I read your article on www.legalrecruitment.blogspot.com and was wondering if you could give me some advise on the following matter.
I achieved a 2:2 in Law 8 years ago, for about 6 months after my degree I went on to work in 2 law firms as a temporary office administrator. I learned a few things and was even more interested in pursuing a career in law, after the contract was finished and the fact that I couldn't get another job straight away I decided to go on and do other things and among this was opening my own limited company - facilities management company. The company is still in existence and have been in business for over 3 years now, but after learning that my degree will be stale after 7 years I then decided to go on and dothe LPC as I always knew I was going to continue and finish off to qualify as a solicitor at some stage in my life.
My main concern is what are my chances of securing a Training Contract especially after being out of college for so long, and the situation with the current economy? Although running my own company as a Managing Director gave me a lot of experience, guts, courage, confidence to stand out, build client relationship, advertise, market and present company's services to big companies out there, I went door to door and joined business networking organizations searching for business and introduce my company, I have few people working for me, until recently, due to the situation with the economy... I have often used some of the legal knowledge I achieved in college to my business which was always a pleasure.
ANSWER
The answer is fairly simple - it depends how much effort you are prepared to put in. Very few people walk straight into a legal career, and all the work and effort you talk about in your last paragraph is directly relevant to you starting a legal career. It really is often the case that you will have to sell yourself to law firms - whether face to face or over the telephone, and be prepared to offer them something for nothing to gain experience.
In my experience, those who persistently keep trying to get somewhere with their career eventually do, and those who make a half-hearted effort and then give up because it is too hard fall by the wayside.
There is a free leaflet on the www.ten-percent.co.uk site giving help and guidance to students and graduates looking for legal work experience. Visit the careers centre for details.
Jonathan Fagan, MD, www.ten-percent.co.uk
I achieved a 2:2 in Law 8 years ago, for about 6 months after my degree I went on to work in 2 law firms as a temporary office administrator. I learned a few things and was even more interested in pursuing a career in law, after the contract was finished and the fact that I couldn't get another job straight away I decided to go on and do other things and among this was opening my own limited company - facilities management company. The company is still in existence and have been in business for over 3 years now, but after learning that my degree will be stale after 7 years I then decided to go on and dothe LPC as I always knew I was going to continue and finish off to qualify as a solicitor at some stage in my life.
My main concern is what are my chances of securing a Training Contract especially after being out of college for so long, and the situation with the current economy? Although running my own company as a Managing Director gave me a lot of experience, guts, courage, confidence to stand out, build client relationship, advertise, market and present company's services to big companies out there, I went door to door and joined business networking organizations searching for business and introduce my company, I have few people working for me, until recently, due to the situation with the economy... I have often used some of the legal knowledge I achieved in college to my business which was always a pleasure.
ANSWER
The answer is fairly simple - it depends how much effort you are prepared to put in. Very few people walk straight into a legal career, and all the work and effort you talk about in your last paragraph is directly relevant to you starting a legal career. It really is often the case that you will have to sell yourself to law firms - whether face to face or over the telephone, and be prepared to offer them something for nothing to gain experience.
In my experience, those who persistently keep trying to get somewhere with their career eventually do, and those who make a half-hearted effort and then give up because it is too hard fall by the wayside.
There is a free leaflet on the www.ten-percent.co.uk site giving help and guidance to students and graduates looking for legal work experience. Visit the careers centre for details.
Jonathan Fagan, MD, www.ten-percent.co.uk
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