Types of law firm representatives at the fair & questions you should ask them

Dec 11, 2023

Written By AllAboutLaw

At the Virtual Law Fair, you will encounter various different representatives from law firms. The approach you have to each of these representatives should be different. It’s important that you understand their role and how they interact with the vacation scheme or training contract recruitment process.

Graduate recruitment

The graduate recruitment team at law firms are responsible for getting the best candidates to apply for and accept a vacation scheme and training contract at their firm.

The graduate recruitment team is in charge of the recruitment and assessment process; they will be the first people to look at your application form and CV, and they will also be the people who will get in touch with you about each stage of the recruitment process.

With this in mind, you should ask the graduate recruitment team any questions you have about the application process. However, do not ask anything you can find on a firm’s website or social media channels such as “How many trainees do you recruit each year?”. Graduate recruitment teams speak to thousands of students every year and there’s a reason they choose to publish certain information on their website; they do not want to be regurgitating answers to simple questions.

Rather, you should ask graduate recruitment teams questions about what they look for in an ideal candidate, tips to make your application stand out and how to impress throughout the recruitment process.

Trainee solicitors

It is highly likely that you will have the opportunity to network with trainee solicitors from law firms throughout the Virtual Law Fair.

Speaking to trainee solicitors allows you to get an honest insight into what life is like at a particular firm. There are various topics you should speak to trainees about, including the type of work they undertake and the cases and tasks they work on; their tips for the application process; and what it’s like to go on client or international secondment.

Partners & fee-earners

In some cases, you may have the opportunity to speak with partners and fee-earners of a law firm. These individuals are highly experienced lawyers, with a wealth of commercial experience and knowledge. You should not ask partners anything related to the application or assessment process.

Rather, you should use your time with them to enquire about their work, their clients and their thoughts on the latest developments in their sector. You can usually find out some background information on a partner by looking them up on Google or LinkedIn - they will usually have a profile on the firm’s website that lists their areas of expertise.

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