Training Contracts: Lessons from a Future Trainee

[Nicole]

Hi everyone!

Demi Joannides, a future trainee at Herbert Smith Freehills, has kindly offered to share her application advice to students at TCLA.

Enjoy

The Online Application​

Choose quality over quantity

As with many firms, the online application is in some ways both the most important part and the hardest part of the application process. While many find interviews and assessment centres more challenging, most applicants are unsuccessful at the online application stage and on any online tests. Once you’re invited to interview, the chances of being offered a vacation scheme are statistically higher as you have already successfully passed other stages of the application process.

It’s no secret that [quality over quantity] is highly debated. I’ve heard stories about how people applied to fifteen law firms and received fifteen vacation scheme offers. Great. but this is very rare. In reality, those who send off fewer targeted applications which are of superstar quality are far more likely to be invited to interview than those who send off countless half-hearted applications. I applied to four firms and was invited to interview at all four. I ranked the firms in order of preference (making a note of each application deadline) and worked on one application at a time. As a rule, I never started a new application until I had submitted the previous one. This way I was sure that each application was the best it could be and had absolutely no spelling or grammar mistakes!

Demonstrate stellar commercial awareness

The concept of commercial awareness itself is quite abstract and it can be hard to know what law firms actually look for. The best piece of advice that I received was that they are simply looking for an ‘awareness’. Yes commercial awareness is very broad, use this to your advantage. A great place to start is by reading Richard Susskind’s “Tomorrow’s Lawyers”. Having a general understanding of the issues discussed here will be a great foundation for you to research some topics further. I also used the Commercial Law Handbook by Jake Schogger (a Warwick alumnus) which is great for defining and explaining business jargon.

Show major interest in the firm

Be sure to mention each and every time you have come into contact with the firm, whether that be at open days, presentations or campus events. Try to name drop (assuming you made good notes at the time!) and show how speaking to person X enticed you into finding out more about the firm. If in doubt, mention the firm’s Campus Ambassadors!

Don't downplay your interests or achievements

You may think this is a strange tip, but I have found it concerning to read over applications in which people downplay their achievements. Perhaps we are so used to not boasting in everyday life that it seems strange to have to sell ourselves in applications. In questions like ‘tell us about your biggest achievements’ it’s arguably more impressive to fully analyse how you dealt with a difficult customer at work and what skills you gained from this, rather than how you climbed Kilimanjaro which is restricted to able-bodied people who can afford to do so.

Likewise, never be ashamed or embarrassed about your participation in outreach programmes (which are typically for students from non-traditional backgrounds). I was heavily involved in Pathways to Law, Rare Recruitment, Aspiring Solicitors and Pure Potential. Diversity is very important to a lot of law firms and this is one way to show your motivation for a career in law outside of university societies and extra curricular activities.

Save a Word copy of every application you send

Ok, listen up. This is arguably the most important tip of all. I learnt my lesson very early on. I typed my answers directly into the online application and, once it was sent, there was no way of retrieving my responses. This made preparing for interview very difficult and meant that I could not conduct further research on any deals/cases that I (perhaps?) had mentioned.

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[Nicole]

The Interview​

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Arrive early and know where you are going​

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While this goes without saying, people fall at this hurdle all the time. If the firm’s office is spread across different buildings, know which one you’re going to (Google maps will be your best friend). I arrived at least 15 minutes early.​

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Look the part​

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I am a big fan of faking it until you make it. Dress smarter than you have ever dressed before, make your shoes shine until you can see your reflection and do some power poses before you go in. I always carried pens, paper, coloured tabs, highlighters (which were a life saver in case study interviews) and a hard copy of my online application.​

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Be friendly​

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For anyone who has endured the stress of an assessment centre, I salute you. Assessment centres are a prime example of how stressful situations alter behaviour. All too often interviewees are so consumed by nerves that they forget to act normally and actually be nice! Remember that your interview starts from the moment you walk into the building. The way you talk to reception staff and other interviewees in the waiting area is all part of the test! Don’t let your nerves mask your approachability and social skills.​

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Listen to your interviewer​

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Believe it or not, interviews are two way conversations between yourself and your interviewer. They are a great way for the firm to get to know you, as well as for you to know a bit more about the firm and its people. In each of my interviews the interviewer introduced themselves, briefly mentioned their career path so far and which area of law they practise. Remembering this information is a great way to form a really interesting question to ask your interviewer at the end. Asking how the firm’s merger in 2012 affected your interviewer when they were a fourth-seat trainee in banking litigation shows a thoughtful and tailored interest in the person sat in front of you, not a pre-prepared generic question.​

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Back yourself​

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Ultimately, interviews are for you to prove that you are capable of being a fantastic addition to a firm. A key piece of advice that I wish I had known at my first interview is that you’re being judged as if you are a real lawyer talking to a client (who is often played by the interviewer). It’s my natural instinct particularly at interview, to admit I am unsure or completely thrown by a question. In real life situations, clients don’t want uncertainty in their legal advice. While others may disagree, I found that being confident in my views and articulating myself well impressed my interviewer, although it is ok to change your mind, as long as you can explain your reasoning well. In my HSF interview I was asked if buying the shares or assets of the company in question was the safest option. I spent most of the interview demonstrating why I though X option was best, only to be told at the end of the interview that option Y was definitely better. Despite this, my interviewer was impressed with how I formulated a convincing argument and I received a vacation scheme offer as a result.​

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[Nicole]

The Vacation Scheme​

If you’ve managed to secure a vacation scheme, congratulations! In many respects, the most ‘difficult’ part is over. Statistically speaking, the ratio of applications received to vacation scheme places is incredibly high, often with thousands of applications for circa 40-60 places. Although you have done fantastically well in securing a vacation scheme, for most people the ultimate goal is to convert that into a training contract offer.

I view vacation scheme interviews as attempting to convincing the firm that you deserve to be there for 2, 3 or (sometimes 4) weeks of work experience. Getting a training contract offer is about convincing the firm that you deserve to be there permanently – or at the very least for the two-year training contract period. Undoubtedly, all of this convincing requires some pretty hard work!

From the outset, I think it is important to stress that the success rate of converting a vacation scheme into a training contract offer varies considerably from firm to firm. For some firms, the vacation scheme is predominantly a work experience programme, for others this is the main (or sometimes only) way of recruiting trainees. At the beginning of my vacation Scheme at Herbert Smith Freehills, graduate recruitment emphasized that there were enough training contracts on offer for all of those whom the firm is impressed by. At other firms, there may be a strict quota of vacation scheme to training contract conversions.

From my own experience on Herbert Smith Freehills’ spring vacation scheme last year, I have formulated a few key tips on how to convert a vacation scheme into a training contract offer:

1. Never, ever (under any circumstance) act competitively towards your fellow vacation schemers

This is a major no-no. If you are competitive towards your fellow vac schemers this will backfire, especially if the culture of the firm is non-competitive. Sometimes people tend to assume that the 20 people in your vacation scheme cohort are competing for, let’s say, 10 training contract offers available. While this may be the case at some firms, such rigid quotas are very rare. Most firms will tell you at the beginning of the scheme that there are enough training contracts available for everyone who the firm is impressed by. (i.e. if you’re good enough, you’ll get a TC). Don’t forget that commercial law firms thrive because their lawyers work together in fantastic teams to provide the best advice and secure the best results for their clients. Likewise, as a vac schemer, you must convince the firm that you are also able to work in a team. This starts with how you interact with your vacation scheme cohort!

2. Pretend it is a two-week-long interview

Not to sound like Big Brother, but you are being watched at all times. I say this because, after a couple of days, it is very easy to feel comfortable at a firm. Very quickly I was familiar with my surroundings, became friends with my fellow vac schemers and really enjoyed the vacation scheme. Don’t let such comfort be the reason for a slip-up! Be aware of what you say and to whom. What might seem like friendly banter between vac schemers at after work drinks may be completely inappropriate in the context of the vacation scheme. You often hear stories about how some firms (apparently) instruct restaurant staff to keep note of their vac schemers’ behaviour when there are no firm representatives around. Whether or not this is true, I would always act on the side of caution and be aware of how you present yourself both inside and outside the office. Likewise, how you interact with everyone from partners to canteen staff is important! After my vacation scheme I received feedback from graduate recruitment on my performance. One of the points noted on my file was how friendly I was towards the canteen staff when I went to get a coffee every morning. The moral of the story is this: being part of a firm consists of so much more than just being a fantastic lawyer. For firms which advocate a friendly and approachable culture, it is imperative that their future trainees are friendly and approachable people!

3. Ask questions

I was quite surprised about how much responsibility I got from day one. I was even asked to write an email which, after being approved by my supervisor, was sent directly to the client. It is natural to feel under-qualified to do the tasks you have been set (it’s because, quite frankly, you are!). Both of my supervisors were more than happy for me to ask questions about the tasks I had been set. It is important, however, to try and use your common sense and attempt to figure things out first. I was assigned a trainee buddy who I used as a second port of call if I really didn’t understand. If I still needed help I asked my supervisor, obviously taking care to ask at a convenient and suitable time. Asking questions is the best and most effective way to show that you are interested in the firm and in the work you are doing. If the firm is not convinced that you really want to be there, you won’t be offered a training contract, no matter how impressive the work you produce is.

4. Demonstrate an interest in everything the firm has to offer

During my vacation scheme at HSF there were lots events and talks held at the firm during lunchtime or in the evening. Attending such events is a great way for you to get to know the firm, as well as showing that you are making the most out of the vacation scheme and that you have a real interest in the firm as a whole. At HSF every event had a sign-in sheet, this meant that graduate recruitment could see whether any vac schemers were in attendance. During my training contract interview (which was conducted on the last day of the vacation scheme) I made sure to talk about all of the events I attended and how this helped me gained a real and well-rounded insight into life at the firm. On a similar note, it is a false presumption that vacation schemers should arrive to work very early and leave very late. I think there is a fine line between showing a keen interest in the firm and taking things a bit too far. If your supervisor requests that you stay later to finish some work, then by all means do. But vac schemers who intentionally work late (with no real need or reason to do so) end up missing out on events, talks and activities that happen in the evening which I think are better ways of proving your interest in the firm. Ultimately this is a personal judgment call and different firms with different cultures will look for different personality traits in their trainees.

5. Be yourself

This is very simple: firms are not looking for clones of themselves, they are looking for you!​