Articles From the Team

I'm a newly qualified solicitor and I don't know what to do: stay put or move?

I imagine there are hundreds of trainee solicitors asking themselves this question right now.

Put simply, there’s no right or wrong answer; it's dictated by your individual circumstances and ambitions.

Let’s look at some scenarios

1. If you like your training firm and have an offer for your first choice discipline, then it’s a no-brainer – stay put, at least for a couple of years.
2. If you don’t like your training firm but have an offer for your first choice, you need to weigh up (not easy) whether it’s worth sticking around for a couple of years, or whether now's the time to make an exit. If you move, you’ll break free from the shackles of the trainee title, but it could be a situation of moving “out of the frying pan into the fryer.” If you stay, you have a secure job in familiar surroundings, but remain unhappy. A hard decision. (Don't fret, it's a decision a good legal recruiter can help you with - see below).
3. You like your training firm and you have an offer but it’s not your first choice: is it worth sticking around if you have other options? You might like the people you work with now, but in 12 months time, if people have moved on, will you still like it? From my experience in legal recruitment, it’s never a wise decision to stay put at a law firm solely for the people - faces change. Quite frankly, this is a stage in your career where you need to be particularly selfish.
4. You don’t like your training firm and you don't have an offer. Another no-brainer.

This period of time is a minefield for trainees/NQs;

Legal recruitment agencies see it every year: NQs jump prematurely; instead of holding their nerve to see what comes out in the wash.

A good legal recruiter is available to provide trainees and NQs with – 100% objective – advice. If it’s worthwhile for you to remain where you are, they’ll tell you. If it’s better for you to move on, they’ll tell you that too.

Please get in touch if you have any questions, no matter how small!

Click here for all the latest NQ vacancies.

Read Luqmaan Ayaz's blog: 'Should I relocate for my new role or is commuting a better option?'