When does the training contract start?

[Webmaster]

[img]http://www.traineesolicitor.co.uk/10percent.jpg[/img]

Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment is an online legal recruitment agency for lawyers. The website has a vacancy database, a candidate database, over 100 pages of detailed information on careers, CVs, interviews, and advice on how to be recruited and interviewed by a good law firm. There is also a section on the recruitment and retention of staff for legal employers. The company donates 10% of its profits every year to charity - hence its name - and over 3,800 solicitors and legal executives have registered with them since 2000.

Each week, Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment will answer one of your randomly selected career questions. To ask a question, email your question to careers@traineesolicitor.co.uk.

Here's this week's question:

"Dear All,

I know this seems like a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway. What month does the training contract usually start?

I will be (hopefully) graduating next July. Therefore I'll be doing the LPC in 2008 - 2009. So do I apply for a training contract starting in 2009 or 2010."

Response

Training contracts with a lot of firms don't actually start at any particular time. It really depends on when you need them to start. Even some of the larger firms are quite flexible in terms of when they will accept you for a start date. However, if you are applying for larger practices with structured training contracts, you should get one for 2009, and probably starting in September, as most do.If you are applying to smaller firms however, it is fairly common to join as a paralegal initially for a few months, and work in that capacity before a training contract formally starts. You can also apply for exemptions to the length of the contract if the firm take you for a period of time and the Law Society consider the work similar to that of a trainee solicitor.

I would recommend looking at our website and reading our blog and online guides (http://www.ten-percent.co.uk/careers_centre.htm).

Jonathan Fagan


Jonathan Fagan LLM MREC Cert RP is the Founder and Managing Director, and is a non-practising solicitor with over 7 years experience as a legal recruitment consultant. He has personally advised and prepared CVs for many 100's of solicitors and law graduates, and has assisted lawyers throughout their careers to date.