Career Clinic: How much of what I've studied will I need for my training contract?

Self doubt is normal, good for you for your honesty

Most people feel like you, it's just they aren't open about it. How you feel is completely normal.

Some tips:

- do some personal development to increase self awareness and confidence

- "Feel the fear and do it it anyway" is a great book by Susan Jeffers

- Toastmasters is a club where you will increase confidence and hone your communication skills

- Mind maps are a great way to remember key information and make it interesting. Tony Buzan is well known in this area

Hope that helps.

rachel@liberateyourtalent.com -02 Sep 2010 | 10:09

Don't sweat the little things

I would not worry in the slightest. Not only will any decent firm take into account and understand your position (which is pretty much the same as every other trainee unless they were paralegals). They will no doubt spoon feed you the work and the knowledge. I would not be concerned in the slightest.

If I remember correctly, my first seat was tough work and I felt like I was just getting to grips with things as I relocated to the second seat, only to start all over again. The remaining seats were easier because I understood the culture, the IT systems and the standard of work required.

Big tip though - if you are unsure, do not forget to ask for clarification. I am happy to explain stuff until the cows come home to a trainee who needs help. I get annoyed if (a) they don't ask and progress their work incorrectly as a result leaving me to sort it out or (b) if they continually ask the same question having not learned from the last experience, so don't forget to walk around with a pen and paper so you can write stuff down!

You'll be fine - worry not! All the other trainees feel the same way, but may not admit it!

Me -02 Sep 2010 | 10:31

Relax

There is nothing more terrifying to a supervisor than a trainee who is so confident of their own ability that they do their own thing and don't ask a lot of questions.

Trainees are supposed to have a grasp of the basic legal principles but should not be expected to work unsupervised. If you get it wrong, don't panic; that is why you are being supervised. Your role is to learn your craft (and trust me, it takes a lot longer than two years).

Ask questions, listen to the answers and try to come at queries with a proactive approach i.e. offer suggested solutions to the questions you are asking.

No-one sensible will mind if your suggested solution is wrong and it will help your supervisor to understand your thought process.

This may well work to your advantage; trainees are not yet fully formed lawyers and can often come up with interesting solutions which are a result of a fresh perspective.

Most retiring lawyers will admit (after several hours of waterboarding) that they don't know everything - no-one does. It's healthy to recognise that early on!!

Good luck.

Happy Lawyer -02 Sep 2010 | 14:20

Chill out

You are nervous. This is understandable. I started my training contract (many moons ago now) being terrified that I was going to be expected to know everything and would look like an idiot when I didn't. The opposite proved to be the case: I found most qualified lawyers were genuinely surprised that a trainee knew any law at all! As a supervisor myself now, I don't expect trainees to know much to start with, although I do expect them to be able to distinguish between contract and tort questions (it's amazing how many can't). So don't be nervous, relax and good luck.

Associate -02 Sep 2010 | 15:37

You need almost nothing you learned at law school. Most things you will be asked to do could be done by your secretary, probably better.

Be nice to her (in the sense of treating her as at least your equal) and she will help you.

H Shipman -02 Sep 2010 | 16:39

It's all a myth

I agree with all the comments encouraging to chill out, act normally and behave as maturely as possible to all (particularly those to whom the annoyingly arrogant trainees have been rude becuase they presume that they are more important than secretaries/PAs/paralegals/assistants/partners/postroom/printroom/library/maintenance/IT - delete as appropriate).

You will find that the rest of the office will find your law school texts helpful updates to their parlous state of knowledge and they will be borrowed surreptitiously.

Knowledge presumed is dangerous - unless you're a genuine industry expert - and there aren't as many of those in the legal profession as their self-promotive activities might lead you to expect. Above all ask questions (preferably intelligent ones), be willing to help out and become someone your colleagues like having around.

City Woman -03 Sep 2010 | 11:10

Your secretary

Your secretary may be a man. If so, be nice to him.

another -03 Sep 2010 | 12:00

The study of itself is of very little value. What you will learn in abundance during your training contract is:-

1. How to research the law on subjects you know little or nothing about; here the trick is to ask relevant questions, and tailor your advice to the circumstances. Never assume anything, communicate succinctly - there is no time for essays - and use your good old fashioned common sense.

2. How to get on with people. Offices are odd places and draw lots of different people together. Don't assume they all want to be there and don't assume you know more than they do.

Good luck, you are lucky to get a TC in this day and age, so if you have any sense of doubt purge your mind of those thoughts, listen hard and take all the advice that is offered to you by the helpful colleagues.

The fun really starts when you become a solicitor and begin to fly solo on your own matters.

high street solicitor -03 Sep 2010 | 16:36

don't worry

You need little of the detail - basically as long as you understand the basic elements of a binding contract (offer, acceptance etc) and tort (duty, breach of duty etc) and are able to reason by analogy you'll be fine.

The important parts are being willing to learn, being attentive to detail and being and a nice person to be around, you'll learn the detail on the hop. There are a lot of arrogant, know-it-all trainees who unfortunately end up as arrogant, know-it-all partners, but as the posters on this wall demonstrate, lots of decent practitioners as well, so you're in good company!

Jack Dee -06 Sep 2010 | 16:23

Get real

Dude, you need to relax and have confidence in your own ability without being arrogant.

I just completed my training contract and unfortunately, at times, particularly when they are busy, you might be fed with rank instructions, no background and so you will be confused.

The main thing is to try and use your own common sense to work out what is required, but then to ask if you are unsure.

When supervisors find nothing to fault you on technically, they will write "could sometimes benefit from asking further questions" that is all good and well, but the point is that applies to all lawyers - not just trainees.

Also, there is something to be said for trying to take ownership of your work (within reason) and being responsible for the work you produce. So me, my worst nightmare was someone thinking I was incompetent. So I tried to ensure anything bearing my name was quality. So when I was instructed to carry out work, I rarely if ever went back for further instructions - even if sometimes it was a little hairy as to what was required. But I never ever had a senior turn round and say you have produced an irrelevant/poor/wrong piece of work. And therein lies the key!

As you progress through your training contract, you will naturally become more confident and competent and things will become easier. That is when you will be better able to judge about asking questions.

When you get given some work, always try to take it back and digest what was said and asked of you. Try to have a think for little bit. If all becomes clear, proceed. If you find yourself sitting there completely stumped, no one aside from a complete moron will worry in the slightest if you head back and politely say "dude, sorry I have had a think but I am unsure what is required".

What lawyers find irksome is when you have the trainees who are permanently scared of getting things wrong and always head back to ask questions WHEN THEY HAVE BLATANTLY NOT TRIED TO WORK THINGS OUT FOR THEMSELVES.

Also, you need to understand your role. You are there to learn and develop. So on many occasions, your supe will say "dude, have a go at drafting x, or doing y". If you do it perfectly well, your supe will be delighted, but usually he/she will probably tweak things as much of law, especially things like letters/correspondence and to an extent drafting are stylistic and you develop this as you gain experience. So for example, one jack I worked with would say "dude, the letter is perfect in terms of substance and content, but I have made stylistic tweaks"...

Then again, I was in fact usually more competent that the lawyer instructing me!

NQ -07 Sep 2010 | 11:11

As someone who is almost one year into my TC, I can totally understand how you feel. I don't work in a City firm, however I was probably just as nervous as you are.

I've learnt a few things: don't assume that people know more (or less) than you; treat everyone equally and with respect; ask questions; own up if you make mistakes and rectify them (mistakes are just as important as getting it right in terms of learning curves!); write down/collect/file any positive feedback (so useful when you're having a bad day) and get involved - as a trainee I have had the opportunity to run my own supervised files which means I've gained so much confidence. I still feel like I have so much to learn though.

Also - enjoy it. Being a trainee you have two years to learn, that really isn't a long time, so absorb as much as possible. (Oh, and don't forget that work-life balance is a wonderful thing...)

M -07 Sep 2010 | 11:15

be nice

My main piece of advice is BE NICE to the other people in the office. The secretary, receptionist, librarian, PSL everyone. They make your job easier and are not lesser beings because (except for the PSL or paralegal) they do not have law degrees. I remember reading a thread on a rollonfriday forum some years ago and I was so disgusted by those trainees.

As for asking questions, I would much rather someone ask questions and it's probably much quicker to give a trainee the answer than wait weeks for them to work it out. Depends what it is of course, but I really think it's fine to ask your supervisor all the dumb questions - if they don't like it, don't ask to have a trainee.

As for being ok to make mistakes, it is not. In my experience of working in-house, everyone else could be incompetent, but god help any lawyer who made even the tiniest mistake. So do ask questions. However, if you do make a mistake for goodness sake own up.

Anonymous -08 Sep 2010 | 14:27

Don't worry

I am nearly two months into my training contract with a mid-size regional practice. I was totally unnerved at the idea of being asked a really simple law school 101 question and not knowing the answer. So far, this hasn't happened! Concepts will come back to you and the fine detail you can find - I don't know of one person I work with that doesn't have all their textbooks to hand if they don't know the answer!

Ralph -08 Oct 2010 | 17:33