If I wanted a Training Contract at Paul, Weiss London, starting from zero, here’s exactly what I’d do.

1️⃣ Decide if Paul, Weiss is really my game.

I’d study their London growth story and ask if I want a career built around private equity, public M&A, restructuring and high-stakes litigation, not mid-market generalist work.

2️⃣ Treat the vacation scheme as the only door.

I’d plan backwards from the vac scheme, because it is the pathway to the Training Contract, with assessment primarily during those two weeks.

3️⃣ Build a PE-first commercial awareness plan.

Every week I’d track at least three PE-backed or public-company deals where Paul, Weiss or its direct competitors are on the ticket, then break them down using PEAL-3® so I can talk valuation, capital structure and exit routes, not headlines.

4️⃣ Rewrite my CV using VTMR™.

Every line would be Verb–Task–Metric–Result, with bullets that look like junior-associate work: fund modelling, credit analysis, transactions, advocacy. That is how you get taken seriously by a team built around Europe’s leading PE partners.

5️⃣ Build a Paul, Weiss-only PEAL-X® bank.

I’d write at least four PEAL-X® answers where every sentence has a Paul, Weiss fact: London trainee intake size, NQ salary c. £180k, core seats (Antitrust, Finance, Funds, M&A, Restructuring), and their recent lateral hires from Kirkland, Magic Circle and A&O Shearman.

6️⃣ Engineer my story with STAR-3®.

I’d script ten STAR-3® answers that prove I can operate in lean, high-pressure teams: decisions made, risks taken, quantified results, and reflection on how that transfers into cross-border PE work.

7️⃣ Reverse-engineer the recruitment funnel.

I’d map every step: online form → interview → vac scheme → partner interview, numeracy test and presentation. Then I’d rehearse those three vac-scheme assessments under timed conditions until they feel routine.

8️⃣ Lean into the “entrepreneurial mindset” filter.

Because Paul, Weiss explicitly wants self-starters in a differentiated, fast-growing London office, I’d choose examples where I built something from scratch, not just followed instructions.

9️⃣ Exploit the tiny intake.

They are targeting up to 10 trainees a year. I’d treat that as an advantage: small cohort, huge visibility. My answers would show I understand what it means to be one of ten, not one of eighty.

🔟 Calibrate against proven outcomes, not vibes.

I’d benchmark everything against what already works: our 100% Training Contract offer rate for under-30 flagship clients targeting corporate law at elite US firms and the 95% cross-sector offer-rate benchmark in the flagship 1-to-1 advisory.

Getting into an elite firm is about process, structure, and outcomes.

Note: no affiliation to Paul, Weiss.

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