Professional briefing - The Journal Online

Professional news Society
New website to promote
training openings
The Society is introducing a recruitment portal for traineeships
and student summer placements, at no cost to advertisers
As the Society continues to
strengthen its focus on supporting
and representing the profession, the
introduction of a recruitment portal
advertising traineeships and summer
placements is an exciting
development for law students and
the profession alike.
Unlike most recruitment websites,
training organisations can post their
vacancies for free and without agency
involvement, allowing direct links to be
built between the training organisations
and future trainees from an early stage.
Placements and traineeships come in
all shapes and sizes and we have
developed this website to ensure all
training organisations have an equal
platform to tell students about the
various opportunities. Training
organisations advertise in different ways
and at different times, and this site
allows each organisation to
complement their existing recruitment
methods at no cost.
During the LLB and Diploma, most
students have very little contact with
the profession, and their only
awareness may come from their
university law fair. With an average of
25-30 training organisations
22 / theJournal December 09
attending, law fairs rarely represent
the broad spectrum of traineeships
and summer placements available.
This website seeks to place all
training organisations on an equal
footing to attract high calibre
individuals suited to their needs.
It also seeks to replace the Society’s
traditional “training register”, putting
the onus on graduates to search for
available traineeships, and become
more proactive in finding an
opportunity. Persistence and
perseverance are qualities that will
serve all graduates well at any time
and stage of their career, but never
more so than during this difficult
economic climate. It is no secret that
the competition for training contracts
and summer placements is
particularly keen at the moment, and
I have been impressed by the
prospective trainees now emerging
from the LLB and Diploma who are
ensuring they are as employable and
competitive candidates as possible.
Interest in opting to receive
communications for the Society (New
Lawyers’ News), attending CPD for
new lawyers seminars, and gaining
valuable work experience, has soared
fyi
Elsewhere:
Crown
disclosure to
defence lawyers
– see p45
Training
organisations
retain an
appetite for
high calibre
graduates,
despite the
economic
uncertainty,
and it’s not
difficult to
see why
this year, and as a result the
profession can benefit from
employing engaged, committed
graduates who have made a conscious
decision to pursue a legal career.
Training organisations retain an
appetite for high calibre graduates,
despite the economic uncertainty, and
it’s not difficult to see why. Today’s
trainees may become senior members
of the organisation in the future. Both
the organisation and the trainee can
benefit from a genuine investment in
the trainee’s future.
I intentionally use the word
“investment”, as recruiting a trainee
can provide all training organisations
with an opportunity to “grow your
own assistant”. This phrase was
coined to convey the long term goal
of an organisation recruiting a
summer student or trainee with a
view to them becoming an
established member of the
organisation in the future and,
ultimately, take on the succession.
They can only do this if there are
bright and capable assistants ready to
step up to the challenge. For this
reason, the importance of recruiting
the right employees cannot be
overestimated. Recruiting the right
people now can pay dividends in the
future, and by developing this website
the Society is recognising the
importance of ensuring training
organisations have a fair opportunity
to offer placements and traineeships
to law students, and ultimately invest
in the future of their organisation.
The flexibility this new website
affords means that training
organisations can offer a variety of
opportunities, depending what is
appropriate for them, whether one
short summer placement or 20
traineeships. With no charge to
advertise your vacancies, this may just
be an investment worth making.
To find out more about advertising your
placement or traineeship vacancies free on
lawscotjobs.co.uk, email
newlawyers@lawscot.org.uk .
Heather McPhee, Development
Officer, Education & Training
www.journalonline.co.uk