A question for lawyers, doctors, engineers and all other professionals...

[traineepro]

I was wondering if you could tell me a little about your experiences as a newly qualified trainee or with newly qualified trainees, particularly if you had a hand in training them? In particular, do trainees in your profession ask a lot of questions and how much does this change as they become more experienced? Do trainees ever ask "silly" or "stupid" questions or the kinds of questions that make more experienced colleagues roll their eyes or worry for the future of the profession (revealing a lack of knowledge in some areas)? How much input do trainees receive from more senior colleagues on a day-to-day basis?

Essentially, I want to know so I can compare these professions with my own which I may write more about after I've heard from others ast I'd like the focus to remain on these other professions for the time being.

So what do you remember from your trainee days or what's been your experience of training others?

Nobody?

I’ve been training a new graduate to join our team. I’ll try to answer your questions one by one. This is engineering, by the way.

• I found that at first he didn’t ask many questions, maybe he was nervous etc. But after some encouragement in the first few weeks he asks for info/clarification whenever he needs it.

• RE ‘silly’ questions. I don’t think so. I think what is perceived as silly or eye-roll-causing is on the side of the trainer really. I don’t see any question as silly because I recognise that (a) what seems simple to me after 11 years experience is not necessarily simple to a graduate, (b) I was also a trainee once with my own simple questions. Even if they ask the same question that I’ve answered a few times, well, I forget things too so that’s fine.

• how much input on a day to day basis? Urm. It varies according to what task they are doing. Mostly, the trainer has to strike a balance between not helping too much but also not letting the trainee just flounder in silence and be too afraid to ask questions. I found that asking how he was getting on every so often (daily, for example) prompted his progress. It meant that he could ask for help if he wanted to or could just say “good thanks” and show me his progress.

Hope that helps :)

I am a Canadian lawyer. I was called to the bar decades ago. I had to article for 1 year but it was shorter because I was a law clerk in a court for a year before that. Trainee lawyers ask lots of questions and need lots of support. You have to learn how the profession works, how to interact with other lawyers, how to be strategic but ethical and many other things. Knowledge of the law is just a start. You graduate with abilities to research and write but not so much real experience.

I have mentored many new lawyers during my career and even hired a few. Law in my experience has been a very collaborative profession, but I have been lucky to work mostly in positions where we were able to brainstorm etc but not have to charge a client. Law is a tough profession to become confident in, especially if you go to court. It is also tough to manage clients who may want you to take positions or advance arguments that are not tenable or not ethical. I believe it is vital that new lawyers have access to experienced lawyers to bounce things off. Where I live the Law Society does provide some resources to help.

I obviously have no experience of other professions but it seems to me that learning the ropes once you qualify will always take time and support. It is important that more senior members of the profession are willing to provide that mentoring.

Sorry if I have been on a high horse. Getting off now!

Accountant who once was in practice. I was very firm that there was no such thing as a silly question. I also have genuinely fond memories of people who were managing me who stopped and took the time to explain what I hadn’t understood or how to make it easier for them to review my work.

I was a trainee and have since had a number of trainees in my department. It's the office side of construction.

I always tell them there is no such thing as silly question. I still remember asking a question as a trainee and being laughed at by a senior member of staff so I try to always answer.

The questions can be endless (similar to a toddler in the frequency I find!) but tbh I don't mind, I'd rather that than them sat there worrying or dealing with stuff.

The questions do tail off as they become more confident in their knowledge and ability but I still ask questions now and I'm the manager. No one knows everything!

I should have said there is no such thing as a silly question, and any eye rolling I ever did was if a new lawyer forged ahead without asking the silly question!

Great to come back to some replies - I thought I might not get any at all so thank you!

From what everyone has said, things are much how I hoped and imagined they'd be. Supportive and non-judgemental. Very different to in my industry in some ways at the moment.

You sound like a great trainer Shazchip - I'd like to be trained by you! Is it just you that's supposed to be helping your trainee or does he get input from other staff too? Is it stressful managing your time when you don't know how much help he might need on a given day?

tryingtobebetterallthetime - I'm actually a translator and do a lot of legal translation so your experience is particularly relevant to me - lawyers and legal translators obviously do very different jobs in some ways (I'm glad I will likely never have to go to court as I just do written work) but there must be a fair amount of cross over in terms of knowledge, understanding and communication. I'm reassured to hear that trainee lawyers ask a lot of questions and need a lot of support as I felt I did too as a junior legal translator (who didn't really get a proper traineeship experience. I'll write more in another post). Do legal trainees generally have a pretty solid understanding of the law by the time they've qualified or is there still a lot to learn on that front in addition to all the "real world" stuff? I didn't think you were on any sort of high horse at all, your contribution was very much appreciated!

Did you delurk for me DelurkingAj? If so thank you so much! I'm a firm believer in "no such thing as a silly question" too but have found that some in my industry take a very different view, frustratingly. You also sound like the kind of person who'd be very good at getting people up to speed without making them feel they were failing.

And a final question for all of you - how common are mistakes in trainees work and how are these viewed? As inevitable to some extent or would you expect reviewing to pick up weaknesses in arguments or approaches etc. moreso than actual errors.

StopMakingATitOfUrselfNPissOff - glad you're with me and DelurkingAJ on the no such thing as a silly question issue! So sorry to hear you were laughed at. That really shouldn't happen. I'm also reassured to hear that the questions can be endless for construction industry professional trainees. I'm a big asker myself and sometimes feel like it's just me and that everyone else just seems to magically know everything. I suppose because I work from home and always have done I've never seen any other "juniors" or witnessed the early stages of their careers.

And just read your last post trying and I agree - I think it should be people who don't ask if they're not sure then get it wrong who we should be worried about in any industry but it seems to be the other way round in the translation industry at the moment to some degree.

My job is very process based so no amount of reasoning helps iyswim but errors do happen, yes. The way I see it, it's up to the senior member of staff to pick up errors that might cause issues. The responsibility on the senior wanes as the trainee gains experience

My training as a lawyer was awful. I was told to get on with it.
I'm in the midlands and one day I was handed a file and told to go to high court in London the following day. It was a case and area of law I had no knowledge of and was appearing before high court judges.

I will never ever forget the experiences barrister on the other side who was horrified that they had sent me as a trainee. She helped me and when we left she said I've been in your position before and was helped by kindly people. Just remember that you have been here and don't forget to pay it forward. Those words have always stuck with me and I have been kind to nqs over the years.

Oh my god Racmactac, that sounds stressful! You poor thing! So glad the other barrister was kind to you. And that you've tried to do better towards more junior colleagues!

Stop - yes, I tend to be of the opinion that errors are almost inevitable from newbies working in any job that involves any degree of difficulty.