Hints & Tips: on securing a training contract

One of our Careers Advisors recently attended a Careers Advisors day hosted by lawcareers.net, please see below for some useful hints and tips on securing a training contract.

As the competition for a training contract becomes more and more fierce with the number of training contracts reducing by 10.5% in the last year (lawcareers.net), here are a list of hints and tips that should be considered to stand a fighting chance in the rigorous recruitment process.

•  Starting Early: Law recruitment starts early, particularly by top-end recruiters. Student’s wanting to secure a training contract should be asking Who? Law firm- small, medium, big. What? Entry requirements, recruitment process. Why? Family law, criminal, personal Injury etc. When? Application deadline. Where? Local, national, international. How? Research & Preparation: CV, cover letters, online/paper-based applications, personal statements, interviews, assessments centres etc.  

• Be Realistic: The majority of law firms will expect a law degree of 2:1 or above. Consistent grades will be checked for the whole of the academic year from first year grades through to final year module grades.

• Graduate recruiters often tell us that too many students are obsessed with a career in London which is generally harder to get into. There are many small-medium law firms offering fantastic training packages. Be prepared to relocate. Don’t target firms where you are unable to meet the entry requirements, hence resulting in constant rejection. Use your time wisely and target small-to medium sized firms outside of the big cities who offer great training contracts and a more likely chance of getting an interview.

•  Application- What Not To Do: Avoid sending a half-hearted, last minute, sloppy application! It will be better for you not to send this in at all. Not only does it make it easier for recruiters to scrap your application straight away but application remains on file for up to three years and can reflect negatively for any future submissions.

• Around 15-20 applications are more than sufficient for the legal recruitment year which will enable you to spend quality time researching and producing excellent applications rather than just a ‘good’ application. Don’t forget, recruiters are often looking hard for any opportunity to REJECT an application especially when there are high levels of applicants. Applications therefore need to be excellent rather than average.  Think, is your application going to make you stand out from the crowd?

• Work Experience & Extracurricular Activities: Excellent academic studies are not enough for securing training contracts- extracurricular activities and achievements play a significant role in the selection process. Not all activities have to necessarily demonstrate law experience as long it reveals development, skills and success.

• Boast your success and achievements but be careful not to cross over to arrogance; demonstrate passion and enthusiasm for the company you would like to work for. Check if a firm is heavily involved with a charity and see if you can carry out work experience within that particular charity. Think about what’s going to give you an ‘edge’ from the rest of your competitors.

• Research, Research, Research: Preparation is paramount to a successful interview. Strong commercial awareness will be assessed at interview stage. Individual law firm have their own websites that will also produce updates on recent law events, newsletter and publications which also need to be reviewed before interviews.

• Familiarise yourself with common jargons (see Lawcareers.net index for jargon translation).

• Know your chosen firm (Clients, size, league boards, recruitment process, entry requirements, USP, training programmes, competitors). Have a social media presence and personal branding by following a firm via social networking (be careful with own social networking sites. Pictures and comments may be picked up on if it’s inappropriate).

•  Carry out proactive networking by attending as many law events as possible which will also provide opportunity awareness. Join as many law blogs, law sites and publications as possible – see the law blog for a range of useful resources.

• Where to start?

See a Careers and Employability Adviser

Support is available at either a pre-booked or drop-in interviews at both of our centres: email: ucee_careers@northampton.ac.uk or telephone 01604 892727 for further details