Hey, I have managed to secure one with one of the bigger Dublin firms. It's possible and I was looking for four years. Best of luck to all still searching. I didn't have any contacts either but if you can wrangle some out of politicians, go for it!!
Legal apprenticeship: any tips on trying to find a trainee solicitor job
- Thread starter Gabrielle
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Hey, I have managed to secure one with one of the bigger Dublin firms. It's possible and I was looking for four years. Best of luck to all still searching. I didn't have any contacts either but if you can wrangle some out of politicians, go for it!!
G
get real
Guest
Anybody looking for an apprenticeship should just give up, there is probably a couple floating around somewhere but even in the boom times they were very hard to come by. My advice, start getting good at flippin burgers!!
Spy do you mind me asking how you secured your training contract recently, was there an application process or did you just randomly send in cv etc.??
Also Get Real , the last thing people like myself who are looking for a training contract need is people like you posting such comments. We are all very aware of how hard our situations are but, those of us who really want it will succeed!
Also Get Real , the last thing people like myself who are looking for a training contract need is people like you posting such comments. We are all very aware of how hard our situations are but, those of us who really want it will succeed!
So you actually bothered to sign up an account here to post that?
Says a lot about you pal.
Troll and a prat.
yes I am qualified and unemployed with a few weeks. To be honest I was kind of glad to leave that environment. Most of my class that have jobs are very unhappy in them. Double the pressure for half the pay and you're always on edge as you might be next to go. Lots of newly qualifieds are working for free in firms just to get the PQE. Even in boom times, being a solicitor was just one big rat race, the only difference was that you had to pretend you were happy with it, and that you were living the dream.
S
Snowcone
Guest
Hi all,
2 questions re traineeships. I have never applied to the big firms as I began my traineeship search by applying to mid-sized firms and none of them seem to be taking trainees. I'm going to apply to them this time around though and I was just wondering what my chances would be of getting an interview. I have a mid 2:1 undergrad law degree, a mid 2:1 postgrad in law, 8 FE-1s, almost a year of work exp split across a couple of different mid-tier commercial firms, travelled, good extra-curriculars from college (society involvement and held a couple of elected positions), and am commencing AITI course next month. I only ask as I applied to Malcomson in Jan and didn't get to interview stage and consequently don't understand what firms are looking for.
My second Q is to do with filling out results on an application form:are grades or percentages best? I have good grades (2:1s mostly with a few 1:1s along the way) but I have a bad grade (compensatable pass) in an accountancy subject in the early days of my college career (I was sick the night before and day of the exam - should have looked for a deferral in hindsight but at the time I was just happy that I didn't have to repeat!) Any advice on how to dress this up on an app form or would it end my chances of getting an interview?
2 questions re traineeships. I have never applied to the big firms as I began my traineeship search by applying to mid-sized firms and none of them seem to be taking trainees. I'm going to apply to them this time around though and I was just wondering what my chances would be of getting an interview. I have a mid 2:1 undergrad law degree, a mid 2:1 postgrad in law, 8 FE-1s, almost a year of work exp split across a couple of different mid-tier commercial firms, travelled, good extra-curriculars from college (society involvement and held a couple of elected positions), and am commencing AITI course next month. I only ask as I applied to Malcomson in Jan and didn't get to interview stage and consequently don't understand what firms are looking for.
My second Q is to do with filling out results on an application form:are grades or percentages best? I have good grades (2:1s mostly with a few 1:1s along the way) but I have a bad grade (compensatable pass) in an accountancy subject in the early days of my college career (I was sick the night before and day of the exam - should have looked for a deferral in hindsight but at the time I was just happy that I didn't have to repeat!) Any advice on how to dress this up on an app form or would it end my chances of getting an interview?
Think you've quite a good chance tbh. Extra-currics are seem to be very broad-ranged are substantive and grades are good. Id defo give percentage as otherwise firms might thing you're trying to conceal something. Best of luck with the applications
M
Mrs.QC
Guest
Heya, your chances would be as good as anybodies. Your grades could be better considering that there are a lot of high 2.1s and a fair amount of 1sts out there but your extra-curriculars seem to be very strong. Grades arent everything by any means and I know several people with 2.1s who got offers from the big firms over people with firsts last year. The one thing I (personally) would be concerned about is why you havent applied before...how much do you want to work for these firms if you didnt apply the first time you had a chance to do so?
Re your second query, I would give the precantages, but thats just me. As the above poster said, if you give grades, they might think that you're trying to hide something and will see through your application. Just be honest and you'll be grand. I scraped through economics in the second year of my degree (42%) and generally, had rubbish grades in my first two years. At interview the questions were focused on how I managed to improve them so much. So to be honest I wouldnt say it matters at all that in your early days you passed a subject by compensation. So what? We're all human and we all have our off-days. The firms know that.
The last thing I would say to you is that the key in getting to interview stage is ensuring that your application is worded perfectly. Your presentation MUST be impecable. Photocopy the application forms, fill them out, and show them to as many people (preferably those who would know about recruitment) as you can and take their opinions on board. All the firms can go by is by what you have written in application. Also, obviously, its very very important that you answer the questions asked (especially for william fry and Goodbody---as they have the "trickiest" questions). G'Luck
Re your second query, I would give the precantages, but thats just me. As the above poster said, if you give grades, they might think that you're trying to hide something and will see through your application. Just be honest and you'll be grand. I scraped through economics in the second year of my degree (42%) and generally, had rubbish grades in my first two years. At interview the questions were focused on how I managed to improve them so much. So to be honest I wouldnt say it matters at all that in your early days you passed a subject by compensation. So what? We're all human and we all have our off-days. The firms know that.
The last thing I would say to you is that the key in getting to interview stage is ensuring that your application is worded perfectly. Your presentation MUST be impecable. Photocopy the application forms, fill them out, and show them to as many people (preferably those who would know about recruitment) as you can and take their opinions on board. All the firms can go by is by what you have written in application. Also, obviously, its very very important that you answer the questions asked (especially for william fry and Goodbody---as they have the "trickiest" questions). G'Luck
The advice I would give Snowcone is to make sure that a job in the big 5 is what you want, I spent months last year filling up applications for all of them only to realise that it wasnt what i wanted. I was told by some of the recruiters that this also came through in my applications. There's a lot of work required into filling these applications just make sure your doing them for the right reason. Lots of luck with it
can I just pose a question please -
I've had to vere away from a legal career owing to the fact that I couldn't find an apprenticeship and I am now working a paid internship with a human rights NGO in the UK which runs until late next year. There is little or no chance of permanent employment with them after my contact ends.
I have all my FE-1s but jumped ship into this area because of what I foresaw was a fairly hopeless situation for trainee solicitors in Ireland. I also had to pay off some bills.
I'm still toying the idea of making one last attempt at securing an apprenticeship, as I would like to qualify as something seeing as I studied for so long!
When would be the right time to start throwing out CV's again?
I'm not looking to work for the top-10 so to speak, I find them too commercial. A small to medium firm doing criminal,family, employment or immigration is what I would be looking for - am I being overly optimistic?
I've had to vere away from a legal career owing to the fact that I couldn't find an apprenticeship and I am now working a paid internship with a human rights NGO in the UK which runs until late next year. There is little or no chance of permanent employment with them after my contact ends.
I have all my FE-1s but jumped ship into this area because of what I foresaw was a fairly hopeless situation for trainee solicitors in Ireland. I also had to pay off some bills.
I'm still toying the idea of making one last attempt at securing an apprenticeship, as I would like to qualify as something seeing as I studied for so long!
When would be the right time to start throwing out CV's again?
I'm not looking to work for the top-10 so to speak, I find them too commercial. A small to medium firm doing criminal,family, employment or immigration is what I would be looking for - am I being overly optimistic?
Mr. C.J.H.
Registered User
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No, as you must be "available for and genuinely seeking work" to qualify for jobseekers benefit or assistance. You may qualify for a Local Authority Higher Education Grant whilst on the PPC courses and the Law Soc have a bursary for students in severe financial hardship.
I understand that you are very eager to qualify and that is why you are considering working for free, but you should think about this long and hard, is it really worth it? 2 1/2 years without pay and about €13k in fees, after which you will in all likelihood be unemployed. Aprox 70-80% of this year's NQs are now unemployed and it is likley to be a lot worse next year. Ask yourself would you be better waiting a couple of years, gaining experience in paid employment before making such a huge leap with failure at the end, in terms of getting a NQ job, a virtual certainty. Perhaps things will be better if you waited a couple of years, who knows you might even get paid during your traineeship, in blackhall and fees paid (like the good old days in my case of 3 years ago).