Career Clinic: Will my small firm TC hinder my City corporate ambitions?

How do you know the 'name' of your firm is the issue with recruiters? Have they told you that? I suspect there could be other factors to consider here...

Anonymous -12 Nov 2012 | 12:21

Set your sights at right level

When you finish a training contract all a new firm has to judge you on is the name of the firm you've trained at in the way that it doesn't matter what great experience you may have had in your degree, it's the name of the university that counts. If you come from someone they consider similar then it's easier to get accepted providing there are jobs on offer.

If you are definitely getting rejected on a name basis then you need to find a way to get around the HR embargo. The best way is personal contact with someone in the organisation who you can sell yourself to and get your cv to the right level.

Also I don't know what level of firm you're looking at but different firms have different cultural expectations. Depending on what university you went to or your pre-law experiences you would be better looking at a firm who routinely takes people of similar background for their training contracts. Also try and identify firms that will appreciate the experience you have gained (probably more responsibility and independence) as opposed to ones which are just looking for you to remain a very small cog of a large team for a number of years. Your cv also needs to explain why you are looking for a change of this type.

Anonymous -14 Nov 2012 | 08:43

You should consider making direct applications, rather than going through recruiters. Take the list of the top 100-200 law firms and check the recruitment pages of their websites for vacancies at your level.

If you are prepared to move outside of London you will find that there are more opportunities at the NQ level.

Anonymous -14 Nov 2012 | 09:22

Unlikely

The reality is that most City corporate departments do not have the capacity to take on all internal NQ candidates, so opportunities for external candidates are non-existent.

Vacancies do exist at the smaller offices of some US firms, particularly those without city trainees coming through the ranks. Saying that, competition for these places will be intense, with many MC/SC NQs eager to jump ship for the $$.

My advice would be to do everything that you can to secure an NQ position at your current firm. Moving after a couple of years PQE is much more realistic.

City Corporate Associate -15 Nov 2012 | 00:13

Unfortunately in the legal world, unlike many other professions, size matters. Big firms recruit people with big firm experience. Actual experience, knowledge of the law etc takes second place. I know of scientists, computer programmers, even accountants, who have gone from small employers to big ones back to small ones. Size wasn't an issue. It was all about experience and knowledge. Not so in law.

jack vance -20 Nov 2012 | 01:57

Yes it will you chief. It's a hard market - get real.

Realist -25 Dec 2012 | 20:41

Double standards!

ariel sharon -06 Feb 2013 | 00:28