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Training contract advice - help

Hey all, I'm just wondering if anyone knows which firms hire for training contracts on a rolling basis and do interviews before May, as I won't be in the country thereafter... I'm looking for firms that interview and give out offers in Feb/March/April/Early May, rather than waiting until summer to do interviews.

Much thanks in advance for any help, it is greatly greatly appreciated. My future in this country is hanging in the balance here, which is pretty upsetting + the uncertainty is driving me nuts :/

Reply 1

help___me

Original post by J-SP

Will be rare for firms to do interview during this time.

I would recommend contacting firms you want to apply to and getting advice from them directly.

Ah I see, thanks for the advice. So for the firms that have deadlines coming (e.g. womble dickinson in feb, bird and bird in april, etc.) do you think they only be doing interviews after the deadline?

Reply 2

help___me

Oh, btw, I am a law graduate so won't be able to apply to non-law intakes!

Reply 3

help___me

Original post by J-SP

Why not just ask them? Far better getting it from the horses mouth rather than speculating.

If it’s a non-law deadline that hasn’t passed,then they might interview around the time you have mentioned. May is less likely given it is exam season for the vast majority of applicants.

Hahah my hesitancy about asking was more the fact that in my experience they tend to take ages to reply to queries on their grad recruitment emails, so was trying to look for alternative avenues of information but yeah, might just sit down and jet off a whole bunch of enquiries. Thanks for the help! :smile:

Reply 4

help___me

Original post by J-SP

Call them. It’s much quicker/more efficient.

Hi again J-SP,

This is unrelated, but you seem pretty knowledgable/active on this forum so thought you might be someone good to ask - was just wondering if you've any advice for the Freshfields AC? I'm worried as I'm not as knowledgable about the application process as others seem to be, since I never really got the chance to throw myself into a cycle in the same way others might have, and have never been to any open days/done any VSes, nor do I have much experience with assessment centres and the like. It comprises of a motivational interview, analytical interview, and written test. Any/all advice would be of the utmost help!!

Much thanks in advance!! x

Reply 5

help___me

Original post by J-SP

No specific advice for FBD unfortunately.

If you have no clear evidence of pursuing the career in lAw, be prepared to be grilled why Law, why them. You are going to need to explain your motivations for the day job and the career.

Written test is likely to assess your drafting skills and/or attention to detail. Be over critical of the writing - lawyers have to write in a super concise manner, well structured and accurate. Think about the audience too.

So I've got loads of pro-bono experience, as well as experience working at the intersection of law and international development. I studied law as well, problem is I mostly picked human rights/public international law-related modules so I'm not sure if that's going to raise a few eyebrows especially from commercial law firms. My justification for that is that I knew that I'd do commercial law, and alot of it is learnt on the job, so wanted to explore other areas academically while I had the chance - and that anyhow perhaps this breadth of knowledge could allow me to the job better, in fact, it isn't completely irrelevant - think equator principles, environmental and social risk in due diligence, modern slavery act, investor-state arbitration, etc. (I'm not sure if that will sound like i'm stretching it/misunderstand the nature of work in a commercial law firm, particularly where I bring in human rights - to clarify, I don't think much of it will actually come into play in commercial law work, but i do believe it has trained me to consider other risks that businesses face and such. I am afraid I end up talking too much about this in my attempts to explain myself though, I can imagine it putting recruiters off)

In terms of my motivations, my application was done on the basis of my strong interest in current affairs and the dynamism of the legal industry/its interplay with global developments. I follow politics and business news quite closely (my part-time job is basically to follow business news, and I find the state of british politics especially these days to be absolutely fascinating - what a time to be alive!), but am also afraid I might fall short in areas where they ask me to apply this to the different practice areas across the firm, as that I'm not quite as familiar with. Have you any idea how much technical knowledge of the inner workings of a law firm one will be expected to have? I could list the practice areas and know what they do, but would probably be at abit of a loss if they start asking me what trainees in those departments do on the job/technical questions from within the different practice areas/grilling me further in general. Would you have any advice on how to prepare in that respect?

Thanks again for the invaluable help!!!

Reply 6

help___me

Original post by J-SP

Then do some more research. Understanding what a trainee would do in a major commercial department of a law firm is pretty vital. Look at the firm’s website - it will have case studies of trainees. Also look at the firm’s profile on major publications like Chambers Student Guide or Lex100. There will be more information there. Maybe even connect with a trainee who as an alum of your university and ask them some questions.

Your motivations seem ok, but politics will not directly affect all matters and especially the type of work you will do as a trainee or junior lawyer (minus some advisory departments). You need to explain why commercial law in terms of the jobs you will do and the clients you will work with, not just the big picture stuff where your motivations are at the moment.

You won’t need technical knowledge as such - it any is tested it will be really basic things. They will be more interested in how you analyse situations and try to work out what could influence processes, rather than anything highly technical.