Top 10 brainless blunders that could cost you your training contract

Competition for training contracts is high. In its 2018 annual student recruitment survey, the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) reported that law firms receive 22 applications for every training contract vacancy they advertise. Those statistics have improved for aspiring solicitors from the previous year, and are below the average 41 applicants per graduate vacancy advertised across all sectors, but that’s still 21 applicants who will be unsuccessful for every training contract offered.

And according to the Law Society’s annual report, just 5,719 training contracts were registered from 31,215 law graduates in England and Wales in 2016-2017.

Those numbers speak for themselves; bagging a training contract is tough. So, in such a competitive environment, you can’t afford to make silly mistakes during the application process.

I’ve listed the top 10 slip-ups (beyond the usual CV spelling and grammar errors) that I see candidates making throughout the recruitment process.

1. Not putting yourself out there

Students and graduates always ask me: “How can I stand out?” The answer I give is simple: attend as many events as possible, and make contacts and friends.

The trouble is, not many people go away and follow that advice.

You can meet recruiters really easily at a university careers event or an insight evening. Start by learning how to network effectively. And say ‘yes’ to as many events as you can. If you don’t know anyone at first, you soon will.

2. Applying for the wrong vacancy or year

Many firms recruit far in advance of the training contract starting, which can be confusing when it comes to applying. So, first thing’s first, make sure you’re applying for the year for which you’re eligible.

For example, if you’re a first-year student who graduates from a three-year law degree in 2020, you won’t be eligible to apply for training contracts that commence in 2021. Why? Because you will also need to complete the one-year Legal Practice Course (LPC) before your training contract starts.

This means that you will need to apply for training contracts that commence in September 2021 (which is when you’ll have finished your LPC).

3. Mentioning an office location that doesn’t exist

If you tell us how excited you are to work in our Bristol office, it’s clear that you have not done your research or you’re confusing us with another firm. (Shoosmiths doesn’t have a Bristol office – although I wouldn’t mind if we did!)

4. Selecting options that don’t apply to you, such as mitigating circumstances

In Shoosmiths’ online application form, we ask: “Are there any important mitigating reasons why you feel the exam results you have listed do not fully reflect your abilities?”

Be sure you know what a mitigating circumstance is before you tick this box. It isn’t the place to give us a step-by-step account of reasons why you resat exams, or why you got a 2.2 when you think we want candidates with a 2.1.

What we really want to see is a genuine reason why you didn’t achieve the grades you were predicted. We would usually expect you to have support from your school or university to show that they also took your circumstances into account.

5. Using the wrong firm name

The first question on our application is: “Describe why a legal career at Shoosmiths appeals to you.” If you go on to describe why a legal career at [insert competitor law firm name here] appeals to you, it’s obvious that:

i) You have poor attention to detail; and

ii) Shoosmiths doesn’t appeal to you as much as the other firm

We know that we’re probably not the only firm you’re applying for. But we want to know that we’re a firm that you have considered at length and the reasons why you might like to join us.

6. Failing to use the full word count

We set a word count on our application form questions because we believe that you should be able to answer them in the best way by using the full word count.

If you’re seriously short on words, you won’t be answering the question properly. Be sure to include all the relevant skills and knowledge that we are asking you for. And remind us of the value you think that you will bring to our firm. Even better; tell us why those skills and experiences will make you a great lawyer!

7. Not formatting your answers properly

As a lawyer you need to communicate clear advice to your client in an easy-to-read format. If you fail to do this at the application stage, how do we know that you’ll be able to do it in your career?

Space out your answer and use paragraphs to convey your message. It’s simple: you need a beginning, middle and end.

8. Missing out entire questions

Yes, this really does happen. Triple check that you have answered every question. Then check again. Then ask your friend to check it too.

Missing out a whole question is the equivalent of not submitting an application at all. Just don’t do it!

9. Forgetting that recruiters are human too!

It’s easy to think that the HR and recruitment team is one big faceless group of people shooting off rejection emails left, right and centre. Usually it’s just a team of one or two – in fact, you have probably met us at a careers fair.

There is one thing that’s guaranteed to stick in our minds, though. And that’s the name of a disappointed candidate who sent a mean email because they didn't get an interview. In any professional career, you will need to take the highs with the lows and remain positive, even if things don’t go your way.

10. Not engaging with us on social media

We love social media because it’s such an easy way for us to show you first-hand what working at Shoosmiths is all about. Our trainee solicitors help to run our social media pages, along with the recruitment team.

We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and, of course, LinkedIn. We post about what we’re doing, legal updates, deadlines, careers advice, commercial awareness and corporate responsibility.

Strangely, students are still reluctant to engage with firms on social media. Perhaps because you think we will look at your profile and judge you (we don’t!), or because you don’t know how easy it is to have lots of advice just turn up on your news feed.

Quite simply, ask a question via social media and you’re guaranteed a quick response. Click here to sign up to our series of Facebook LIVE videos where you can ask us a question and get a real-time response straight away.

Finally

These are the most common mistakes I see candidates making on their application journeys year after year. But they’re the mistakes that never seem to get mentioned! So bin the blunders and maximise your chances of training contract success!

Have you ever received feedback about an application you’ve submitted? Were you able to act on it and was there a positive outcome? Share your views in the comments below.

Samantha Hope is the head of recruitment and marketing for trainee solicitors at Shoosmiths. You can connect with her on Twitter, while she also blogs on graduate recruitment, technology and social media as The Inbound Recruiter, where this article first appeared.