Get them in, just get it done

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. Time really does seem to move very quickly, summer barely seems to have passed, but there is no escaping this sharp, cool winter air.

Many firms opened their application for their Training contract applicants yesterday and the majority will remain open until the 31^st July 2010. Lots of time, eight months in fact. Though, if you really think about it there isn’t a great deal of time if you consider you will be sleeping for about two and half months, watching TV for a couple of weeks, and drinking for several days it doesn’t really leave you with a lot of time especially if you consider how competitive vacation schemes are and all the other things you have to do with your time!

Most of your applications will fail; and the majority won’t even send anything back, you simply won’t hear a thing. One or two applications are completely inadequate unless you have some kind of insane CV. Here’s a few tips on a Law CV template, by the way.

So even though it is only December and you have eight months to go and essays and presents to buy, and end of term socials to arrange and attend you need to get cracking. You might say you will do it in the holidays. Most people will say that and I suspect most will in fact begin in the holidays, they might even do one or two but as I said that isn’t enough.

Before long it will time to be back at uni; the work will load up again and you will keep meaning to find time. Then Easter, then exams and then the summer. Then you will realise you are jobless with no other prospects but the SQE Course, lots of debt and an uncertain future.

That’s the problem with facts and reality – they can’t be blagged. If you want to be a lawyer add applications to your time table or you’ll regret it. Why not try a test. If you don’t believe me, write a to do list for a week (or even two days) of things you think you can achieve. I guarantee you only manage two thirds. If I’m right for you I bet you won’t do enough applications and will end up without a training contract by the end of this academic year.

So I would say get them in, just get it done.