New website to promote training openings

As the Society continues to strengthen its focus on supporting and representing the profession, the introduction of a recruitment portal advertising traineeships and summer placements is an exciting development for law students and the profession alike.

Unlike most recruitment websites, training organisations can post their vacancies for free and without agency involvement, allowing direct links to be built between the training organisations and future trainees from an early stage. Placements and traineeships come in all shapes and sizes and we have developed this website to ensure all training organisations have an equal platform to tell students about the various opportunities. Training organisations advertise in different ways and at different times, and this site allows each organisation to complement their existing recruitment methods at no cost.

During the LLB and Diploma, most students have very little contact with the profession, and their only awareness may come from their university law fair. With an average of 25-30 training organisations attending, law fairs rarely represent the broad spectrum of traineeships and summer placements available. This website seeks to place all training organisations on an equal footing to attract high calibre individuals suited to their needs.

It also seeks to replace the Society’s traditional “training register”, putting the onus on graduates to search for available traineeships, and become more proactive in finding an opportunity. Persistence and perseverance are qualities that will serve all graduates well at any time and stage of their career, but never more so than during this difficult economic climate. It is no secret that the competition for training contracts and summer placements is particularly keen at the moment, and I have been impressed by the prospective trainees now emerging from the LLB and Diploma who are ensuring they are as employable and competitive candidates as possible.

Interest in opting to receive communications for the Society (New Lawyers’ News), attending CPD for new lawyers seminars, and gaining valuable work experience, has soared this year, and as a result the profession can benefit from employing engaged, committed graduates who have made a conscious decision to pursue a legal career.

Training organisations retain an appetite for high calibre graduates, despite the economic uncertainty, and it’s not difficult to see why. Today’s trainees may become senior members of the organisation in the future. Both the organisation and the trainee can benefit from a genuine investment in the trainee’s future.

I intentionally use the word “investment”, as recruiting a trainee can provide all training organisations with an opportunity to “grow your own assistant”. This phrase was coined to convey the long term goal of an organisation recruiting a summer student or trainee with a view to them becoming an established member of the organisation in the future and, ultimately, take on the succession. They can only do this if there are bright and capable assistants ready to step up to the challenge. For this reason, the importance of recruiting the right employees cannot be overestimated. Recruiting the right people now can pay dividends in the future, and by developing this website the Society is recognising the importance of ensuring training organisations have a fair opportunity to offer placements and traineeships to law students, and ultimately invest in the future of their organisation.

The flexibility this new website affords means that training organisations can offer a variety of opportunities, depending what is appropriate for them, whether one short summer placement or 20 traineeships. With no charge to advertise your vacancies, this may just be an investment worth making.

To find out more about advertising your placement or traineeship vacancies free on lawscotjobs.co.uk, email newlawyers@lawscot.org.uk

Heather McPhee, Development Officer, Education & Training