Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

I am considering applying for Middle East TCs (train 1 year in Ldn and 1 year in Dubai or an 18/6 months split). If I end up signing a Middle East TC then I qualify as an England & Wales solicitor meaning that, on paper, I can work in London as well as Dubai. Also, I believe the usual expectation is to work as an associate in Dubai after training. But my main issue with the Middle East TC is the following: if I complete a Middle East TC, will I be welcome in the London Legal Market if I decide to come back to London (at NQ or further down the line)? Theoretically, I will be able to work in London as I will be an E&W qualified lawyer, but what about from a practical point of view? I am slightly worried that completing a Middle East TC will (determinately) affect may career. Does the London Legal Market consider working in law in Dubai as inferior?

Are you aware of commercial lawyers making Dubai --> London moves. I believe the opposite is true (train in London and move to Dubai).

Would love to hear your perspective on this matter, and please do correct me where I have said anything wrong.

There are a couple of questions:

Do you have ties to the region? E.g., family living there, Arabic language skillsc, have lived there in the past?

Would you be willing to stay in Dubai for a few years upon qualification?

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

There are a couple of questions:

Do you have ties to the region? E.g., family living there, Arabic language skillsc, have lived there in the past?

Would you be willing to stay in Dubai for a few years upon qualification?

Can I please PM you instead since I am going to provide personal information? I would really appreciate some privacy when discussing this.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Can I please PM you instead since I am going to provide personal information? I would really appreciate some privacy when discussing this.

Sure - that's not a problem.

For those reading this, my point was going to be that if you have no ties or commitment to the region, there is little point applying for these type of roles. You will typically need some form of tie to the region/country to be in a position to be considered. They will want someone who will commit to the region for at least the medium term. They will be careful to weed out people who are just trying to qualify via this route only to work in London as that is not what the programme is for, and the firm itself is most likely to have London TCs anyway.

 

[Casual]

Hi @Jessica Booker,
Does mentioning other firms in answers to the application questions hinder/improve the chances of getting to the next stage (For example "During my vacation scheme at Firm X, I developed an interest in Y practice area")?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker,
Does mentioning other firms in answers to the application questions hinder/improve the chances of getting to the next stage (For example "During my vacation scheme at Firm X, I developed an interest in Y practice area")?

I can’t see it hindering an application. The bit that is interesting to the recruiter is what you developed an interest in, not where you did it though, so naming another firm isn’t going to automatically improve an application either.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I have signed up to a few recruitment agencies in the pursuit of a paralegal role. One of them has sent me two emails at different times for two different paralegal roles and asked me: "let me know if you are interested / let me know your thoughts". What does this mean exactly? Are they suggesting me to the law firms? How do these legal recruitment agencies (e.g. EJ legal, SSQ) work for paralegal roles?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I have signed up to a few recruitment agencies in the pursuit of a paralegal role. One of them has sent me two emails at different times for two different paralegal roles and asked me: "let me know if you are interested / let me know your thoughts". What does this mean exactly? Are they suggesting me to the law firms? How do these legal recruitment agencies (e.g. EJ legal, SSQ) work for paralegal roles?

They just want to know your thoughts on the role first. They won’t put you forward until you have basically said you are interested. Saying you are interested doesn’t mean you are put forward for the role though - that very much depends on the candidate pool the agency have. In all honesty, they have probably sent the email to 20+ other people also asking whether they are interested in the role(s).

Recruitment agencies send a shortlist of candidates to firms so they don’t have to deal with hundreds of applicants. The recruitment agency will either receive some form of bonus fee for placing you or will receive a percentage of your salary if you complete the contract or stay a reasonable amount of time (eg 12-18 months if a perm role). The percentage isn’t taken from your salary, the law firm just pays it to the recruitment agency.

 

[P143]

Hi @Jessica Booker!

A few weeks ago, I asked the firm that I am starting a TC with whether they are considering increasing the LPC maintenance grant in light of the rising living costs (also because most other firms seem to be doing it, although I did not mention this to them) - they promised to get back to me on it.

It's been 4 weeks since then, and I have not received any update - I appreciate that this kind of decisions is taken by the firm's management and I do not want to sound ungrateful, so does it make sense to follow up and ask for an update? Or shall I take the silence as a "no"?

Thank you so much!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker!

A few weeks ago, I asked the firm that I am starting a TC with whether they are considering increasing the LPC maintenance grant in light of the rising living costs (also because most other firms seem to be doing it, although I did not mention this to them) - they promised to get back to me on it.

It's been 4 weeks since then, and I have not received any update - I appreciate that this kind of decisions is taken by the firm's management and I do not want to sound ungrateful, so does it make sense to follow up and ask for an update? Or shall I take the silence as a "no"?

Thank you so much!

My view is that you probably need to sit it out a little more. Four weeks in July/August is no time at all in a law firm. They probably haven't even had time to have a meeting about it yet, in all honesty, especially if the relevant people who need to discuss the matter are on annual leave. These type of decisions usually take many months rather than weeks to come to a conclusion on.

I'd wait another four weeks and then call your point of contact up. I'd also potentially offer any support you can give them on this. For instance, could you attend any meetings to discuss this from a future trainee's perspective/could you do any research into what other firms are doing?

 

[P143]

My view is that you probably need to sit it out a little more. Four weeks in July/August is no time at all in a law firm. They probably haven't even had time to have a meeting about it yet, in all honesty, especially if the relevant people who need to discuss the matter are on annual leave. These type of decisions usually take many months rather than weeks to come to a conclusion on.

I'd wait another four weeks and then call your point of contact up. I'd also potentially offer any support you can give them on this. For instance, could you attend any meetings to discuss this from a future trainee's perspective/could you do any research into what other firms are doing?

Thank you very much for this!

 

[A.Diane01]

Hi @Jessica Booker hope you’re good!

just wondering whether it would be feesable to do the PGDL Jan ‘23 - Aug ‘23, then start the SQE Sept ‘23? could this be done if you were trying to obtain a TC for Sept ‘24?

or so law firms like studying to be separated over 2 years?

TIA!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker hope you’re good!

just wondering whether it would be feesable to do the PGDL Jan ‘23 - Aug ‘23, then start the SQE Sept ‘23? could this be done if you were trying to obtain a TC for Sept ‘24?

or so law firms like studying to be separated over 2 years?

TIA!

Yes, you could definitely do that. I don’t think any firm wants you to study over two years, it’s just how it had to play out when the courses were much more structured under the old qualification system.

 

[A.Diane01]

Yes, you could definitely do that. I don’t think any firm wants you to study over two years, it’s just how it had to play out when the courses were much more structured under the old qualification system.

Ah brilliant, I see! As ever, thankyou so much 🌟

 

[Nemo_nana]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I hope you’re well.

Not sure if this has been addressed before but would just like to get some advice from recruitment perspective on re-applying to a firm after a post-app rejection with the same application (in terms of some of the content for questions relating to extracurriculars and achievements) but with better structure, clarity, etc

And the second on is reapplying with exact same application after making it through post-app but rejection after WG test.

I hope I’m making sense and thank you in advance!

 

[juhi30721]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I hope you are well.

I had in-person VS last month and just got an update that I did not secure a place for TC. Though disappointing, I am sure this VS will be a great asset for my future TC applications. However, I am concerned about the negative impression other law firms might get from the fact that I couldn't convert it to TC. How can I demonstrate that I am still a good candidate despite failing to secure TC after VS?

Thank you!

 

[m2001]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I was just wondering how you would interpret trainee retention rates? I'm in the fortunate position to be deciding between a few TC offers, but one of the firms reported quite a low retention rate recently (75/80%).

Is this a sign that their trainees are highly employable elsewhere or suggesting more an internal problem at the firm/that people don't want to stay?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I was just wondering how you would interpret trainee retention rates? I'm in the fortunate position to be deciding between a few TC offers, but one of the firms reported quite a low retention rate recently (75/80%).

Is this a sign that their trainees are highly employable elsewhere or suggesting more an internal problem at the firm/that people don't want to stay?

Unfortunately one intake doesn’t really show anything and I’d discourage anyone from looking at one intake alone. I’d look at the average over at least 3 years to get a better idea of what is happening.

But even then the figures could be down to a whole range of factors, including the following:

Why it could be lower:

- people leave the legal industry altogether
- people want to move to places where the firm doesn’t have offices
- trainees weren’t good enough
- the practice areas on offer were not what the qualifying trainees wanted
- trainees were headhunted by other firms
- the firm didn’t have vacancies due to high retention figures among associates (that’s potentially a positive as shows people want to stay)

Why it could be higher:

- the firm actually under recruited the number of trainees
- trainees have had to defer due to personal reasons/extended leave or left the firm during their TC meaning fewer people were looking to qualify
- the firm has gone through a period of growth, but that won’t necessarily be sustained
- the firm has poor associate retention figures
- a pregnancy/secondment/sabbatical boom in associate populations

My general advice is unless the firm’s retention rate is quite frequently below 75% not to worry about it too much in all honesty. 75% is not a bad retention figure - it’s actually pretty good in my opinion.

 

[m2001]

Unfortunately one intake doesn’t really show anything and I’d discourage anyone from looking at one intake alone. I’d look at the average over at least 3 years to get a better idea of what is happening.

But even then the figures could be down to a whole range of factors, including the following:

Why it could be lower:

- people leave the legal industry altogether
- people want to move to places where the firm doesn’t have offices
- trainees weren’t good enough
- the practice areas on offer were not what the qualifying trainees wanted
- trainees were headhunted by other firms
- the firm didn’t have vacancies due to high retention figures among associates (that’s potentially a positive as shows people want to stay)

Why it could be higher:

- the firm actually under recruited the number of trainees
- trainees have had to defer due to personal reasons/extended leave or left the firm during their TC meaning fewer people were looking to qualify
- the firm has gone through a period of growth, but that won’t necessarily be sustained
- the firm has poor associate retention figures
- a pregnancy/secondment/sabbatical boom in associate populations

My general advice is unless the firm’s retention rate is quite frequently below 75% not to worry about it too much in all honesty. 75% is not a bad retention figure - it’s actually pretty good in my opinion.

Very helpful - thank you!

 

[erin1009]

@Jessica Booker Hi I am looking for advice on my training contract application it only includes 2 questions:

1. Please list any other relevant skills, experience or qualities and explain how these would be of advantage in a traineeship at X
2. Please explain what you consider distinguishes you as a potential Trainee with X and why you would be an asset to our firm.

Both are capped at 150 words. I am an aspiring energy solicitor (renewables) and this is one of the firm's strengths plus their client base. With a short word count I don't know the best way to approach the questions. Should I focus on one or two skills and detail my experience via STAR? I want to make sure I am relating it back to the firm as much as I can. Any advice would be greatly welcomed including how you have dissected each question to me 1 means core skills of a trainee and 2 my unique selling point but I would warmly welcome other perspectives!

 

[Wired4759]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Sorry for yet another A-level-related question.

I took three A-levels many, many years ago. While I passed them all, I did poorly by law firms' standards (and I had no mitigating circumstances). I did go on to university to take a non-law degree, graduating with a first.

Earlier this year, I took exams in three completely different A-level subjects as a self-taught private candidate and achieved three A*s. I am now about to begin a second undergraduate degree (though again not in law) at an Oxbridge university.

For firms with strict A-level requirements, would my new A-level results supersede my old ones, or would they be discounted/considered resits?

Many thanks.