Jack's Training Contract Journey

[JackPorter76]

Hi All!

Unfortunately I am a bit late to the party setting up a "journey to a training contract" thread. First and foremost, thanks to the TCLA team for awarding me a scholarship - I will be taking full advantage of the services offered!

By way of background, I am currently a student studying for my LPC + LLM after completing my undergraduate degree in law a little over a year and a half ago. I took a year out in-between my undergraduate and postgraduate studies to gain some experience at a global bank based out of Canary Wharf. I thoroughly enjoyed this work, gaining exposure to different areas of banking and finance law in several jurisdictions.

I write this post to hold myself accountable in both VC + TC applications, to share my thoughts along the way and track my progress to see how I improve over the forthcoming months.

I feel it is important to share some key facts about myself, which may motivate others sharing a similar background / story:

I attended a state school;
I attended / attend a non-Russell group university;
Neither of my parents, nor do I know any family that have worked in the legal profession; and
I achieved C, D and E in my A-levels (albeit mitigating circumstances).

I know the journey ahead will be tough, but I full faith in myself that I can achieve a training contract. My applications will be tailored towards firms offering services in all financial related areas, and general corporate and commercial areas too. I will start by delving deeper into TCLA's courses content... update in due course (pun intended).

Anyone feel free to comment on this thread, or reach out to me on LinkedIn if you want to discuss your own journey / thoughts. Always open to tips, advice and feedback!

Jack

 

[AvniD]

Jack, thank you for sharing about your background and experiences! You have a fascinating perspective and I cannot wait to see how you progress with your applications and journey- wishing you the best and looking forward to reading more of your posts!

 

[JackPorter76]

7/11/2022 - Update

The first update of many I envisage...

This update will consist of some targets I will set myself for the forthcoming weeks, where I hope to check in regularly to see how I progressing.

For this week and next I plan to:
- Read the TLCA Gold Commercial Booklet;
- Complete the "Law firm Applications that Lead to Interviews" module;
- Get into the habit of listening to a commercially focussed podcast each day (I will share a few useful ones below);
- Start my research and submit an application for a VC for one of my target firms by 18/11/22; and
- Start my research on other target firms in general with the aim of submitting another application by the end of the month.

Some of the podcasts I will be tuning into are:
- BBC - Wake up to Money;
- BBC Radio 4 - The Bottom Line (Listened to a fantastic podcast discussing the potential impact of interest rates on the housing market);
- Watson's Daily Podcast - Commercial Awareness; and
- Financial Times - News Briefing.

See you midweek sometime...

 

[Maria d'Orey]

Hi @JackPorter76 ,

That's a great update - thanks for sharing some useful podcasts with the forum, I'm sure it will be helpful for other members! 👏

I look forward to reading your next update! Best of luck!

 

[JackPorter76]

Here again... Slightly later than anticipated (LPC is ramping up a gear and illness)

I finally got round to reading the TLCA Gold Commercial Booklet, fantastic by the way, it gives a general overview to all key commercial concepts.

I also stumbled across some of Jacob's commercial insights - another great way of explaining the way law firms are setup and operate - https://linktr.ee/JacobMiller1.

I unfortunately am yet to start the programme I wished, but that is pencilled in the calendar over the next few days, including the continuation of my research for my application. New target, end of this week.

See you again soon.

 

[AvniD]

Here again... Slightly later than anticipated (LPC is ramping up a gear and illness)

I finally got round to reading the TLCA Gold Commercial Booklet, fantastic by the way, it gives a general overview to all key commercial concepts.

I also stumbled across some of Jacob's commercial insights - another great way of explaining the way law firms are setup and operate - https://linktr.ee/JacobMiller1.

I unfortunately am yet to start the programme I wished, but that is pencilled in the calendar over the next few days, including the continuation of my research for my application. New target, end of this week.

See you again soon.

Later is better than never! 👏 👏 👏

I hope you're feeling better- kudos to you for still keeping up with app work despite feeling ill. I hope you're able to do the programme by the end of this week but would not put too much pressure if you're not able to finish the entire thing as like you said, you've been busy and feeling poorly.

How have you found keeping up with the LPC workload?

 

[JackPorter76]

I am feeling much better now... So I am hitting the ground running.

The LPC is certainly getting busier, I have 3 courseworks due in and around Christmas, with 3 more exams in January; no rest for the wicked

I am trying to dedicate an hour a day to research / applications / commercial awareness to ensure that side of things doesn't suffer.

 

[Erin]

Glad to hear you're feeling better Jack!

Dedicating an hour a day specifically to research and work on applications is a great way to keep up momentum whilst also being busy with your LPC workload.

Keep up all of your hard work - we are all rooting for you! 👏

 

[JackPorter76]

Evening all... Thought I would have more exciting plans on a Saturday night...

I have just gone through the majority of the "Write law firm applications that lead to interviews". It gave me some very useful pointers to allow me to research purposefully (with a view of the potential questions that may be asked).

Research for my target firm starts tomorrow!

 

[AvniD]

Evening all... Thought I would have more exciting plans on a Saturday night...

I have just gone through the majority of the "Write law firm applications that lead to interviews". It gave me some very useful pointers to allow me to research purposefully (with a view of the potential questions that may be asked).

Research for my target firm starts tomorrow!

Very happy to hear you're better Jack! Glad you found that course helpful- research purposefully was a game-changer for my apps. And having a few benchmark criteria (office locations, USP, secondment opportunities, TC structure, clients, headlining practice areas etc.) helped me differentiate between firms as well. Organising your research super well also helps in recall so ensure that you're presenting it neatly!

All the best for tour target firm research! 💪

 

[Jaysen]

Evening all... Thought I would have more exciting plans on a Saturday night...

I have just gone through the majority of the "Write law firm applications that lead to interviews". It gave me some very useful pointers to allow me to research purposefully (with a view of the potential questions that may be asked).

Research for my target firm starts tomorrow!

Glad to hear it was useful

 

[JackPorter76]

Update time...

I have officially passed my first exam of my LPC course - woohoo! I have also submitted a different coursework yesterday.
And yet, I have more coursework that releases this week unfortunately, no rest for the wicked

In other news, I managed to attend my first event for a long time, "Growth Capital" with Herbert Smith Freehills - it was very interesting and confirmed a further interest into M&A. I plan to complete the TCLA courses on this are in due course. I am attending another Legal Cheek event this Thursday on commercial awareness in partnership with Weil (who I am starting a TC application for after my target firm).

The first draft for my target firm for a spring VC is coming to an end, I plan to submit the application early next week. Will update in due course as always.