Articles From the Team
BCL Legal’s Birmingham NQ Seminar March 2012
BCL Legal recently ran our March 2012 NQ seminar in conjunction with the BTSS at the offices of Gateley in Birmingham. This is one of a number of events we have been run with the BTSS this year, including other seminars and social events.
It is always interesting to talk to trainee solicitors and see how their ideas and thoughts take shape throughout their training contracts. Increasing both knowledge of the law and general commercial awareness.
The March seminar was aimed at explaining how the process will work if trainees need to use the services of a recruitment company upon qualification and also giving an overview of our take on the “market”.
Some areas of law obviously attract more applications than others (from newly qualifieds) and are therefore much more competitive. Other areas are less popular and therefore easier to move into at NQ level. We tried to highlight these areas to give trainees some guidance about what they can expect.
We also tried to explain how BCL Legal works and how we can go about assisting trainees in their search for an NQ position. This includes advising about new positions, making applications, dealing with feedback, setting up interviews, advising on interview preparation and assisting with job offers.
The general message is that we foresee a reasonably active NQ market this summer but that we recommend that trainees start to get themselves organised now. We are already registering candidates who are qualifying in September and getting everything ready for when the first roles start to come out in May/ June.
The final topic covered was CV preparation. There is a fairly standard set up for CVs. We would recommend that candidates start with their education, in reverse area, detailing institution, grade, course and dates. This should go back to (and include) A-Levels.
Work history should follow also in reverse order. More detail should be focussed on the training contract as pro bono and vacations schemes are now much less relevant. Perhaps mention them but do not go into detail.
Finally interests and extra curricula activities should be detailed at the end. Some Partners really are interested in recruiting a rounded person.
The consultants at BCL Legal are always happy to discuss any queries and concerns that you might have in utmost confidence.
Call 0845 241 0933 and speak to one of the team