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
The importance of law career fairs is often under-estimated by candidates and you will be missing a trick if you don’t attend any. Whilst we wouldn’t recommend you go to lots of them, we would certainly recommend you attend at least one or two carefully selected fairs. They are a safer and less scary way…
September/October of each year sees the start of various new cycles in the worlds of students, graduates and law job applicants. Students are either starting a new year at university or commencing the GDL or LPC at law school. Out of those who have already finished their studies, the lucky ones will be commencing their…
In this post, I outline how to prepare for, and practice, training contract and vacation scheme assessment centre tests & exercises. So you’ve gone through the hard slog of applications and you’ve made it through to the next stage. Awaiting you is the firm’s assessment centre and you’re wondering what to expect. Assessment centres (or…
Law firms need to know that their future trainees have the skills required to work in client-facing situations. And that they can be depended on to make an impression which reflects favourably on the firm. But a presentation exercise isn’t about presentation skills alone – it’s also a test of organisation and planning. What to…
More widely used in assessment centres for accountancy and finance, numerical reasoning tests are, nonetheless, still used by some law firms in their recruitment practices. Far from being a test of mathematical ability, these assessments are generally designed to see how well you can interpret data and statistical information. What to expect: The format of…
Verbal reasoning tests are one of the most common forms of aptitude test used by law firms for recruitment purposes. They are used across a range of sectors, including law, as being able to accurately comprehend written information is an important skill for most graduate roles. There is evidence to suggest that they can actually…
Working as a solicitor is rarely a solitary job, thus it is essential for all training contract applicants to show that they have the ability, and the correct competencies, to work successfully as part of a team. The way that many law firms will assess this is through a structured Group Exercise. What to expect:…
This part of the assessment centre allows you to experience the typical decisions and dilemmas that come up frequently when working for a law firm. It gives assessors the opportunity to see how you deal with day to day business multi-tasking, so will give them a good indicator of how you are likely to perform…
Steve Jobs was a visionary and an inspiration to many. He had some valuable insights and advice which all aspiring lawyers would do well to consider. In 2005, Steve gave the commencement speech for students graduating from Stanford University. It remains a hugely popular speech due to the powerful calls to action included in it…