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Training contract applications – 5 top tips to help you smash your automated video interview
29 Mar, 2021
We all know how competitive top law firm training contract and vacation scheme spots are, and firms are coming up with increasingly creative ways to help them identify the very best candidates from the deluge of applications they receive. It is very common nowadays to be asked to do an automated video interview in the early stages of a law firm’s trainee recruitment process. Think of it more like a pre-interview or even a living...
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Interview with Amanda Hamilton
30 Aug, 2018
Last week Jo Kangurs of Symphony Legal Interviewed  Amanda Hamilton , CEO,  National Association of Licensed Paralegals  around the issue of why qualifying as a Paralegal is becoming the only career option for those wanting to enter the legal services profession.  Q1:  Can you give a brief background of the National Association of Licensed Paralegals and its key objectives/aims? The aim is to create the role...
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The Other Jobs (Besides a Solicitor) in the Legal World
03 Jul, 2018
Chances are that you’ve probably heard in the past about people who get law degrees, only to end up finding success outside of the legal realm . As inspiring as some of these stories can be, it’s not always practical to make such a leap. The good news here is that even if you don’t want to be a solicitor, there are several different ways to make your mark in a legal profession. Here are some standout options. Become A...
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Work-Life Balance in the Legal Profession
06 Jun, 2018
A lot of the time, a successful career means making sacrifices, and those in the legal profession probably know this better than most. Long hours are generally an expected part of the job, especially the higher up the ladder you go. As Maureen Brady , division manager for the Legal Solutions-Permanent Placement Division of legal placement firm Hudson, puts it, “Most lawyers really can’t complain about being paid £100K to...
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Prepping Early for a Legal Career
01 Jun, 2018
The legal world has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years , especially in the U.K. This means that the profession is getting a growing amount of attention for people looking for work, ranging from students taking the conventional route to become solicitors to other switching gears in their careers. In addition, we can’t neglect the fact that there are a range of different legal jobs other than solicitors that a person...
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How Do You Progress To A Managing Partner?
21 May, 2018
When it comes to any career, your ultimate goal, in many cases, is to try and work your way up to the highest position possible. In U.K. law, the end-game here is becoming a managing partner. However, as it is for many of these types of positions, there’s a finite amount of managing partner roles , not enough for every single person who works in the legal field. In order to improve your chances of reaching that point, you not only need...
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Protecting Your Professional Indemnity Insurance: Questions a law firm should ask during the recruitment process
09 May, 2018
by Jenny Screech, Legal Professions Executive, Howden UK Group Ltd 020 7398 4894 | jenny.screech@howdengroup.com Due diligence is important when a law firm is recruiting a new fee earner – whether that is at trainee, paralegal, solicitor or even partner level. Some firms are highly organised and have a pre-hire question set. Other firms are more reticent and feel awkward about asking questions relating to issues such as...
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Tips for Your Next Law Firm Trainee Job Application
09 May, 2018
The time is here—law firms across the U.K. are beginning to recruit for trainees, and if you are among that hopeful group, you need to realise that you are in a very competitive field. Figures from a few years ago showed that on average, there are  65 people  competing for every single training contract in England and Wales, meaning that you need to excel in both the interview process and what gets you there in the first place...
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CILEx - Another Route to Becoming a Lawyer
27 Apr, 2018
The legal sector is a potential goldmine of a profession for those who are skilled and able to work hard. To put this in perspective, the UK legal sector grew 8% from the previous year in 2016, worth around £26bn. Statistics from Oxford Economics and Cambridge Econometrics showed that 370,000 people are employed in the profession, two-thirds of those in solicitors’ firms. Many people who want to pursue this path think that...
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Is The Legal Sector Open To Job Shares?
20 Apr, 2018
For most employers, the idea of paying two people for one job may seem a bit absurd at first. However, if you stop and take a closer look, this is becoming more and more common. In 2017,  one report  showed that more than 770,000 high earners were now working part-time, not due to bad luck, but by choice. Timewise co-founder Karen Mattison explains: “The dramatic increase in job shares offers us a glimpse into how jobs will...
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How Diverse Is The Legal System In The UK?
20 Apr, 2018
Diversity is becoming more and more of a hot-button topic in workplaces around the U.K. and beyond. The legal sector , long having been predominately white and male, is no exception. There has been an ongoing debate about exactly what is the root issue here, from the system itself to educational opportunities to financial issues (but that’s a talk for another day). Exactly what is the demographic breakdown for solicitors and other...
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