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Original poster

lawyerly career advice please

12 replies

clarabellabella · 28/12/2007 16:19

Hi,

I am currently working in the compliance department of a leading investment bank, but am also completing the LPC part-time in the evening. I started in the bank as a temp (while I finished my studies, and they knew about my plans to become a solicitor), but my boss was really impressed with my work and fought for me to get offered a permanent position, which I was, and subsequently accepted. I have now been with the bank for over a year and the position is well paid (same as City trainee) with tons of benefits. However, in my recent performance review, my boss started talking about training that she wanted me to do "in the coming years", basically implying that they expected me to stay in AML as a career (even though this has never been my intention). I have been applying for training contracts (rather unsuccessfully, though I have been invited for an assessment day at a firm in feb) and do ultimately want to be a solicitor (I've been studying for so long to become one, I would hate to feel that I've wasted all these years), staying in the City as I absolutely LOVE it .

Am I being ungrateful? Should I stay in this position or try to find a position within a law firm (as a paralegal or something)? I ended up in the bank because when I started applying for paralegal positions, I got told that I had no chance as tons of people were looking who had completed the LPC and thus were in a much better position. Sorry this post is a bit rambling.

OP posts:

Vacua · 28/12/2007 16:40

why do you 'have no chance' according to some? bad degree/A levels? only applying to MC?

Vacua · 28/12/2007 16:40

also have you tried RoF for some abuse sprinkled with the occasional useful bit of advice?

Vacua · 28/12/2007 16:44

also brave to do lpc without a tc lined up . . .

Original poster

clarabellabella · 28/12/2007 16:45

I think it was timing. I started looking over the summer. I have a 2:1 (History degree) but failed land on the GDL (otherwise, overall got 60%). Got two As and a B at A Level.

I have been applying for TCs for years, but haven't really gotten anywhere (pretty demotivating) but am determined anyway. Will give RoF a try; hadn't thought of that before. Thanks

OP posts:

Vacua · 28/12/2007 16:51

do you think you might not interview well or are you not getting to interview stage? ever had any feedback from any of the firms you've applied to?

best of luck anyway

Vacua · 28/12/2007 16:52

PS I am not a lawyer, completed academic stage and realised it was making me depressed

Original poster

clarabellabella · 28/12/2007 16:56

I've been through two assessment days and got feedback from both. First one I messed up the presentation bit by rambling on about rubbish. Second one, I messed up the thing where you have to organise and prioritise your calendar (so annoying; I do it for work naturally, I just got totally shell shocked) and apparently my language skills were off, which confuses me as language has always been a strong point for me. One interview, but that was for a vacation scheme. Basically, I'm totally totally rubbish at the applying/interviewing stage. For my current job, I didn't interview but just came in and started working which is why I think they kept me.

Good luck to you too. Hopefully you're not as rubbish at applying as I am.

OP posts:

Vacua · 28/12/2007 17:05

Thanks but I'm doing something else now, working for myself, I didn't really want it badly enough but hope the time and money spent hasn't been wasted! Applications and interviews are ok for me, it's the actual knuckling down full time and not seeing daylight for years that I'm useless at . . . also am single mum and didn't want to end up on the high street, ultimately it just wasn't for me.

I hope you get some proper advice and support to put together a great application and interview at your very best. Still curious about the type of firms you are applying to and why you've been offered so few interviews, hopefully am not being rude by asking if degree is from a respectable place?

Original poster

clarabellabella · 28/12/2007 17:25

Russell Group Uni, so it should be alright. I don't know. I do have only one GCSE (I immigrated into the UK in the first year of A Levels) and maybe HR people just see that and freak.

I've been applying to City firms. I don't know. Maybe there's some MN lawyers who could offer insight?

OP posts:

newnamefornewyearbookwormmum · 28/12/2007 17:31

You might do better applying to more regional firms rather than city firms. I'm not saying that you're not capable of the work but you need to get your foot wedged well and truly in the door.

FWIW I'm the same as you - I find interviews something akin to the second circle of hell but I've had very good feedback on my motivation, work ethic and skills from my temporary employers!

Have you tried using the student support services from your LPC provider? They should have a careers advisory service.

oneplusone · 28/12/2007 17:32

I was a lawyer for 10 years before i gave it up to have children. One thing i found when applying for training contracts (i trained from 1992 to 1994 so was a long long time ago) that the big city firms were only really interested in graduates from oxbridge or a handful of the other top rated universities like Warwick or Bristol. I was at a polytechnic so stood no chance although i had no idea of this at the time. A friend of mine who got a 1st from a poly got into a top city firm though.

My advice would be to put the idea of getting a training contract at a city firm on hold and apply to the many smaller firms who still do city type work. Once you have qualified and have say a year's experience in city/commercial work then you should be able to get into one of the city firms as a qualified solicitor. That's what happened to me; i trained in a small city firm and after i qualified i got into one of the big firms.

(I hated every minute of my time as a lawyer and am now looking to become an interior designer but that's another story!)

Good Luck!

Original poster

clarabellabella · 29/12/2007 11:08

Thanks for the advice. Personally I like to believe it's because HR people in Law Firms are evil (apologies to HR people in Law Firms) and my friend from Law School's story totally confirmed that for me. He had been applying for ages (law degree from Trinity Dublin, Masters from London Uni, can't remember which one, but a good one). Day after applications closed he got a call from someone in HR in a silver circle firm who had seen his profile on Fast track on RoF asking why he hadn't applied to the firm. He said he thought they'd never invite him for an interview, asked her if she would've and she said "to be honest, no, we wouldn't have invited you" (barking). Anyway, he got invited for an interview with two partners who spent over an hour harassing him, asking him about every single mark he'd received in his life, why had he failed this Land exam blah blah blah, shouldn't he apply to a regional firm instead given his background? He left feeling devastated and totally demotivated. They offered him a TC and said that they too had hated Land law at Uni and normally people are interviewed by max 1 partner and person from HR.

OP posts:

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