This booklet is the brainchild of one of our final-year undergraduates, Mark Boardman. Its primary purpose is to help you get a Training Contract and/or Vacation Placement with one of the leading firms of solicitors.

Mark himself has just gone through the gruelling selection process, with a remarkable degree of success: he applied and was offered several Training Contracts at City and US firms, before deciding to accept a place with Norton Rose. This booklet is based largely on his, and his friends', experiences. It cannot be, and does not purport to be, exhaustive or definitive, but it does provide you with a valuable introduction to many of the mysteries of the selection process; it provides useful hints about the form and content of applications; it suggests how you might want to prepare your application and for your interview; it also highlights some frequently-asked questions and even suggests some useful answers. It clearly does not guarantee success. Nor does it suggest that you should simply copy the material and adopt the answers set out here: it would clearly be foolish to do so. Each application will be judged on its own merits and, at the end of the day, you will succeed (or not as the case may be) on the basis of what you yourself have to say and have to offer. As Mark emphasizes - and as all your teachers and tutors remind you constantly - the primary requirement of the top City firms is, and will continue to be, intellectual ability, as evidenced (in the main) by your academic record at University.

There are no substitutes for intelligence, hard work and good marks. However, these alone are not enough. The best firms of solicitors look for much more: can you use your intelligence and apply your learning, very often under considerable pressure, to come up with a workable solution to a practical problem? Do you have an innovative, flexible turn of mind? Can you work effectively as part of a team, sometimes with non-lawyers, as well as on your own? Do you have sufficient self-confidence to hold your own? Do you have the kind of personality that would make you someone with whom colleagues would like to work and who would impress the firm's clients? Do you have extra-curricular interests? Do you have partnership potential?

There is, seemingly, no end to the range of skills and qualities that a potential employer might look for. Add to all this the simple fact that the Law is one of the most competitive professions you could wish to join: the competition for Training Contracts and Vacation Placements with the best firms is intense. You need all the help you can get; and this booklet aims to give you a great deal.

As far as I am aware, nothing else like this exists. Your teachers, some of whom have practical experience themselves, can and do offer career advice and guidance. However, their personal experiences are not as recent as Mark's and, in any event, their "take" on the entire process would be different. In my view, this is an excellent booklet: I think Queen Mary students will find it interesting and very helpful, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to you. Good luck!


Professor Geraint W. Thomas,
Head of the Department of Law,
Queen Mary, University of London.