Career Clinic: London or the Home Counties for my TC?

As much as I appreciate the money vs work/life balance argument - your biggest issue here is actually going to be securing a training contract and it is likely your decision will be made for you by where you are lucky enough to get an offer of a TC from.

There is so much competition out there for TCs and so many not being able to secure one, these days you have to go where the job takes you.

Anon -13 Jan 2011 | 11:14

Ouch! What a painful decision. You do not say why you are not yet applying for TCs and I do not follow why there is to be a gap between your position now and a future TC. That seems to make little sense and perhaps you should clarify.

My advice, in this market, is to keep your options open. Personally, I would probably stick with the current job and then apply for TCs in both geographical locations. Given the scarcity of TCs, it would be a result to get more than one offer and if you do, you can deal then with the headache of where you will work if indeed that problem presents itself.

Best of luck.

Me -13 Jan 2011 | 11:29

Who knows?

You currently have a choice between a support role in a sizeable commercial firm or a recruitment role and you are considering a couple of TC options which may or may not be certain. If, however, you have a choice between all of those options then only you can decide what you want and what your priorities are. Personally I wouldn’t touch recruitment with a barge-pole in the current market – horrendous hours, uncertain income and demanding clients fighting over fees but others love it.

Balance out where you want to live, what you want to do and how hard you want to work then make a choice. Some things to bear in mind:

1. Do not refer to ‘work/life balance’ in any job interview. In the booming market this was used to say ‘We are considerate employers’, now it’s code for ‘I don’t want to work that hard and am making this sound like a virtue’.If it’s important, weigh up how much there is and decide for yourself.

2. Do not assume a TC is there for the taking, either in the City or on the high street. There is a reason why you haven’t had one till now.

3. Don’t be surprised if your experience doesn’t open all the doors you think it should. The provinces are full of relocated London lawyers mystified at their lack of career progression and smaller firms tend to question the supposedly greater expertise of larger ones.

4. Practising law anywhere successfully is not really a family friendly lifestyle choice, those who succeed have to work hard at it. In some cases the pressure is different, rather than less, than you’d get in London.

Good luck!

Young Fogey -13 Jan 2011 | 12:04

As a young lawyer with a family I can safely say that working full-time and raising children is far more exhausting than just about any commute!

Anonymous -13 Jan 2011 | 14:07

get real

The OP is working in a research/information role in a law firm but clearly has not applied his/her skills in finding out how competitive it is to get a TC, any TC wherever it is! Once he/she has done it, then perhaps these 'dilemmas' will no longer trouble him/her as he/she would be soooo grateful just to have a chance to be an unpaid paralegal anywhere! And if I was interviewing, I'd seriously doubt the commitment of a prospective TC candidate who puts his/her work/life balance before law, which is a hard slog and requires huge commitment, wherever the firm is. Also if the OP has worked in a magic circle firm, has he/she not seen all those poor trainees working till 3am for weeks with no weekend? Oh of course, he/she'd have left at 5:30 already!

anon -13 Jan 2011 | 14:10

Be honest

Honesty is the best policy. As the pay is better in London, invite the two or three London firms you fancy most to offer you a training contract, but make clear to them that you don’t want to work all the hours God sends. And maybe apply to one or two local firms but make it plain that you would only take the position if the pay was comparable to working in London (less the cost of a season ticket of course – you don’t want to seem greedy).

Ask all your chosen firms if they could offer you flexible working, so you can work from home a couple of days a week to avoid having to commute all the way in from the Home Counties. Tell them that you are planning a family, and get a commitment now that they would let you work part time after the first arrives - you don’t want to be stuck in some place that expects you to turn up to work every day when you get back from maternity leave. Oh, and make sure you get a commitment to a proper maternity package – you want to go somewhere that offers full pay and equal promotion whilst you are on maternity leave, not just the statutory minimum. If you are planning a large family that could be a huge financial difference.

Finally, tell them you are thinking of recruitment consultancy as an alternative career; it shows an entrepreneurial attitude that they will appreciate far more than any real commitment to being a lawyer.

I am sure this 'cards on the table' approach will get the outcome you deserve.

H Shipman -13 Jan 2011 | 17:01

Pull yourself together

Are you being serious? I can understand why, especially in the current market, people have to work as a paralegal or in legal research of one kind or another before landing a training contract, and have the utmost respect for people who 'do it the hard way'. Some of the best trainees that have worked for me have been down this route. But, seriously, I have never met anyone who is a good lawyer who would even consider legal recruitment, despite the fact that this is what a number of my acquaintances did. There is nothing wrong with legal recruitment but if you are thinking about it, you are not cut out to be a lawyer, plain and simple. Go for legal recruitment, live in the Home Counties and get on with things!

Associate -13 Jan 2011 | 17:40

Talk about putting someone off!

Aren't some of you being a tad harsh here? What is wrong with someone wanting to do something different before they get their TC? A lot of agencies ask for trained lawyers nowadays to be consultants don't they? I'm sure there are reasons why that is the case, and some of these posts sound a lot like the 'those who can't, teach' brigade.

So this person wants to go down a different route to the undervalued paralegal or the doldrums of legal research. And sure, they may not have done their research properly into traineeships. But they have certainly come up with a plan B, at least they are thinking about an alternative. Be a bit more supportive for goodness sake and less bitter about your own roles!

So just because they are thinking about recruitment means automatically that they won't make a good lawyer? I wouldn't like to interview with you that's for sure.

A.S. Tounded -14 Jan 2011 | 10:51

Create your vision

Good for you. Few people think ahead and create a vision. Have you thought of going freelance/doing associate work and sharing your knowledge with firms? Working from home with the web is a perfect choice for raising your family.

talentliberator -29 Jan 2011 | 12:38

Pay Differentials

When I looked for training contracts back in the last millennium, firms in the home counties were offering around half what City firms were paying trainees. Three years ago I left the City to work as an associate in a home counties firm and took an almost 50% pay cut despite playing two firms in the same town against each other to get the best possible deal.

If you go into a home counties firm and announce you'll only work for them as a trainee if the pay is similar to London pay I'm afraid they'll laugh and suggest you clearly haven't done your research properly!

City and Home Counties -15 Feb 2011 | 16:10