The e-book was written to fill in some of the blanks about trainee solicitor recruitment.  There is still surprisingly little information available about what goes on in the real world when it comes to the recruitment of trainee solicitors by law firms.

The book gives an insight into some of the more important things to bear in mind when making applications for training contracts.  It also aims to give you an idea about what is really going on within the recruitment processes of many law firms.

The e-book includes:

• An insight into the recruiters – who are they?

• Tips on endearing yourself and your applications to the recruiter.

• Presentation tips for training contract applications.

• Mistakes to avoid in your training contract applications.

• Understanding how applications are reviewed and filtered.

• Tips on researching firms and areas of law before you apply for training contracts.

• Beating Procrastination

• How to sell yourself in your applications

• How to self-analyse your skills and attributes and how to include them in your applications

To have the download link to your FREE COPY of the e-book emailed to you NOW just enter your email address below:

Head over and follow us to receive updates on upcoming events, application tips, market news and new job vacancies.

To follow us just click here: @Trainee Surgery

And don’t forget you can also find us on Facebook and get the latest training contract related information directly into your Facebook news feed.

Join us on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/traineesolicitorsurgery

We received hundreds of applications for our 2010 Legal Launch Pad programme, with a deluge in the last few days before the closing date. Applications for the 2011 programme are now open and the deadline is 3pm on 30 November. The best tip for success is to ensure you read the guidelines and FAQs thoroughly, ensure you cover all the requirements and apply in plenty of time, avoiding the last minute rush when your application may miss the deadline or you may have insufficient time to collate and provide all the necessary documentation.

Posted via email from traineesolicitor’s posterous

If anyone is in this situation then it is vitally important that you work hard on your application documents and don’t just recycle those used for training contract applications.

For some useful guidance on newly qualified applications take a look at the website www.newlyqualifiedsolicitorjobs.co.uk

Deadlines do vary however and can be subject to change so always ensure you check the deadlines on LawCareers.Net first and then phone each firm before you apply just to double check their deadline.  Whilst you’re at it you can also check the name of the person to address your application to (if applicable) as the names published on the internet and in other publications are sometimes out of date.  You do not want to give the firm an easy reason to reject you by writing to the wrong person!

My one to one mentoring service has become increasingly busy over the last week or two as exams start to finish and more and more people turn their attentions to their applications.

Given the increased competition for training contracts since the recession you need to work hard to ensure that your applications make you stand out from the crowd.  In the current climate there are at least 2 applicants for every training contract so be sure to put the hours in on your applications.

I still have the last few places available for my application mentoring service for June and July.  If you think that working on a 1-2-1 basis to get my specialist advice on improving your applications would benefit you please get in touch.

I offer an initial free 15 minute telephone consultation to discuss your circumstances, your applications and how the mentoring service can benefit you.

Book your free consultation now by submitting your details via the Training Contract Success website at www.trainingcontractsuccess.co.uk

Not only will this knowledge help you make decisions about your own future careers, it will also be helpful in interviews should you be questioned on it or just want to display your knowledge of the profession.

The College of Law have produced a podcast of an interview with Chris Kenny who is Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board. This is what they say about it:

“Chris Kenny discusses the role and the function of the Legal Services Board and whether there is a need for it. He talks about the opportunities and threats to lawyers and legal services over the next five years. He looks at the impact on the Rule of Law given the proposed cuts to civil and criminal legal aid. He discusses the globalisation of legal services and international regulatory standards. Lastly, a bit of futurology, Chris discusses the likely legal landscape in the next five years.”

We strongly recommend you listen to this podcast to keep you up to date with how the provision of legal services is likely to look over the next few years. Click the link below to access the podcast:

Interview with Chris Kenny

By joining the Facebook page it means these updates go automatically into your news feed in your Facebook profile so that you don’t have to keep checking the TSS site for the latest news and jobs.

We trawl the internet and beyond every day for the latest training contract vacancies as well as having relationships with law firms’ recruitment departments.  We do not receive any payment for advertising these vacancies to you unlike other sites so we are not limited to bringing you the vacancies submitted only by our advertisers.

We also announce blog updates and latest job vacancies via Twitter.  You just need to follow Matt Oliver (the founder of TSS) who can be found by clicking on the following icon:

The essay question this year is: How might a legal education enable students to contribute to the improvement of society?

The word limit is 1000 words and the deadline for entries is 12 March 2010.

This is a great opportunity to try out your writing skills and would be an impressive thing to add to your CV to make you stand out from the crowd of other applicants when it comes to applying for vacation schemes and training contracts.

For further details of the competition together with tips on what you could address in your essay, and to read previous winning essays, visit the UKCLE website.

These have reached such a level that the Law Society’s education and training committee has introduced an information campaign to try and address the gap between the numbers of training contracts being offered by law firms each year and the number of people graduating from the LPC.

Figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority make for difficult reading for anyone seeking a training contract in the current climate.  The figures indicate that 9101 students started the LPC in 2009.  In the same year the number of training contracts being offered by firms dropped by 32% to 4320 from 6321 in 2008.

The Law Society is currently considering what action it might be able to take to ease this situation.  One idea being floated is that they provide support or incentives to encourage law firms to provide more training contracts.  Additionally, they are considering whether they might be able to introduce ways to qualify without having to undertake a training contract.

My view is that the more information out there highlighting the risks of pursuing a legal career can only be a good thing.  However, I think this information needs to be clear and perhaps broken down more so as to address where the greater risk lies.  For example, I do not see a huge amount of risk in doing a law degree as this is a very valuable qualification to have even if its owner doesn’t go on to pursue a legal career.

The risk, as I see it, is more associated around the LPC which can be expensive and is fairly limited to training students solely for legal practice.  If finding a way into legal practice then proves hard, there will be many who become victim of this risk.

Perhaps it is time to re-visit the notion of students having to have secured a training contract before they are permitted to do the LPC.  I know this has its critics but surely we need to start a fresh debate on this given there are less than half the number of training contracts available at the moment than there are candidates looking for them.

This scheme is aimed at available to anyone who has fallen below their normal training contract recruitment requirements when it comes to A-Level grades but who are able to show they have gone on to prove their academic ability at university.

The firm has a separate application form for these candidates to submit and has gone on to recruit 5 trainee solicitors from the scheme since 2007.

The scheme is run in collaboration with the BPP Law School and is open to BPP students currently studying for their GDL or LPC. Further details on how to apply for the 2010 programme can be found by contacting the BPP careers service.

The closing date for applications for the scheme is 31 January 2010.