Matt Oliver
Matt is a former FTSE 100 in-house lawyer, an experienced legal career coach and MD of Trainee Solicitor Surgery. He provides entry level law careers advice to students and graduates through his writing and mentoring. He also offers private one-to-one coaching to those struggling with training contract and vacation scheme applications, interviews and assessment centres.
Posts
So you’ve landed yourself an interview for a training contract or vacation scheme – well done! However, you may have found that the initial elation has now turned to panic. How on earth can you be sure to answer all those tough training contract interview questions? Trust me, you are not alone. The important thing…
There are plenty of lists of training contract interview questions available online – some contain hundreds of potential questions you could be asked. However, I don’t recommend you spend time reviewing all of these and preparing scripted answers to them. Instead, you can browse through a selection to get a flavour of some of the…
Competition for training contracts has never been more fierce than it is today. So, unless you are an applicant with an Oxbridge double first, rowing captain and chairman of the debating society on your CV, you need to understand what firms are looking for and seek to demonstrate as much of it as you can.…
Before applying for solicitor training contracts it’s important to know that law firms come in all shapes and sizes and undertake all manner of different legal work for an extensive range of clients. Research is Key For wannabe trainee solicitors it is vitally important to fully research the different types of firms and organisations which…
Welcome to our Essential Guide to Training Contract Assessment Centres, designed to help you succeed at law firm assessment centres. If you are looking for sample assessment centre questions and practice tests & exercise go here: Practice Assessment Centre Tests & Exercises Why Law Firms Use Assessment Centres To Select Trainees With so much written…
A CV for your training contract application may turn out to be one of the most important pieces of work you ever produce. You should see it as a piece of work that you take pride in rather than something that needs to be thrown together to enable you to submit a job application. The…
Law vacation schemes are a must for any aspiring solicitor who has yet to secure a training contract. Ideally, a strategy for getting on to multiple vacation schemes must be considered at an early stage of your studies. Law Vacation Schemes – The Basics There are many formal vacation schemes run by the large to…
Our Essential Guide Here you will find our essential guide to passing the Watson Glaser critical thinking test when applying for training contracts and vacation schemes. It also includes sample questions and answers that reflect typical scenarios and the different skills required. Critical thinking skills are now assessed by more and more law firms as…
If you’re looking for a good, up to date book to help you with the training contract recruitment process there is a new book on the block: “The Complete Guide to Getting a Solicitor’s Training Contract” by Sarah Cave Sarah is a solicitor herself, so knows her stuff on this. Here’s the quick book summary:…