From Social Science to Solicitor: How I Landed a Training Contract in 7 months

Although I had a vague idea of the areas of law I was interested in, it wasn’t until I properly started researching firms that I realised how broad their offerings can be and, just as importantly, how my existing skills could set me apart in applications. To decide where I wanted to apply, I used a combination of firms’ own websites and Legal Cheek to make a huge spreadsheet, noting factors such as trainee intake, salary, typical working hours, key practice areas and any other information I found relevant. Once I’d settled on around 10-15 firms, I then made another spreadsheet to keep track of application opening and closing dates, as well as my own progress throughout each of the application stages. It may sound like a lot of work, but organisation was crucial to ensuring I didn’t miss any deadlines; given the limited time I had as a final-year student, it was important I only applied to firms that genuinely appealed to me.

Stage 2 – Open Days and Insight Events
In order to stand out in my applications, I realised first-hand engagement with lawyers was key. While I already had strong commercial experience and a passion for law, I needed to go above and beyond to prove I was genuinely interested in certain practice areas and firms. Hence, before I submitted any vacation scheme applications, I made sure I had some sort of interaction with the firm that I could talk about – whether it be attending an open day, insight evening or online webinar, or completing a virtual job simulation (such as on Forage). Most open days occur quite early in the academic year and require prior application to attend, so I was incredibly lucky to receive invites to three. Although attending them did result in some missed lectures, they were so important in experiencing the cultures of different firms and having something to discuss which couldn’t simply be found on their website.

Stage 3 – Firm Profiles
Using my insights from open days and information available online, I made a ‘firm profile’ for each one I was applying to. This contained similar things to my original spreadsheet, as well as going into detail on their recent cases, awards, values and mentions in the media. This was more of an overview at the time of completing the initial application forms; I added to it in more depth as I progressed throughout the application process, making note of how my own experiences and skills could tie in.

Stage 4 – Commercial Awareness
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for developing commercial awareness. However, when I broke it down into its three limbs awareness of current affairs, how businesses work and how law firms operate there were lots of resources which helped:

Stage 5 – The Application Process
Having never experienced the application process before, there was little I could actually do to prepare myself for each stage, whether it be an aptitude test, recorded interview or case study exercise. This is where making connections on LinkedIn became especially helpful fortunately, I found many future trainee solicitors who had recently completed vacation schemes (especially those who I had things in common with, such as my university) were happy to offer tips and advice. Perhaps most important at this stage was to remember my non-law background did not put me at a disadvantage, as tempting as it was to compare myself to my law student peers. I had the skills, passion for law and commercial awareness
all I needed to do now was prove it!

Looking back, I realise starting ‘late’ wasn’t the hurdle I thought it was. Coming from a social sciences background meant I brought a different perspective to commercial problems, and my lack of legal experience allowed me to approach firm research with a totally open mind.

If you’ve only just decided to get into law and are feeling behind the curve, remember: law firms don’t expect you to be legal experts from the start, they want well-rounded, organised and resilient people with the potential to become brilliant trainees.