Trainee blog - Andrew Gibson

Andrew Gibson is one of our new trainee bloggers. He’s one of three trainees from Brodies LLP who’ll be contributing to the blog. Andrew obtained his LLB from the University of Stirling (studying abroad at Flinders University, of South Australia, in Adelaide) and his Diploma from the University of Strathclyde. He is currently working in the firm’s Corporate department, having completed seats in Commercial Services, Personal & Family and Personal Injury Litigation. Andrew began his traineeship in 2013 and is due to qualify as a solicitor in July 2015.

Qualification time

Sarah and I will both be qualifying as solicitors in July this year. The seven-year (minimum) marathon has entered the home straight. You may not be surprised to hear that our minds are now consumed with thoughts about what comes next. It’s an exciting but disconcerting time for us all. As you know, the traineeship is a two-year fixed term contract – now we’re on the hunt for our first permanent job.

We’re also carefully considering what area of law we want to qualify into. It is common to see particularly focused roles popping up in large commercial firms. Even in smaller firms, many NQs will now restrict their practice to one general area from day one – civil litigation, conveyancing, or criminal defence, for example. That makes this junction a very important one. The prospect of choosing what you want to do for the rest of your career is something I have found very daunting!

Each year, many of the larger firms will establish formal NQ recruitment plans, taking into account departmental demands and the vagaries of the market. The number of opportunities that will arise and the practice areas where NQs will be most in-demand is something that is impossible to predict with any great certainty. However, it is clear that the market has picked up in the last couple of years following the economic downturn. It is widely known that NQ retention rates across Scotland and the number of external opportunities arising have increased of late. Whilst I found myself hunting for a traineeship at a comparatively bad time, it seems that 2015 may be a good time to be looking for an NQ role.

Roles will be released to internal applicants first. I obviously don’t know the ins and outs of the internal processes at individual firms, but HR departments will control the process, assess applications and conduct the communications. A representative from HR may also interview you, along with the partner whose team you are applying to join. Just like at traineeship assessment days, expect competency-based questions. However, at this stage it is hoped that we’ve actually learned something during our training, so while technical questions may have been missing from the interviews you’ve done to date, they should be expected in an interview for an NQ role.

Lots of smaller firms don’t have the luxury of an HR department, meaning the whole process will be controlled by the recruiting partner. Confirmation can come closer to the end of the traineeship and may not involve any interview. However, I am not the best person to advise on this.

Many firms will also accept external applications. There are some advertised at Brodies already. The Law Society of Scotland’s dedicated job site – www.lawscotjobs.co.uk – is a good place to search for vacancies, as is Scottish Legal News. Speculative applications (a CV and targeted covering letter) are also a good way to secure the role you’re looking for – I know of lots of people who secured their NQ job in this way when no vacancy was ever advertised.

By the time I come to write my next blog, I will (hopefully) have a clearer idea of what my future holds. As daunting as the process is, that is quite a satisfying thought.