Legal Recruitment

The outlook for many law students who are seeking to get a training contract in the coming years is a bleak one.  The reality is there are many more law students graduating from the legal practice course than there are training contract vacancies and therefore many end up being disappointed when they apply to get a job on the first rung of the ladder in the legal profession.

The situation has been made even worse by the recent recession which has caused many law firms to defer some of their training contract start dates and reduce the numbers of training contracts they are offering in the coming years.

This has meant increased competition for training contracts and the numbers of people applying increasing each year as the next wave of new applicants joins the existing applicants who have yet to secure a training contract.

The situation is therefore difficult for many law students who often have large student debts but who are unable to then get a job.  The situation isn’t helped by the fact that there is a lack of knowledge and advice available to law students about how best to write an application to give them the best chance of success.

One ex-solicitor became acutely aware of this situation when he was part of the recruitment process for his firm’s future trainee solicitors.  Matt Oliver has since set up a website to give careers advice and information on how to improve applications for training contracts.  The website is called Trainee Solicitor Surgery and is designed to give much needed careers advice to those people who are seeking to secure a training contract.

Given Matt’s background he is able to give specific, targeted advice rather than generic careers advice and application help, which is often all law students are able to get from their university careers offices.  The process needed to produce successful applications for training contracts is unique in many ways.  Not only do the applications need to be prepared in a certain way, but there is an important and necessary research element that needs to be undertaken before any applications are produced.

Matt also offers one to one assistance to students who are seeking to improve their chances of succeeding with their training contract applications.

For more information about succeeding with your law training contract applications click here:  Trainee Solicitors.

A law student in the UK typically has to study for up to 3 years to get his or her law degree and one year for completing the LPC. It is a quite expensive and time consuming process. After going through this expensive academic process, the prospective solicitors start their hunt for the training contract. For this they rely on various recruitment agencies and legal vacancies published in newspapers and magazines. But at present scenario a 2:1 at degree makes solicitors eligible for training contracts. Law graduates, who do not fulfill this condition, may find it difficult to get a training contract.

Training contracts are now mostly awarded to prospective solicitors two years in advance. Moreover, legal firms have more options and they can now pick the best. In this scenario, it has become mandatory for solicitors to get work as paralegal. It means that it will take a solicitor another 2 to 4 years after graduating to actually start a training contract. A paralegal job outside London can get anything between £15-20000 per annum. But it will take you a number of years to get £20-30000 per annum and that too depends on the area of law he or she is practising.

So what does a prospective law student should analyze in this situation? One can say for certain that to study and make a striking career in law is not for those, who are faint hearted. You have to expend a lot of money in law colleges and put in tremendous effort to complete with fellow graduates. It is better to look for other areas in law, which pay better and have plenty of vacancies. Corporate and commercial law and commercial litigation are such areas. A recruitment agency can better tell which area you should choose after going through your credentials.