Irwin Mitchell Question

[Olivia Graham]

One of the questions on the Irwin Mitchell application is:

"What are the main challenges you anticipate you may face as a trainee solicitor and how would you approach them?"

I have to admit I am struggling a little with this. Would it be appropriate to include something along the lines of adjusting to the workload or interacting with clients? Any thoughts would be welcome!

 

[Jaysen]

One of the questions on the Irwin Mitchell application is:

"What are the main challenges you anticipate you may face as a trainee solicitor and how would you approach them?"

I have to admit I am struggling a little with this. Would it be appropriate to include something along the lines of adjusting to the workload or interacting with clients? Any thoughts would be welcome!

This comes down to your understanding the role of a trainee solicitor. Those sound along the right lines, just make sure you’re being very specific i.e. in what context do you think you’ll be interacting with clients and what would be challenging about that?

Some of the challenges I faced in my (limited) time as a trainee:

- Managing workloads and expectations for different supervisors
- Surviving back to back long hours
- Finding the balance between asking for help and doing things myself
- Handling the uncertainty of not initially knowing what to do for most tasks

 

[Olivia Graham]

This comes down to your understanding the role of a trainee solicitor. Those sound along the right lines, just make sure you’re being very specific i.e. in what context do you think you’ll be interacting with clients and what would be challenging about that?

Some of the challenges I faced in my (limited) time as a trainee:

- Managing workloads and expectations for different supervisors
- Surviving back to back long hours
- Finding the balance between asking for help and doing things myself
- Handling the uncertainty of not initially knowing what to do for most tasks

Thank you so much!

 

[MFK]

Hi Olivia,

How did you go about answering this question then? I am applying for their TC and am struggling as well. I don't know how honest I should be about how I think I may struggle.

 

[Andrew M]

Hi Olivia,

How did you go about answering this question then? I am applying for their TC and am struggling as well. I don't know how honest I should be about how I think I may struggle.

I am getting ready to apply for the TC too. I think the emphasis is "how would you approach them?". So, for example, what would you do/how would you manage when faced with the challenge of being given work from different supervisors.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much!

be sure to make this unique to you. This question is a combination of understanding what you will do as a trainee and your own self awareness (eg knowing your strengths and development areas).

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Olivia,

How did you go about answering this question then? I am applying for their TC and am struggling as well. I don't know how honest I should be about how I think I may struggle.

you should be honest but not necessarily list out everything. Focus on 1-3 areas you want to develop and know you need to but demonstrate how you may approach your development in these areas or how you are already trying to develop your skills in these areas. If you have enough word count you could do both.

the key part is “main” challenges - any firm knows trainees will have challenges, even if they are the most capable/confident trainee out there.