My 10 top tips for thriving in your traineeship

Ahead of the summer when many future solicitors will start their traineeships Cara Low, Solicitor at Burness Paull, shares her best advice for success.

University can never truly prepare you for the first day of your traineeship, or the first week or month for that matter. The expectations and stakes are high, and the work you will be asked to do will often push you out of your comfort zone. Having qualified less than two years ago, the lessons that I learnt during my traineeship remain at the forefront of my day-to-day working life. In this article, I will share my top 10 tips to help you navigate your traineeship.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Throughout your traineeship you will be asked to do new things every day, often of different degrees of complexity. But rest assured you will have a team to support you in those tasks. One of the most important lessons I have learnt is not to be afraid to seek guidance and input from your team. You will be surrounded by knowledgeable individuals – use them!

Ask for feedback

Your traineeship will give you plenty of learning opportunities, on some days more than you would like. Take time to reflect on tasks that you have completed and ask supervising solicitors for feedback. This will really help you to develop and learn from your mistakes – and yes, you will make mistakes – everybody does! More on that below…

Work/life balance

The legal profession can be demanding, so make sure you have other interests outside of your working hours. Take the time to do something you enjoy – it will really help you detach from your day and will help you recharge before returning to the office. You will find it helps you focus too.

Try to get a varied traineeship

Based on your experience in university you may already have some preconceived beliefs about what law you want to practice, but do not let this stop you from gaining experience in other areas of law. Often you will find that areas of law you studied at university are completely different in practice. Many traineeships today will involve you spending periods of time in different departments (often referred to as “seats”). I would really encourage you to undertake a varied traineeship. You might even find that the subject you hated at university turns out to be your favourite seat!

Accept that you will make mistakes

Being a “trainee” quite rightly conveys that you are “in training”. If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t learning. Every solicitor that you will work with has been where you are, and chances are they will have also made the same mistakes. Going into your traineeship, you should accept that you will make mistakes. Also, *spoiler alert*, you may make a mistake even after you qualify. Never attempt to cover up a mistake. As soon as you realise you have done something wrong (however big or small), speak to someone about it. It might be an easy fix. Ignoring mistakes and hoping for the best is never a good approach.

Be enthusiastic

From day one you are building your own reputation as a legal professional. Be enthusiastic when you come to work, even if the task you are being asked to complete is boring. Showing enthusiasm and offering colleagues assistance goes a long way.

Get involved and network

A traineeship is not all work and no play. A traineeship will present many opportunities to meet with clients, attend charity events and get involved with other firmwide events and initiatives. It is never too early to start your business development. As a trainee, I would encourage everyone to get involved and attend as many social/networking events as possible – if not for the experience, go for the free food and drink!

Be proactive in your own learning

Be proactive in your own learning and seek out your own opportunities, whether that’s in respect of a piece of work that you really want to get involved in or a specific seat that you really want to do during your traineeship. Showing initiative is a valuable quality and it will be appreciated by your colleagues. Taking ownership of, and expanding your own knowledge, is also very important.

Manage your workload

You will inevitably find yourself facing conflicting deadlines or having to admit to yourself that you have taken on too many tasks at once. If you do end up in this situation, do not keep it to yourself. Be honest and upfront about your capacity and existing workload and communicate it clearly to your team. Let your colleagues know as soon as you can if you are swamped or don’t think you are going to be able to complete a task in time – reallocation of work happens all the time. Taking on tasks which you cannot complete in time or to the required standard will not serve anyone well. Colleagues would far rather you told them that you didn’t have capacity to take something on.

Enjoy the experience

And finally… enjoy the experience! The two years really does go by quickly, so make sure you are making the most of every moment.