Changing Career – Trainee Blog

Changing career has certainly become more common in recent times, and while the average age of an individual admitted to the Law Society’s role of solicitors is now 29-30, it is still relatively unusual to see more mature trainees. The process of securing a training contract is a stressful and frustrating one, and adding in the worry that your application might be standing out for the wrong reasons only adds to this.

I found myself worrying if firms really wanted to hire someone in their mid-thirties to be a trainee solicitor, or if there would be preconceptions of me based on my age and employment history? There are undoubtedly some barriers, however by understanding how to exploit the strengths of my career and experience and by searching out the right opportunities, I was successful in obtaining a training contract here at Machins and can confirm there are lots of roles and firms, like Machins, that value what  more mature trainees have to offer.

My journey to a training contract

I first studied law in Ireland, and graduated from my LL.M in 2009. I moved to the UK in January 2010, and temporarily postponed qualification to allow me to find my feet. That temporary diversion ended up being about a decade as I continually found myself in interesting and challenging positions in a variety of industries, from event and operation management in the charity and education sectors to delivering catering and hospitality at some of the biggest events on the calendar.

Eventually in 2017, the lure of a legal career was finally too much and I returned to the lecture room, completing my GDL and LPC part time whilst working. It was difficult to balance the challenge of this and the competition for training contracts, but I was always aware of the need to work towards securing the right place to train and eventually qualify as a solicitor.

Searching out the right opportunities

One advantage of being a little older is I knew what I wanted to get from my training and my career. I knew that I wanted to focus on training with firms which had a culture and track record of long term retention, I was looking for somewhere to build a career, not just put in my two years and leave.

I now had a well-established life outside of work with interests, friends and my wife, so work life balance of the firm was extremely important to me. I wanted to work hard and learn, but also to work somewhere where long hours and working weekends were the exception rather than the expectation. 

I also had the opportunity to observe other peoples’ experiences while training, and knew I wanted to train somewhere where I would get a feeling for the real day-to-day life of a solicitor, with responsibility and the opportunity to engage with clients from day one.

Armed with this knowledge, I took every opportunity I had to actually meet with people from firms, at law fairs, recruitment events and information evenings. Using this information I focused on the firms I thought would provide the best training experience for me, and where my skills and experience would be valued the most. Machins stood out to me; the culture seemed to be a good fit, the work was interesting and the firm is dynamic and looking to continue to grow.

Exploiting your strengths

Having found the ideal place to train, I had to sell myself as the ideal candidate. In my application I could talk about my experience and rather than my only legal experience being academic, I now had real world involvement with solicitors and the legal system: I had bought a house, written a will, taken employment advice and negotiated commercial agreements during my time in industry. I had first-hand understanding of what a client would want from a solicitor and what the expectations were, and was aware of  the relationships and stresses that exist in the profession.

Whilst I appreciate that  a whole raft of work experience isn’t a necessity when applying for a training, it is easier to back up your approach to work, or challenges you may face when you have real world examples that you can rely on. I was asked to present an area of potential opportunity for the firm in my final round interview, and was able to draw on my experience in the charity sector to do so, and could discuss commercial pressures on business from the point of view of a senior manager.

I also had the self-confidence to be myself in my interviews, which I think would not have been the case for me in my early twenties. I was honest about what I was looking for, and what I hoped to get from them. I firmly believe that by being true to myself and what I wanted, I was able to find opportunities that suited me, and where I was suited.

Now that I have succeeded through the application process, and have started my first seat, I can confirm that the reward has been worth the effort. It has also been rewarding to be able to use some of my work experience to date on the work I have been doing so far at Machins, proving that at some level everything I have been doing over the past decade has been pointing me here.