Legal apprenticeship: any tips on trying to find a trainee solicitor job

dublin_bhoy said:
hi guys, first of all it is a great and very informative thread!

got a pfo from a+l goodbody in the post there this morning. I got through to the final round of interviews with arthur cox though - sometimes you would wonder what the criteria is for some firms?! does the fact i have not started my fe1s yet come into play with any firms do you think?

on the arthur cox question - they told most people in interview they won't get back until the 15th - however i heard as kiki referred to above that get back after they finish interviewing by phone, which would mean they informed those succesful last night as interviews finished yesterday. has anyone heard anything?! tension is killing me!
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It's like you're sharing my thoughts!! I too got a PFO from A&L this morning, despite getting through to the final round with A. Cox. I'm sure it's not the lack of FE1s that's affecting your application. My personal view is that this year, with things so tight in the economy (bah humbug), firms like A&L and McCann are really only inviting a very limited number of candidates to interview. I feel that a lot of us who received PFOs from firms in the top 5 this year would probably have gotten interviews this time 12 months ago. I just think resources are so scarce this year that it must really only be the ones with absolutely brilliant cvs, results, experience, whatever that got called. Congrats to those who did and best of luck. Ye feckers!!! :p

Got the spiel 'bout the 15th in my Cox interview as well but I've kind of resigned myself to the likelihood that the successful candidates will have been contacted by now. That said, I haven't heard of anyone getting a phone call yet - but maybe I'm just hanging with the wrong kind of people!
 
Kiki86 said:
Dublin Bhoy, since the interviews for AC are now finished perhaps it will be friday that the successful applicants get their phonecall. I think the interviews finished on a friday last year so maybe thats why they made the phonecalls straight away before the week was out!I wouldnt give up hope till friday anyway!
PFO from A&L today too-:(. On the other hand im graduating from my llm next week so at least this year wasnt a total waste!
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Congrats on the llm. I'll try not give up hope, got my own exams to contend with next week so just want to be out of out the misery of the waiting game!

Lawyerlygrad said:
It's like you're sharing my thoughts!! I too got a PFO from A&L this morning, despite getting through to the final round with A. Cox. I'm sure it's not the lack of FE1s that's affecting your application. My personal view is that this year, with things so tight in the economy (bah humbug), firms like A&L and McCann are really only inviting a very limited number of candidates to interview. I feel that a lot of us who received PFOs from firms in the top 5 this year would probably have gotten interviews this time 12 months ago. I just think resources are so scarce this year that it must really only be the ones with absolutely brilliant cvs, results, experience, whatever that got called. Congrats to those who did and best of luck. Ye feckers!!! :p

Got the spiel 'bout the 15th in my Cox interview as well but I've kind of resigned myself to the likelihood that the successful candidates will have been contacted by now. That said, I haven't heard of anyone getting a phone call yet - but maybe I'm just hanging with the wrong kind of people!
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Yeah i'm going to put a&l and mccann rejections down to that - have to positive :) If you do get offered cox or hear of anyone who did post it up here please so i can sleep easier and get a bit of study done! Best of luck!
 
dublin_bhoy said:
hi guys, first of all it is a great and very informative thread!

got a pfo from a+l goodbody in the post there this morning. I got through to the final round of interviews with arthur cox though - sometimes you would wonder what the criteria is for some firms?! does the fact i have not started my fe1s yet come into play with any firms do you think?

on the arthur cox question - they told most people in interview they won't get back until the 15th - however i heard as kiki referred to above that get back after they finish interviewing by phone, which would mean they informed those succesful last night as interviews finished yesterday. has anyone heard anything?! tension is killing me!
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hiya. yeh carr communications is really good. In relation to a.cox, i was told that i would be contacted before christmas and friends were told after the 15th. I dont know if there is any merrit in what kiki said regarding them contacting successful candidates on the evening of the last day of interviews.....but i dont know for a fact....because i cant judge kiki's credibility. But what i did find out for a fact, last night, was that a current trainee there only got contacted two and half weeks after her interview.....so there's still hope!!
 
Got an interview with A&L thank god, that makes up for not making to the second round of AC! At least I have something to prepare for now....


With regard to what was mentioned above about getting called 2 and a half weeks later, what happens if someone who gets offered a contract decides to accept another one they have been offered? Does their contact get given to someone else who wasn't originally offered??
 
Re the A.Cox second round interviews, I was told I would be contacted before Christmas. I havent heard of anyone being told they could expect to hear by phone, nor have I heard of anyone actually getting a call this year. So dont give up hope yet guys!! I know a guy who works at AC at the moment who told me he was left hanging for almost three weeks before he got his offer!
 
Jev said:
Got an interview with A&L thank god, that makes up for not making to the second round of AC! At least I have something to prepare for now....


With regard to what was mentioned above about getting called 2 and a half weeks later, what happens if someone who gets offered a contract decides to accept another one they have been offered? Does their contact get given to someone else who wasn't originally offered??
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Jev-congrats on A&L and best of luck. However i would seriously doubt that a.cox would give an offer to someone, just because a spot has opened up. Ive heard (and this makes sense, to me anyway) that they actually make offers to a slightly greater amount of people than they would realistically like to take on, because they know that some of those people are likely to/might take offers from other firms, which would result in coxes a) taking roughly an "expected" number of trainees, b) that number still represents some of what they see as the most "appropriate" people to train with them and c) that the majority of those people actually want to work in coxes as opposed to the other firms and have chosen coxes over other firms (assuming those people get other offers) - that explains why a) coxes interview before everyone else and b) if you get an offer, you have until end of january to accept it.
Take from that what you will.
 
Hi guys!

I am absolutely dying to hear the results of thr AC second round interviews! It's a very tough climate and there seems to be little consistency in the way various firms are chosing candidates to interview.

If anyone hears back from AC can you plz plz plz post here so as to take the rest of us out of our misery! I really want to know one way or other so I can start getting some sleep again!!!
 
Eh! said:
Hi guys!

I am absolutely dying to hear the results of thr AC second round interviews! It's a very tough climate and there seems to be little consistency in the way various firms are chosing candidates to interview.

If anyone hears back from AC can you plz plz plz post here so as to take the rest of us out of our misery! I really want to know one way or other so I can start getting some sleep again!!!
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you're reading my mind!!
 
I thought the interview was strangely enjoyable - not sure if that is good or bad!

I hope we know tomorrow - a whole weekend in the unknown will be a nightmare!
 
LDGantly said:
what did you guys think of your interviews? how did yee get on? / any tough questions?
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Nope-no tough questions. Just general chat. Though I found I'd no sooner have started to answer a question then they'd launch into the next one! Don't think I did too well - think I was a bit too friendly and not reserved enough. But hey - you can only be yourself so if that's not what they wanted, I'll just come up with a new persona for next year!! ;P

Anyone else hear back from Hayes? (Not MHC but Hayes.)
 
Are you thinking that the positive answers have already been sent out??
 
Eh! said:
Are you thinking that the positive answers have already been sent out??
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From Hayes? Possibly not - I was more fishing to see if anyone else received a PFO - misery loves company and all that!! But also, it'd be good to see what exactly they're looking for. I have a law degree, masters in commercial law and legal research experience. I mean I know everyone applying to the big firms has a good CV - I'd just be interested in hearing if Hayes are rejecting a lot (like I think McCann and A & L did) or if it's personal!

If your question referred to Cox, I'd say it's unlikely. Maybe tomorrow......
 
oh common guys!! keep the chins up...lets keep hope until after the 15th....i mean there is evidence that some people dont get a reply until 2.5/3 weeks after the interview!! (even if some people get offers before the weekend! you never know until you get the PFO)
regarding the interview itself..that is exactly how i felt....nothing tricky...and i was completely myself....but thats why its hard to know how i did! a friend of mine got asked to sell himself in 30 seconds. another friend got asked about weak points and how they could contribute to the firm as a trainee. mine seemed to be just a general chat about my cv...(2 other people i know said the same about theirs)
lawyerlygrad i think its good that you were friendly (on the contrary, though relaxed i think that i was overly reserved) they want to know if they can work with you on a daily basis...and if you're friendly, what more could they want???
the way you have to look at it is that because we all seemed to be ourselves, if we're not offered a place its because our personalities wouldnt suit the atmosphere of the place, in which case we wouldnt like working there anyway!
any idea when mops/maples/fry getting back to people??
 
No idea about the other firms - its all a waiting game!

The only reason I am duibious about that far off date of the 15th is that every other year they were making calls the day after the interviews even on Saturday mornings!!

But as you suggest there is no point in being overly pesimistic!

PS: Do most of you have your Fe1's done?
 
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