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

Spy said:
Got my PFO email from MOPs too. another slap in the face. What did EFC letter say? it all sounds very intriguing. Congrats everyone who got interviews and offers.

i think this is the coping with rejection helpline Lawyerlygrad :)
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I'd say it's as good as one could expect alright Spy :p And it certainly is a big help!

EFC basically said "hey listen, you know the way the economy is in ruins yeah? Well we've been affected and we don't know if we'll be needing anyone so we're holding off on interviews at least until the new year when we'll reassess".
 
i applied to lavelle coleman-got an acknowledgement in late october but nothing since.

EFC said that they're basically not taking anyone on due to economic climate....they said that they will contact again if the economic environment improves..
 
LDGantly said:
i applied to lavelle coleman-got an acknowledgement in late october but nothing since.

EFC said that they're basically not taking anyone on due to economic climate....they said that they will contact again if the economic environment improves..
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Which might not be too soon going by the consensus

Tough times all around within the legal profession. There were nearly as many practices advertised for sale in this months Law Society Gazette than the whole of last year. Some people obviously had enough and are jumping ship.
 
Well that was decent of them to actually be honest. Is today the offical day of rejection? So far today I've got PFOs from MOP, Dillion Eustace and Maples. and the postman has left me another letter for opening later on.

I never applied to Lavelle-Coleman - do they have a closing date or are they more open ended on the application front?
 
So Dillon Eustace are out now too?
Not many left now. I got an interview with mop but they didnt ring me, just sent an email. What was the phonecall about? Just the same thing?
 
Spy said:
Well that was decent of them to actually be honest. Is today the offical day of rejection? So far today I've got PFOs from MOP, Dillion Eustace and Maples. and the postman has left me another letter for opening later on.

I never applied to Lavelle-Coleman - do they have a closing date or are they more open ended on the application front?
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yep, "official rejection day" sounds about right...got pfo from mops, maples and EFC, heard nothing from dillon eustace.
LC have no date up on their website, but in their letter they said they will be reviewing cv's in december....might still be worth it to send yours in...
 
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Chin up everyone. The rejections arent a reflection of your quality, they're a reflection of a broken sector.

The firms are only acting as "recruiters" for good PR. They are taking on the bare minimum of trainees so as to not be percieved by the media as falling apart. By even giving one person a position they can blow their horn as "growing" and taking a long term view.

From what ive found, most firms are very worried about the press saying that they cant keep on trainees or they aren't even interviewing for graduates. so if that means having us all fill out applications, then thats what they'll do.
To keep their clients they have to maintain a strong image. Unfortunately we're being used to keep this charade up. Dont be fooled!

The exception to my theory is that some people are getting contracts and they deserve them so congratulations!
 
Just wondering has anyone done interview coaching, and if so could you recommend anyone? Thanks!
 
dont do it be yourself, they train you to give boring generic answers.
Feedback from HR told me they spotted it in me... and they will have to reject you if they dont see the real you because they dont have anything to judge you on!
 
I've booked Carr Communciations. It costs 150. I take the point that it could make you generic and boring but I also think you have to learn how to play the game and be prepared. You can let your personality shine while also streamlining certain aspects of your interview technique.
 
Wow €150, they're really milking it there! Personally I think it's best to get a few tips from someone in the know and just prepare you're answers yourself to give you an idea of what you're going to say, but not a script... Anyone I know that has succeeded in interviews hasn't needed a prep course
 
I didnt go to carr because I was worried id be like everyone else. From working in a top 5 the feedback i am gettting from the partners who interview is that they stray away from people contriving their response which is what carr makes you do
 
anyone heard from Dillon Eustace? LK Shields? BCM?

I read in the Business section of Irish times on friday that contracts are only being offered for 1 year in A&L...


A&L Goodbye...
 
I did the carr communications training course back in october. I learned all the "tricks" and "answer formulation" techniques that one would expect to learn from attending such a course. However I did not use ANY of them when it came to the interview, which has subsequently transpired into an offer. The best thing I got out of carr communications, is being absolutely grilled by my coach. At least I felt it was really tough but then again I hadnt done any interviews prior to it. (however some pretty experienced interviewee's have since watched the dvd and confirmed its "BBQ" status)
I came out thinking, "an actual interview, could not, in anybody's worst nightmare be THAT hard"....that helped me and relaxed me, when preparing for the actual interview. They wont grill you intentionally, but my advice is MAKE them do it, by either asking them politely or by doing what i did.
I had never been to an interview (thats not to say i havent had jobs) prior to going to carr communications and I intentionally got my coach to dislike me before he conducted the mock interview, by being cocky and arrogant, because I knew that to get my €150 worth of hard earned cash, I needed to get something more out of there than "skills and techniques" that I already had a fair idea about from talking to experienced people. I know that that wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea but I felt that if I got through that (and he said that I actually did reasonably well considering it was my first interview....), I could surely do better at and be more mentally ready for an actual interview. Conquer you fear/nerves and you'll conquer the interview-thats my advice. Aside from that, the last poster is completely correct in saying "know your cv and be natural"-you cant go wrong.
 
cjak said:
anyone heard from Dillon Eustace? LK Shields? BCM?

I read in the Business section of Irish times on friday that contracts are only being offered for 1 year in A&L...


A&L Goodbye...
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how can they possibly know that if no offers have yet been made? Did the A&L PR person come out and say it? not that i doubt the credibility of IT but just wondering...
 
it is in the backpage section which is for unofficial information that has been validated. So although this has not come through their PR channel it has come from perhaps partners or people within the firm. The Irish Times wouldnt cover something like that if it was a slander.
Im trying to find it online to show yous but only have the hard copy as proof!

It said their partners were taking cuts and bonuses were being removed in there..

o and theyve already made offers to their interns 2009 is full :(
 
I don't know how to post a link 'cause I'm a simpleton.
But I just googled "a&l goodbody irish times business december" and it came up.
 
trainee201 said:
o and theyve already made offers to their interns 2009 is full :(
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Well this was the impression I got at their open evening at their offices, it's very rare that any firm has many openings for the next year, at least that's what I've been hearing anyways? It doesn't affect me either way at any rate...

edit: I got that link there once you posted up the details, couldn't find it when searching on the site for some reason and on Google I was searching for "A&L" although the article uses AL

Anyways, I'm trying to understand what this means, i.e. one year contracts post-training or one year traineeships (the reason I ask is I didn't think it was possible for the latter and just want to clear any confusion up!)
 
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