Other assessments we heard about involved advertising pitches to faux potential clients, mock mini-transactions and business advice scenarios. Observe your environment and its inhabitants; figure out the social structures, the hierarchies, the shared values that bond people (if indeed there are any). We have also included information on when the application window opens where known – if no date is listed that means applications are currently open. Lawyers tell us how they spend their days and share some of the trends shaping the work in their area of practice. The strongest applicants always manage to secure a clutch of offers, but don’t despair if you can’t secure a place – it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll never get a training contract.

Chambers Student Guide - Law careers, training contracts and

There are also likely to be mini-assessment tasks and projects designed to test your ability to present, argue and work as a team. Intelligent questions pave the road to success, so lay as many down as possible without becoming annoying. I remember doing some very serious assignments – although looking back I probably thought they were more serious than they actually were.

Just remember, “seeking out work and raising your profile without pestering people is a fine line to walk. Elsewhere, panhandling for work and knocking on doors to find assignments will be the name of the game, which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it, as this trainee told us: “It's good because it forces you to engage with people throughout the firm who you might not have otherwise met, but if you're not used to knocking on doors it can be very difficult.

Practice areas - Chambers Student Guide

Think about that next stage in the transaction, and if you don’t know what it is then go and find out.This recruitment lark is a delicate dance, so attune yourself to the characters around you and follow their lead. That doesn’t work for us: we don’t have the number of spaces to just say 'oh, we'll just take a punt on those five'. But this is not (yet) the prevailing recruitment model, and many firms who offer vacation schemes have no hard and fast rules about how many they will aim to recruit from them: some firms have just as many trainees who haven't done their vac scheme as those who have.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP - Chambers Student Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP - Chambers Student

After all, you marketed yourself well on paper when you sent your application form in; now you are just doing it in person. It’ll help you figure out what sort of work might suit you best and will enable you to ask intelligent questions of your supervisors. Our table of Vacation schemes compared will tell you exactly what places are available with the firms in this guide and when to apply. As one training partner told us, vacation schemes are a great opportunity to test the waters, “a chance to gain an insight into life as a lawyer, get feedback on your work and grow from the experience. You’ve got to be on your guard, though, because people will be conscious you’re there, and some of our sources did end up concluding: “It can be an artificial exercise – you see what they want you to see.At some firms, vac schemes are structured down to the minute with talks about the firm and its training contract, followed by tasks and social engagements. Obvious conclusion: you’ll need to put as much effort into vac scheme applications as you do into training contract applications. The application deadlines for the majority of vac schemes come in December and January, but some firms run schemes in the Christmas and Easter holidays and the deadlines for applying to those can be as early as October. A good example of a firm that relies heavily on its vac scheme is Mishcon de Reya, which recruits all of its trainees from people it sees on its placement. At others, vac schemers may be tied to a trainee or qualified solicitor and what they do will depend on that individual.

How do you become a lawyer - Chambers Student Guide How do you become a lawyer - Chambers Student Guide

The best vac schemes get students involved in ongoing cases and deals and puts them in the heat of the action – or at least lets them feel that way. As competition for training contracts is intense, it’s no surprise that competition for vac scheme places is too. Try and build your CV up in other ways – say with voluntary work or other legal or commercial experience – and then have another stab at vac scheme applications. Suffice to say, law undergrads need to start thinking about their application campaign during the summer after their first year at university.For smaller firms with a more concentrated or specialist array of practice areas, take note of this training principal's advice: "Given the limited spaces that we have, we want to feel that candidates have chosen us for a particular reason. While you’re busy watching everyone else, don’t forget that they’re watching you, watching them, watching you. Same as the training contract really,” one recruiter told us: “Strong academics and an interest in our practice areas.