Training Contract Law Clinic Today May 10, 2012
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.add a comment
Rumour has is that All about Law is hosting a law clinic on their Facebook Fan Page this evening from 4-6pm. Unless you are in work like myself – check it out! I don’t really use facebook but they have a great, active page, well worth a “like”.
QOTW: should I be applying for training contracts? May 9, 2012
Posted by travisthetrout in Job hunting, Law LLB, QOTW, Training Contracts, Vacation Schemes.add a comment
This week I’ve taken my question of the week from a law student that I met while celebrating one of my best friends birthday, rather than an email request.
The law student in question was a penultimate year law student applying for vacation schemes/training contracts at large international firms in London. He is expected to get a first, attends a top 10 law school but has no work experience or positions of responsibility. He asks simply for advice.
Despite being recommended that you apply for training contracts during penultimate year of your LLB I think it is time that the university careers service took a realistic approach and also said that the recruitment process can take time, and that it is rare these days for someone to get their training contract while doing their LLB. Yes, larger firms recruit 2 years in advance, but having worked with trainees and vac scheme students at a large international law firm I can say – the majority were second degree or second career and all had work experience. So today the question is whether as a penultimate year LLB student you should be applying for training contracts? Or whether it is a waste of time?
vacation schemes and /or training contracts?
Personally I would say apply for vacation schemes (and vac schemes that combine TC application) but if you have no work experience, the stand-alone TC application is most likely a waste of your time. Now if the alternative is watching tv I would say drop in a few TC applications, but the time you use for applications (and TV watching) could be used to make your CV stronger for your upcoming applications – voluntary work, part time job, law clinic, CAB or even simply writing letters to local firms for ad hoc days.
I am not saying it it not hard to get the work experience – time and effort is required. But there are only so many hours in the day, you want to maximise your potential. A few half baked applications to the say top 5 law firms in the country when all you have done is ticked the law degree box is a waste of time, as the time can be put to a much better use.
But maybe i’m just cynical. Feel free to add your thoughts to the matter in the comments.
As always if you have a question for my question of the week series email me at travisthetrout[at]hotmail[.]co[.]uk
Statistics for Training to be a Solicitor March 9, 2011
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.1 comment so far
Having read the statistics from the Bar Standards Board about training for the bar (as tweeted by @pupillageblog) it made me wonder if there were any more up to date figures for Trainee Solicitors and training contracts (but I can’t seem to find anything so fantastically in depth). Better figures should be provided so that students can make more accurate decisions relating to job prospects.
The most recent figures I can find (Nov 2010) are for provided by the LSB and apply to both training contracts and pupillages :
We currently have almost 14,000 students annually graduating with a Qualifying Law Degree, and around 5,000 enrolled the Graduate Diploma in Law.
Of those, over 11,000 enrolled last year on either the Legal Practice Course or the Bar Professional Training Course.
Following the postgraduate stage, 6,271 commenced either a training contract or a pupillage.
The alternative figures I can find are the “entry trends” as published by the Law Society which don’t appear to have been updated recently and can be summarised as follows:
- 140,000 solicitors on the roll in England and Wales with approximately 7,000 – 8,000 qualifying each year. As at 31 July 2009, there were 145,381 solicitors on the Roll.
- In 2008, 27,384 people applied to study law at undergraduate level in England and Wales.
- In 2008-09, there were 11,375 full time and 3,112 part time places available on the Legal Practice Course with 9,337 students enrolling in total. In 2009-10 there will be 11,370 full-time and 3,112 part-time places available. No information on how many enrolled.
- In the year ending 31 July 2009, 5,809 new traineeships were registered with the SRA. This was a decrease of 7.8% on the level recorded the previous year.
- 8,491 individuals were admitted to the Roll in the year that ended 31 July 2009. (an increase of 8.0% on admissions the year before).
The full report for 2009 can be viewed here. This contains more in depth analysis of traineeships based on location, gender, types of practice, ethnic origin and even age of admission to the roll, which makes an interesting read.
The 2009 report from the SRA doesn’t provide a lot of information on graduates/training contracts – but it does state that:
At the end of the second quarter, there were over 11,500 trainees in post, based in around 3,330 different firms and organisations. These figures are lower than we saw 12 months ago, with over 12,000 trainees at the end of June 2008, working in 3,750 different firms and organisations.
But the SRA do not have appeared to have produced any figures specifically relating to graduates/training contract (correct me if I am wrong). Although they do have some interesting figures relating to routes to qualification similar to that of the Law Society Report.
Finally, last month in the gazette it was announced that there is going to be a study to examine the oversupply of LPC graduates which provoked much discussion – but maybe we’ll get some useful figures out of this.
Trainee Retention Rates for March 2011 March 6, 2011
Posted by travisthetrout in Life at Large Law Firm, Training Contracts.4 comments
There was an article last week in the Legal Week reporting that Trainee Retention is up 10% at the Top 30 Firms compared to last year.
83% of trainees kept on in March round compared to 75% in 2010
Trainee retention rates at the UK’s 30 largest law firms have risen across the majority of practices, with the average rate across the group nearly 10% higher than in March 2010.
It is important to note at this point that not all of the Top 30 firms have a March intake. My firm does not and has just announced the next seat rotations – there is not much being said in the way of jobs that will be available in 6 months, although some trainees felt they had been short changed by getting seats in departments where chances of qualification were zero.
With qualification being very much on any final year trainee’s mind even before their final seat commences there will be a certain amount of relief that there is an improvement.
Nevertheless beyond the will-I-have a job concern, I do not see why people get worked up about retention figures. A firm is not proving it is better if it has a higher retention rate (they may not even want to keep all their trainees and not all trainees may want to apply) Not to mention that there are many variables that come into play. (And realistically few prospective trainees base a decision to apply to a firm on retention.)
I obviously do not have any inside knowledge of how retention decisions are made (can any readers enlighten us?) but I have noted that for trainees the focus is being employed, for the solicitors, it is whether it is worth the money.
I’ve discussed qualification deliberation before. There is maybe not as much discussion about it this year among our trainees. The general feeling is very much “I will take what I am offered”. With hints being dropped about which departments will be offering jobs and the knowledge that not everyone will get a job.I honestly think people are less optimistic this year – or maybe it was that people were disappointed last year so they are trying to take a more “realistic” view. Obviously firms with more recession-proof practice areas may be able to take on more NQs than firms with a mixture of successful and lagging practice areas.
There are obviously different considerations from a solicitors point of view – it is a financial (and business) decision. Incoming NQs are an extra form of “cheap labour” – it is cheaper to keep on one of your own NQs than to try and find a new member of staff to join the team. But you need to have the work. Also you need to have work that they can do (as sometimes incoming work depending on the practice area requires a certain level of experience). When a trainee is sitting in a department, the team will be silently making a decision of whether they would want them to qualify with them. The trainee the department wants doesn’t always match up with who they get (the favoured trainee may get their first choice which might be different) additionally, as there is no requirement to offer a job to all their trainees - the weaker ones will inevitably be weeded out.
The figures announced so far:
- Clifford Chance 91%
- Linklaters – 83%
- Freshfields 89%
- Allen & Overy – 88%
- Hogan Lovells – 57%
- Herbert Smith – 92%
- Norton Rose – 87% (Jan)
- Ashurst – 95%.
- Simmons and Simmons – 80%
- CMS Cameron McKenna – 61%,
- Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) – 100%
- SJ Berwin – 67%
- Addleshaw Goddard – 86%
- Nabarro – 85% (jan)
- Wragge & Co – 71%
- Macfarlanes – 86%
- Stephenson Harwood – 100%
the Deferrals are back February 10, 2011
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.add a comment
A couple of days ago it was announced that Olswang have cancelled their trainee recruitment this year and deferred their 2011 trainee intake (in London).
Olswang has cancelled its 2013 London graduate recruitment programme due to a revision of the number of trainee solicitors the firm plans to recruit for its London office.
The shock move follows the firm’s decision to defer future trainee solicitors due to join the firm from September 2011. The next round of training contract vacancies will be in September 2014 and March 2015.
It is surprisingly early in the year to announce this decision – but hopefully, not too many people have used up valuable time applying and can focus their energy on another application (compare to last year where closure/deferrals came weeks before the summer deadline at other firms). The disappointing thing is the “compensation” of being offered to do an MA at BPP (but then there really is no adequate compensation in this situation).
As regular readers will know my training contract which was due to start last September was deferred until 2012. Being a deferred trainee myself I have come to see the bright-side and reached a certain level of understanding that bewilders most people – but working as a paralegal suits me fine as I work with a team who in many ways treat me like “just another trainee” (yes the pay is less, but it is valuable experience). However, some days the frustration does kick in – usually when I lose out on something interesting.
Deferrals both at the firm I am at (and the firm that I have a training contract with) came about because they were trying to retain as many NQs as possible. In many ways I appreciate this – I would like to hope that when I qualify that the firm I was with would try to maintain their retention rates. After all qualified but with no experience is a more difficult stage to apply for a job than as a potential trainee (from what friends and colleagues have experienced).
I would just ask that firms don’t wait until a matter of weeks before announcing deferrals. Olswang have got in early – but will they be the first of many for 2011?
QOTW: Training Contract – Seats and Qualification February 9, 2011
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.1 comment so far
In an attempt to catch up with what has been missed during my absence I am proposing to do a “Question of the Week” post, which will be a brief answer and as always will be open to my readers to discuss and comment on.
To start us of this week is what I consider a straightforward question, with a straight forward answer if you have done your research. Nevertheless the questions still come in and I am more than happy to share. So I thought I’d begin with the basics.
TRAINING CONTRACTS:
WHICH SEATS? (and how many?)
- The standard seat arrangement is the 4 seats for 6 months over two years.
- Exceptions: Some firms will offer 3 seats and ask you to return to the one that you want to qualify in for your fourth. Also, if you get “time to count” this will obviously shorten your training contract (and consequently one of your seats).
- Which seats you do will very much depend on your firm. Some will offer a full choice, others will have one (or more) compulsory department in mind.
- Which seat you end up in depends a large part on where they have the need for a trainee and what have been popular choices with your fellow trainees.
WHAT AREA OF LAW WILL YOU QUALIFY INTO?
- This depends where the jobs are in your firm – and will usually be a department where you sat one of your seats.
- It is possible to qualify in a department where you did not sit (but this is dependant on your firm and overlap between departments etc).
- See my earlier post on Qualification Deliberation.
With final seat announcements fast approaching at my firm (qualification is no doubt at the back of people’s minds). Rumours are flying around with regards to which departments will have seats, retention rates, which trainees are going for which department, and which trainees are top choice for each department – so many variables and I’m sure every firm has a slightly different selection procedure.
Readers – do your firms have rules/standard procedures that you can share? Or does everyone just go with the flow?
Qualification Deliberation – which practice area? October 20, 2010
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.4 comments
LawCareers.net featured an article on their Oracle page about Qualification Deliberation this week. This has been a topic of much discussion in recent weeks (if not months) at work and I thought I would share a few opinions and considerations of colleagues which were not directly mentioned in the Oracles answer.
To set the scene:
As any regular reader will know I work in the Commercial Property department at work. Many redundancies were made a couple of years ago, some Solicitors changed teams and the remaining Solicitors are continually stressed.
- Qualification will be into one of your Seats
The Oracle’s article restated what I would have thought to be obvious. On qualification, you will qualify into a department that you have some experience in. This will be to your advantage as the Solicitors on the team (if you are staying in the same firm) will know you. A few NQs joined us in September. The partners got to pick the people they liked the best to come back. (Note: They even “flag” outgoing trainees as “ones we would take back if they want to come back”). I have however known a trainee to qualify into a seat they didn’t train in because no one sat a seat in it, but they wanted an extra pair of hands in the end.
- Your first choice may not be available
However, it is not just about being first choice as an individual competing against other trainees. The firm will make a business decision when choosing which departments to offer seats in (and how many). A lot of Solicitors I work with never thought they would end up doing Commercial Property it was just what they qualified into / were offered at the time. As long as you can see yourself doing the work – the offer of a job is not that bad in this day and age. (By all means apply for other firms like the Oracle suggests should you wish). That said, some people do change after a year. And some people I know have held out for their dream job and got it.
- 3 years qualified
The general feeling is once you are three years qualified – you cannot change. During the redundancies Solicitors in property (and others areas) did make the move (to related areas) for the sake of having a job. Many of the remaining team consider those who have moved to be the lucky ones in many ways as they have ended up with better job security.
- Extra Training?
As the article said – when you have completed your training contract you have finished your training as such. But there is a certain amount of flexibility in related areas of practice. It is all about what makes you employable (skills/contacts) and the current market – I know of a few colleagues (5+ yrs PQE) who are completing LLMs to give them an “edge” in the recruitment race.
- Qualification deliberation – not just for Trainees
Qualification isn’t just a consideration for those already completing a training contract – but it should also be a consideration when choosing what firms to apply to. Like what work they do, what they offer seats in etc. Some fellow classmates even on graduating the LPC still seemed to struggle with this idea. They were all “yes I definitely want to do some type of business law”, and yet applied for a niche family practice. Not saying that it wouldn’t have worked out for them but you can’t sell yourself for a job if your heart is not in it.
I did it!! July 14, 2010
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts.13 comments
Jet lagged after a long trip home from visiting the boyfriend. Luckily I was awake enough to take a phone call from a partner at a firm I recently interviewed with.
And I did it! I got offered a training contract for 2012!!!!
Motivation December 13, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Training Contracts, Working Life.6 comments
As I mentioned last week, I have been having trouble getting motivated with regards to my life of late. Namely, jobs and training contract hunting.
However, this week I finally got round to reading the Motivation Chapter in 59 Seconds (good book, so far) and it inspired me as it picked up on one of my greatest weaknesses, my fantasy life when I comes to motivating myself and trying to achieve goals and I quote:
Researchers have speculated that those who fantasize about how wonderful life could be are ill-prepared for the setbacks that frequently occur along the rocky road to success, or maybe they enjoy indulging in escapism and so become reluctant to put in the effort required to achieve their goal. Either way, the message from the research is clear –fantasizing about your perfect world may make you feel better but is unlikely to help transform your dreams into reality.
The great thing was once they said that (and the rest of the chapter) I was like “yeah okay, I can try this”. So instead of wasting time with daydreaming, I’ve made the past week a rather pro-active one.
How did I start this? well 59 Seconds provides you with a plan to set out your goals. A rough version of mine is as follows:
1. My Overall Goal is to obtain a Training Contract.
2. My first sub-goal will be to: get a promotion
To achieve this promotion I will do the following:
- talk with my boss about applying for an internal promotion
- Campaign to get a work email address
- Provide a viable argument for breaking out of my contract early and alternatives for the department if I do leave them.
- Contact HR about job vacancies and make a job application for any of interest.
- Contact HR about doing voluntary work experience and check my holiday availability
- get over my fear of phones.
I then go on to list 5 sub-goals and how I am going to achieve them. Each sub-goal is broken down into achievable steps to help me on my way. So I made this list on Wednesday and over the course of Wed – Fri I achieved the following: I talked to my boss and after presenting an argument I got the go ahead from my Boss, and HR to apply for jobs (although there are not many and it may take a while to find a suitable internal promotion), I made an application for a paralegal job in an interesting department, and have also got the ball rolling with regards doing work experience in January with a couple of partners. With regards the email address I’ve been on the phone with IT several times trying to get it sorted, it appears to be a computer problem with regards this, but at least I may get it sorted and with regards Phone work, my boss has agreed to phone me more and get me to phone more people to enable me to check out my limits with the phone and also to enable us to assess what disability support may be useful at later date if and when I do get a better job.
In addition to this I’ve also been drawing up a timetable for applications for training contracts and stuff and this weekend I managed to get started with this, Finally!!
So turns out I made more progress in a few days than I’ve been making in the past few months. I think all I needed was a kick up the ass and to actually GET STARTED. Now all I need to do is maintain the momentum, may be a problem as it is making me more tired, but fingers crossed.
The puzzling thing is, I’ve always had plans so what made it work this time round? Honestly, I don’t know. Part of me thinks it was my competitive colleague who thinks she is so much better than everyone else and pisses us all off, part of me thinks that the tick-tock of time was unsettling me, the idea that I had been in the same job for 6 months and that I had nothing new to put on job applications. And part of me that kept thinking “in the new year I will do this” and another part of me thinking “why wait”. So for all of you struggling to find motivation, keep at it, one day it will all just snap into place and you’ll get a rush of adrenaline. And most importantly make your plan achievable.
If you are interested in motivation I will also suggest that you read the recent post by Leo of Zen Habits: 20 Key questions on Motivation and Habits, answered.
Surprises September 16, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Life at Medium Sized Law Firm, Training Contracts, Working Life.1 comment so far
It has been a busy week so far (and it has only begun) with lots of surprises.
Work has been continuing at a moderate pace, I’ve doubled my efficiency and we’re adding a new department to our list of departments we do work for starting from next week, which I am looking forward too. The others are stressed about this fact, but I will enjoy the challenge. Beside working for a new department means there is more to learn and more people to get to know. They have also finally announced that they will be extending our contracts beyond the end of the month. Which was great news as we were beginning to get worried.
I got another nice surprise on Monday morning while going about my day. In work we have the kind of desks that have a partition between us and the next person. I was working remotely at a free desk and arguing with the IT department about things we needed done only to stand up and find myself face to face with one of my classmates from the LPC. It was his first day. It was great to see him and we had a nice chat.
The final surprise was probably the best of the lot, although also the most stressful. I’ve been invited to interview for a training contract in a couple of weeks. First one this year as most of my choices have decided to defer recruitment until next year. I am excited but obviously nervous at the same time.
