UPDATE 22/11/2025 - So last application round did not go well for me. Honestly, I know everyone says this but being nearly 24 and not having secured anything is hard. I feel so behind my peers and very succesful friends who are earning high salaries and progressing in their careers. I know people say not to get bogged down in age/numbers but the thought that I will (finally) qualify as a solicitor (if I secure anything this cycle) at 30 feels so scary to me. I will just be starting my career whilst all my friends will be way into theirs. Comparison is the thief of joy and I keep reminind myself of this, but it is so hard to keep your head up and keep trying. I feel like everyone around me is so much more intelligent, commercially aware and overall better candidates, I'm not really sure what I have to offer that is special.
Despite this, all I can do is keep trying. I dont mean to be negative but I feel like this is a space where I can get it all out of my system, and probably hardly anyone will read it. I feel like I would really benefit from some mentoring but I dont think there are any open mentoring schemes at the moment. My strategy this year will be, send out as many applications as possible. People say it is better to pick a few and really work hard on them but in my experience, today it is all about luck of the draw. That is not to say I won't tailor my applications but before I would spend many weeks working on one application, just to get through the first few stages and then miss other deadlines.
I hope this year will be my year. I am trying everything I can to make sure I can be the best candidate. I did my Freshfields online assessment and prepared so hard for the critical reasoning section. Despite that, I dont think it went well at all so not off to a good start for the cycle. I will aim to keep this updated as much as I can.
ORIGINAL 28/05/2025 : I thought I would join everyone else in documenting my training contract journey. I guess this is more of a place for me to rant and keep myself accountable especially since the last few years of law school and trying to get into a legal career has been painful.
I can't say that I feel like a particularly standout candidate and I don't really know where to go from here. I have fairly average grades, 2:1 standard but nothing special or exceptional. I I've filled my life at uni with extra-curriculars and I have tried my hardest to make a standout application to firms but have been rather unsuccessful. I completed 1 vacation scheme secured as part of a mentoring scheme but didn't manage to turn that into a TC. I also had two vacation scheme interviews but didn't make it through to the next stage. Technically, this is my 3rd application cycle but the first and second time around, I only applied to a few firms and I cant say they were particularly tailored applications.
My difficulty is, is that from first year onwards I set myself up for the Bar, so I have done a fair amount of mini-pupillages and my extra curriculars are very mooting and Bar soc centred. I am now graduating this year, and feel completely lost. I don't feel like I'm good enough for the Bar academically but I also don't feel like I'm good enough to get a TC either because I don't have many vacation schemes. I have worked since I was 16 so I have a fair bit of work experience especially more recently in corporate environments.
Anyway enough of the sob story- these are the firms I am hoping to apply to for direct TCs in the remaining time I have.
Applied already to
Despite this, all I can do is keep trying. I dont mean to be negative but I feel like this is a space where I can get it all out of my system, and probably hardly anyone will read it. I feel like I would really benefit from some mentoring but I dont think there are any open mentoring schemes at the moment. My strategy this year will be, send out as many applications as possible. People say it is better to pick a few and really work hard on them but in my experience, today it is all about luck of the draw. That is not to say I won't tailor my applications but before I would spend many weeks working on one application, just to get through the first few stages and then miss other deadlines.
I hope this year will be my year. I am trying everything I can to make sure I can be the best candidate. I did my Freshfields online assessment and prepared so hard for the critical reasoning section. Despite that, I dont think it went well at all so not off to a good start for the cycle. I will aim to keep this updated as much as I can.
ORIGINAL 28/05/2025 : I thought I would join everyone else in documenting my training contract journey. I guess this is more of a place for me to rant and keep myself accountable especially since the last few years of law school and trying to get into a legal career has been painful.
I can't say that I feel like a particularly standout candidate and I don't really know where to go from here. I have fairly average grades, 2:1 standard but nothing special or exceptional. I I've filled my life at uni with extra-curriculars and I have tried my hardest to make a standout application to firms but have been rather unsuccessful. I completed 1 vacation scheme secured as part of a mentoring scheme but didn't manage to turn that into a TC. I also had two vacation scheme interviews but didn't make it through to the next stage. Technically, this is my 3rd application cycle but the first and second time around, I only applied to a few firms and I cant say they were particularly tailored applications.
My difficulty is, is that from first year onwards I set myself up for the Bar, so I have done a fair amount of mini-pupillages and my extra curriculars are very mooting and Bar soc centred. I am now graduating this year, and feel completely lost. I don't feel like I'm good enough for the Bar academically but I also don't feel like I'm good enough to get a TC either because I don't have many vacation schemes. I have worked since I was 16 so I have a fair bit of work experience especially more recently in corporate environments.
Anyway enough of the sob story- these are the firms I am hoping to apply to for direct TCs in the remaining time I have.
- BCLP
- Dentons
- Haynes Boone
- Reed Smith
- Burges Salmon
- Watson Farley & Williams
- Morgan Lewis
- Paul Hastings
- Sullivan and Cromwell (Maybe)
- Macfarlanes
- White & Case
- HFW
- Stephenson Harwood
Applied already to
- Kingsley Napley - PFO post-second stage
- GLD - PFO
- Wedlake Bell - Waiting for a response
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