The road to securing the ever-elusive training contract can often feel relentless.
I decided at the age of 12 that being a solicitor was the career for me. Yet it took another 12 years of legal work experience, a Bachelor of Laws, Legal Practice Course and several years working as a paralegal to land a training contract offer.
But why can it take so long? How do you make your application stand out? And how do you navigate the myriad law firms to decide which one is right for you?
Reflecting on the training contract applications I submitted as a university student and the applications I submitted in my final cycle working as a Senior Paralegal, the most substantial difference was experience. Whether legal or non-legal, the transferable skills you develop in different roles can be what sets you apart from other candidates.
Non-legal work experience, whether that is working in a café or volunteering for a charity, can help you develop transferable skills that are valued in a law firm. I used my time working part-time in a supermarket to demonstrate how I had expanded my client-facing skills and how these skills applied to a law firm setting. If you are currently a university student, consider the positions you could apply for in societies to show your ability to balance responsibility for another role alongside your studies.
Every non-legal work experience offers something different. Your biggest strength will be the ability to identify the skills that you have developed from that particular role and link them with the attributes required of a successful solicitor.
The difficulty with legal experience tends to be securing it in the first place. The application process for vacation schemes and internships can be incredibly tough. Instead, you should consider the legal experience you can obtain more easily. Some examples include attending law fairs, observing a court hearing and attending law firm open evenings. These are just some of the ways you can make yourself a stronger candidate whilst avoiding lengthy application processes.
In addition to open evenings in our Bristol and Exeter offices, Michelmores runs virtual insight sessions focused on commercial awareness and interview tips. I would encourage any prospective applicants to sign up as these sessions provide invaluable guidance that can be incorporated into your applications. Links to sign up to any of these events are below.
For aspiring trainee solicitor graduates, securing legal assistant and paralegal roles can also be instrumental in obtaining a training contract. Towards the end of my Legal Practice Course studies, I worked as a Legal Assistant at a regional law firm and was promoted to Paralegal the next year. This hands-on experience helped me to thoroughly understand the various stages of a matter from the initial client due diligence and onboarding to post-completion tasks and eventual file closing. I also developed an understanding of how a law firm operated as a business and the concepts, outside of the law, that a lawyer had to be aware of such as WIP and billable targets.
Gaining experience does take time and it can often feel disheartening if you are working full time alongside applying every cycle. As someone who has experience in rejections, my advice would be to treat each application cycle as a learning experience. Each round provides the opportunity for you to improve the quality of your applications and understand what you want out of your training contract experience. Remember the average age of qualification in the UK is 30 so, although it may feel like it, not everyone secures a training contract straight out of university.
Going through various rounds of application cycles can also help you focus on the law firms that are right for you. All law firms use buzzwords like culture, practice areas and ESG. In practice, these concepts will have an impact on your working life and are important to consider when deciding where to apply.
Through attending open evenings and virtual sessions, you can often get a flavour of what a law firm is about and the type of training contract experience on offer. Consider the sort of hours you would be happy to work, the level of responsibility you would like to be given and the types of clients and work you wish to be involved in.
My experience working in a regional law firm helped me realise that the most important factors to me were having a good work/life balance and being part of a supportive and collaborative team which valued my contributions. Open evenings and law fairs provided me with the opportunity to speak to current trainee solicitors for an insight into the trainee experience at their respective firm.
You can attend law fairs from your first year at university so I would highly recommend attending and quizzing trainee solicitors on their first-hand experience. You may find that early exposure to different law firms enables you to narrow down the list of firms you wish to apply to more easily, which can help you to focus and improve the quality of your applications.
For me, Michelmores stood out as a friendly, supportive and collaborative firm. Trainees spoke about how they were immersed in the culture of the Firm with the array of opportunities immediately available to them; from attending marketing events to being invited out to awards dinners. The work/life balance at the Firm was remarkably good and trainees rarely spoke of a late-night working. I developed a genuine enthusiasm for the Firm, and it was easier to demonstrate through the application process that I was a good match for the Firm and vice versa.
Your experience of the training contract application process is unique to you, but I hope that sharing my own journey has provided some useful insight. Your legal and non-legal work experience is a valuable asset and you should focus on emphasising your skillset in applications. My own experience has also taught me the importance of choosing the right firm for you. Research and understand the types of law firms out there and consider what you wish to achieve during your training contract.
Once you have found the right firm, the application process should feel less daunting.
To sign up to any of our insight sessions or open evenings, please use the links below.
