatory grey zone as regulations were primarily designed with financial markets in mind, not Spotify charts or the infinite number of events that can be ‘predicted’ on a platform like Kalshi.
What does this mean for the sector?
Regulators around the world will have to reckon with whether prediction market manipulation of this sort falls into existing market abuse frameworks or require new legislation
Streaming platforms will have to invest more into real-time fraud detection, to be able to prevent manipulation of this sort before the involved traders are paid out
Where prediction markets involve innocent parties like Malcom Todd - who recorded ‘Earrings’ they risk suffering reputational and commercial harm despite a lack of involvement in the betting
How to Use This In Applications
Register Today to Unlock FREE Access
Want a clearer route to securing a training contract?
The Future Trainee Academy brings the full recruitment process into one place, with guidance from a recruiter who assessed 10,000+ candidates and examples from future trainees at top firms.
It covers applications, interviews, assessment centres, and more. You’ll also get a certificate you can add to your CV and LinkedIn.
When you join, you will also gain access to the Watson Glaser Practise Hub where you can practise as much as you need to comfortably pass it!
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