It's important that you start thinking about securing a traineeship whilst you're studying. You need to be aware of how the legal employment market works, who the employers are and at what stage you will need to be ready for recruitment deadlines.
The Law Society is not able to find traineeships for individuals, nor are we able to say which employers have hired trainees in the past. You should also be fully aware that you are not guaranteed to get a traineeship if you have undertaken the LLB and Diploma. The traineeship job market works like any other private sector profession; you need to proactively seek out opportunities yourself.
Although traineeships with big firms can often seem more visible, there are many other opportunities at smaller firms and in-house. We collect the evidence for this each year in our trainee statistics.
Get a feel for the traineeship market by reading our annual statistics on trainee employers, gender split and admissions.
It's important to think about what kind of employer you are interested in working for, as they vary significantly. Working for a small firm, a big firm or in-house are the main over-arching strands you can work in.
You need to consider the type of law that interests you. Do you prefer working with individuals or companies, therefore would you prefer personal or commercial law? You will need very different skills working in a high street firm to working for a large cross-border firm, whilst they're both in private practice. You may need to show your business accumen if you want to work in-house.
Different employers may also look for different things on your CV, such as particular internships, voluntary experience, non-legal work experience, grades, living abroad or subjects. Think about who your skillset might be valuable to. If there's an employer you really want to work for but you feel like you might not have the whole package, think about how you can boost your position.
For more information about what employer might suit you, apply to become a student associate for free and unlock our online traineeship hub.
You can also explore the different areas of our website tailored to different parts of our membership, by exploring the links below.
Working in High Street firms
The profile of the community of high street solicitors is extremely diverse and can be found across every sector, providing a wide range of services and in every corner of Scotland.
Working in-house
In-house lawyers make a critical contribution to the success of the companies and organisations that employ them. If you work in-house, we want to hear from you.
Developing your career in a big firm
Explore common progression structures, alternative roles and information about key skills and how to develop them to advance your big firm career.
There is no foolproof way of securing a traineeship. Firms and organisations often market themselves in universities, advising Diploma units and careers services of vacancies. Some firms recruit trainees during the undergraduate degree, others do not finalise recruitment plans until later - which could be while you are on the Diploma or beyond. Others will not advertise at all and may accept speculative applications. Ensuring you are aware of closing dates from an early stage will help as they come past quickly - and try to send in applications some time before the deadline - this will show potential recruiters you are enthusiastic about the traineeship and organised enough to submit it before the deadline! For listings of traineeship opportunities, check out:
- Lawscot Jobs, the official recruitment website of the Law Society of Scotland
- Your university careers portal
- National recruitment websites like Indeed, S1Jobs, GraduateJobs
- LinkedIn and other social media platforms (even Twitter and Facebook are becoming popular places to advertise)
- Legal publications like Scottish Legal News (sign up for daily alerts from them)
- Your law fair or other events for students
Flexible traineeships
An alternative to a two-year traineeship with one employer is to offer a flexible traineeship. This might involve multiple employers offering a traineeship position together and sharing the trainee's time, looking at part-time options or multiple secondments. There are lots of potential benefits for both employers and trainees.
The Law Society of Scotland is here to help you with your career planning throughout your professional life. We recognise that one of the most challenging periods can be securing a traineeship in order to qualify as a solicitor.
We support employers to take on trainees
If any firms or organisations would like to take on a trainee, we try to make the process as simple as possible for them by offering support and one to one support. We also promote the benefits of trainees widely within the profession, in order to encourage employers to consider taking someone on.
We provide one to one tailored support for jobseekers
If you're struggling with finding a traineeship, you can get in touch with our careers team. They can talk you through your options and can help you identify how you might be able to improve your applications or approach, including feedback on your CV, interview technique and how you're targeting employers. Email us at [email protected].
You can also unlock more careers advice by becoming a student associate. All LLB, Diploma and pre-PEAT students are eligible to join for free. You can login to the student area and look at our traineeship hub and employability advice sections.
We visit students at their universities every year
We visit every LLB and Diploma provider on an annual basis, speaking to students every year of their study and attending law fairs. We give information about the employment market and general careers advice.
