6 ways to be remembered when your legal traineeship ends

legal traineeship

Your legal traineeship is your first real foray into a law office; it’s also your first and ONLY time to make a good impression. When the experience ends, you want the staff to remember you. Better yet, it would be great if they offered you a full-time position when study is over.

That only happens, though, unless you get them to remember you. The senior admin staff and some of the lawyers see literally dozens of people coming through the office in a week, hundreds in a month. Here’s some tips to help you stand out from the crowd when you’re in the middle of your legal traineeship.

 

  • Dress nicely

People will judge you by what you’re wearing before you even open your mouth. For ladies, a blouse and skirt/pants with a blazer is safe for any corporate environment. Either that or a dress with short sleeves. For the men, trousers with a matching blazer, shirt and tie can’t do you wrong.

This also applies to your style. Check the shoes are free of scuff marks and your hair’s combed before you leave the house. Don’t overdo it on the perfume and cologne, either. There’s a difference between ‘pleasant’ and ‘pungent’.

 

  • Listen, then speak

A legal traineeship is an opportunity to learn, not to prove that you’re the smartest person in the room. Don’t interrupt your colleagues at the office when they’re helping or trying to teach you something. It’s bad manners and they won’t appreciate it.

 

  • Be polite

Not just to the senior attorneys and the existing administration staff. Be polite to everyone, from the receptionist to the cleaner. Make eye contact and smile. You can brighten someone’s day just by asking ‘how are you going?’.

 

  • Ask questions

If you don’t know, then ask. How else are you going to learn? Your legal traineeship is going to expose you to tasks that might throw you. It’s better to ask for help than to hold onto your pride and make a mistake. That’ll certainly make people remember you, and not in a good way.

 

Want to know more? Read these:

  1. Want a job in legal? This is what the lawyers are looking for
  2. 5 good habits to impress legal recruiters

 

  • Be a team player

Credit is given where credit is due, so don’t be that person who hogs it when it was really a group effort. You’ll work with the same people a few times during your legal traineeship and the last thing they’ll want is to work with someone who ‘steals the glory’.

 

  • Learn and then act

During the first few days of your legal traineeship, observe how the existing staff work. How do they greet clients? How do the assistants and the lawyers interact with each other? Where do people go for lunch? Look, learn, and then do. Eat your lunch with people in the kitchen or at a nearby cafe, do things for the staff without being asked. You might make a friend and be remembered for your funny jokes at lunch.

 

Starting a legal traineeship is daunting but it’s also kind of exciting. Getting the attention of people as busy as those who work in law is tricky. But if you dress nicely, remember your manners, and learn quickly, then you’re bound to be noticed for the right things.