From Student to Solicitor

So, you had that all important training contract interview and you feel that it has gone really well. You seem to get on really well with the interviewers, had confident, coherent responses for their questions and showed a keen interest in the job and the firm.

What’s next? Well, you could sit back and wait anxiously to hear the outcome. Or, you could write a short thank you note to the interviewer for their time and considering you as a candidate. I would suggest the following:

1. Send an e-mail or handwritten note. E-mail is quicker but handwritten is more personal so the approach you take may depend on the firm. For example, a modern, technologically-advanced firm may appreciate an email more where as a traditional, high street firm may prefer a handwritten note.

2. Address it to your interviewer by name (I mean “Mr Jones” not “Peter” unless they specifically asked you to call them by their first name).

3. Thank them for their time and considering your application.

4. Reiterate your interest in the firm and the job. For example, “I was really interested in hearing about [firm's name] and your work in the medical negligence sector”.

5. Link your skills back to the job. For example,”After hearing more about the role, I really feel that my extensive experience in advocacy and negotiation would assist me to excel in this position”.

6. Keep it short – you want to remind the interviewer about you, not bore them!

This note has several benefits. It reminds them of you while they are considering who to hire, it shows them that you are a polite, confident candidate and it keeps the lines of communication open. It might just give you the edge over another candidate if the interviewer is torn.

As the writer Richard Whateley once said: “Manners are one of the greatest engines of influence ever given to man”.

Background

The current prescribed minimum salary set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority is set at £16,650 outside of London and £18,590 in central London.  The SRA are currently considering whether to remove the prescribed minimum salary altogether.  These proposals have been widely criticised by the Junior Lawyers Division and the Law Society who have branded the salary review as “unfortunate” and “premature”.  The results of the SRA’s consultation will be fed back to the SRA Board later this month.

The Disadvantages

The deregulation of the prescribed minimum salary could result in traineeships become classed as apprenticeships under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, which would mean that employers would only be liable to pay the national minimum wage from 1999 to their trainees in the first year (£2.60 per hour) and the standard minimum wage for every subsequent year (currently set at £6.08 per hour).

It is possible that this could damage social mobility and diversity in the profession with fears that high qualification costs (especially with the rising costs of university tuition fees) and low pay could deter all but the very rich from becoming solicitors at all.  This does seem to be a step backwards to the elitist profession of earlier years.

The Law Society has also questionned whether firms wanting to pay their trainees £2.60 per hour should even be offering training contracts at all, as it casts doubts over whether the firm would be able to offer adequate training and resources to the trainee.

The Advantages

The SRA feels that there may no longer be  a need for them to regulate a trainee’s salary and that they should not be attempting to control the legal employment market in any way.  After all, no other regulatory body sets prescribed minimum salaries for their trainees.

At the present time, there are 9088 trainee solicitors registered in England and Wales.  Of these, 30% are paid at the minimum level.  It is fair to assume therefore that only 30% of the trainees in the country would be affected by the removal of the prescribed minimum salary.  These trainees would still be protected by the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, which, as discussed above, would class trainees as apprentices.

The potential for some employers to reduce salary levels must be weighed against the fact that the existence of a prescribed minimum salary that is higher that the national minimum wage might be actually stopping some firms from offering training contracts at all.  The removal of the minimum salary may result in some firms starting to offer training contracts for the first time, or existing training firms starting to offer more places.  This would give more law students the opportunity to qualify.

Admittedly, there is a possibility that trainees from less wealthy backgrounds may be deterred from pursuing a career in law.  However, it is equally possible that access to a legal career may be improved as more law firms are able to offer training contracts.  Given that there continues to be a high demand for training contracts, any measures which seek to increase the availability of them has to be worth consideration.

My Thoughts

The new proposals set out by the SRA to remove the prescribed minimum salary for trainee solicitors could result in some trainees being exploited by firms and being paid the bare minimum of £2.60 per hour for their first year.  This is a shockingly low figure, especially when you consider the huge tuition fees payable by the trainee to their university for 4-5 years of study and the fact that they would not be paid at all during their studies unless they undertake extra employment in addition to their ardous academic workload.

I also find it slightly insulting that trainee solicitors would be treated as apprentices for the first year of their training contract and, as such, would be paid the wage of an apprentice (£2.60 per hour) during this time.  This does not take into account the 4-5 years of hard study undertaken by the trainee, or the countless hours spent doing free work experience for law firms to bolster their CV to even get their foot in the door for a training contract!

Nevertheless, I do believe that the removal of a prescribed minimum salary may result in more training contracts being available to an already saturated marketplace, which I think can only be a good thing.

It may be difficult for trainees to work for such low salaries throughout their training contract, but I think that it would be worth it if a career in law is really your ultimate goal.  For anyone who is passionate about being a solicitor, surviving 1-2 more years on a low salary may be a small sacrifice to make to reach qualification.  And if the law firm does not offer a reasonable salary upon qualification which is in line with the market salaries, then the trainee has at least reached qualification and can then decide to move on to another firm offering a more rewarding wage.

The thing to bear in mind with a minimum salary is that it is only the first rung in the ladder.  If your intention is to stay on the minimum salary for the rest of your life, then maybe it should be higher than £2.60 per hour, but in reality you will be looking to move up the ladder and earn more as your value increases.  As I have said in my previous post, employers will pay you according to the value that you bring to the firm, so the way to increase your salary is to increase your value by learning, learning and learning!

Yes, it is incrediably unfair that some trainee solicitors will be paid as little as £2.60 per hour following 4-5 years of hard studying, but there is little that we can do to affect the SRA’s decision.  I would chalk this down to one of the many challenges that face solicitors throughout their careers and see it as an opportunity to thrive in spite of it.  If you can reach qualification with all of the obstacles facing trainees and law students these days, then you know that you will be well equipped to face anything that may challenge you throughout your career.  And if you are determined and focused on that goal, you will get there!

What do you think of the changes to the minimum salary proposed by the SRA?

I found this video by Duncan Gibbins on YouTube today and thought that my law student followers may find it useful. It is full of tips from trainee solicitors on the training contract application process.

Enjoy!

YouTube: Training Contract Application Tips

One of the most important things that you can do to reach qualification and reach your career goals is to read as much relevant material as you possibly can. This increases your value to potential employers and ensures that you are well equipped for the challenges ahead. With that in mind, I will occasionally be including reviews of books that I think may be useful for your career in my blog. I hope you find them useful!

For me, the choice of which book to review first was an easy one. “The Guide” by Dr William Holden was the book that influenced me to grow my career, stretched myself to reach my goals and overcome many obstacles. It is a guide to personal development that is unlike so many of those that are also on the market. Unlike it’s competitors, The Guide does not just tell you what to do to achieve anything you want in life, but why the method works and how to actually put it into practice.

The book follows two friends, Paul and Maya, one of whom is guiding the other through the methods they used to completely revitalise their life. It has a semi-fictional layout which makes it simple to follow and absorb the methods along with the fictional trainee!

One of my favourite things about this book is that it is really easy to read, it breaks down the ideas into plain English and is virtually impossible to put down once you have started reading it. I first read the book in about three days flat! I have since read it another 6 times, as it is one of those books that you will want to re-read as you work through the goal setting exercises and reach certain steps. Every step is highlighted with examples which help to reiterate the message being delivered.

There is nothing particularly complicated about the methods laid out in the book which is surprising at first because you would expect something so life changing to be a little more challenging. This is, however, another fantastic element because it is so easy to implement immediately and is easily achievable by anyone who reads the book.

Personally, I read this book during my training contract and it guided me through the various obstacles on my own route to qualification and assisted me in achieving my various career goals along the way. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone – it really will change your life!

I would love to know what you thought of The Guide so please let me know in the comments section below!

Let me tell you a story about a law graduate who found an unusual way of securing his training contract with a firm that I worked for.  He was studying his Legal Practice Course at the time, but was aware that the end of his studies was approaching and he still didn’t yet have a training contract.

Instead of writing letters to every firm in the area, he got dressed in his smartest suit, printed off a reem of copies of his CV, packed them in his briefcase and hit the streets.  He turned up at the reception of every law firm in our town in search of any opportunities.  He spoke politely to every receptionist that he encountered and explained that he was looking for a chance to speak with the Managing Partner about any opportunities there may be within the firm.  He assured them that he would be happy to work as a paralegal and work up to a training contract, or even start as an office junior if it meant getting his foot in the door.

When he walked into the office of the firm where I was working at the time, the Managing Partner just happened to be in reception and overheard his conversation with our receptionist.  She was so impressed that she called him into her office there and then to discuss his CV.  She hired him as a paralegal on the spot and within 3 months he was offered a training contract.

This approach may seem very scary to some, as you will have to have a thick skin and be prepared for lots of rejection.  But you can see why it worked.  For the Managing Partner, she was able to look at the long term prospects of hiring someone like him.  Firstly, he was clearly passionate about reaching his goals, since he was willing to walk door to door until someone helped him.  Secondly, he was polite to her receptionist – which is always a good sign (I will be doing a post about this issue at a later date!).  Finally, he was someone prepared to think outside the box when things got tough.  This means that, in the future, if he was struggling with a low workload or the firm didn’t have many new clients, she knew that she could rely on him to think outside the box in order to bring new contacts into the firm.  Particularly as he was clearly a confident individual, so was also likely to be successful at networking.

I’m not saying that you should immediately go out and try this approach, but it is worth thinking about if you are having trouble finding a training contract.  It helps people to see that you are friendly, confident and serious about qualifying – all of which are crucial personality traits in any trainee solicitor.

Have you heard of any unusual ways that trainee solicitors have found their training contracts?  If so, please let us know in the comment section below!

As I have said in previous posts, it is highly likely that your next job opportunity will arise either from your friends or from business contacts, so networking (i.e. building personal relationships) is so important for your job hunt.  For a lot of junior solicitors (and older ones for that matter), networking can be daunting and a bit scary.  I can assure you that it is something that gets easier with practice and, if you follow the tips below, can be so effective in helping you to find your next job or your training contract.

So, to get the most out of your networking meetings, I would suggest the following: -

1.  Tailor which events you go to.  It may not be prudent to focus on traditional “networking” events, like BNI, for your job hunt.  Whilst there is likely to be at least one solicitor there, they will be focused on increasing their client base and are unlikely to want to talk to other solicitors, about job hunting or anything else!  Instead, I would aim for events where most of the attendees will be solicitors, such as lectures run by your local law school or accountancy firm, or social events run by your local Junior Lawyers Division group.  At these sort of events, the attending solicitors will be more relaxed and more focused on socialising, so, in turn, will be more open to discussing job opportunities and how they will be able to help you.

2.  Dress to impress.  No matter what type of event you go to, ALWAYS dress smart and focus on your appearance.  Make an effort to wear a suit or business dress.  Men – polish your shoes and have a shave.  Women – keep jewellery simple and don’t overdo the make-up! When you first arrive, visit the bathroom to make sure that you still look smart after travelling.

3.  Get there early.  If there is a schedule to stick to, you may find that you don’t have enough time to talk to everyone that you would have liked to.  Being punctual also makes a good impression and leaves you free to chat with the other early arrivals.  This is particularly helpful if you are nervous, as it will settle your nerves to break the ice in a more casual manner.  I have often found that my most effective networking and best business relationships have developed from contacts that I have spoken to before the networking officially started.

4.  Listen 80% and talk 20%.  Networking should always be interactive, but in general, others would rather talk than listen.  Therefore, initially at least, give them your full attention.  Listening builds trust and says “I care about you”.  Take care to listen carefully to everything they say and ask questions that demonstrate that you have heard them.

5.  If you get point 4 right, most people will, at some point, inevitably ask you about yourself and what you do.  When that happens, take twenty seconds (not twenty minutes) to reply.  Be focused and tell them exactly what you do and what help you are looking for.  For example: “I am currently finishing my Legal Practice Course and am hoping to specialise in employment law when I qualify.  I’m here today to expand my network and meet other solicitors in the area.  Ideally, I am looking for contacts who can help me to find opportunities to obtain a training contract and offer me advice”.

6.  In general, when asking for help, it is better to be indirect than direct.  For example, most people will clam up if you ask them “can you give me the names of some of your friends?” but will be more open to respond to “who else do you think I should be talking to?”/”do you have any advice for me?”/”are there any local groups that you think I should get in touch with?”/”what would you do if you were me?”.  These questions are far less threatening and will often elicit a response that gives you a name or contact details for someone who can help.  It is important at this stage to ask for information only -  don’t ask them directly for a job!  This will come across as pushy and will make them less likely to want to help.  When someone does help, offer them something in return if you can – e.g. the name of another contact that may help them, or advice on a project they have discussed with you.

7.  Be optimistic and upbeat.  If you are having fun, they will have fun.  And if they’re having fun talking to you, they will be more likely to want to help you.

7.  The follow-up.  Ask for a business card from every person that you interact with so that you have their contact details.  After the event, ALWAYS contact everyone that you made a connection with, either by email or phone.  Thank them for their time, tell them what you are going to do/have done with their advice and let them know that you enjoyed interacting with them.  If you have followed my previous advice in my LinkedIn post, you should have an active profile there by now.  If so, add the new contacts that you have made on there.  The most important thing is that you keep interacting with them regularly, so that if they ever do hear of any job opportunities in their firm or in a contact’s firm, they will think of you!

Have any of you ever been offered a job as a result of someone that you know?  Or have you had a particularly positive networking experience that you would like to share.  If so, please comment below.

I am coming into my final year of my law degree and can’t decide which electives to choose. Which will help me to best get a training contract?

This is a question that plagues a lot of law students in the run up to their final year. I certainly made some choices that I regret because I thought they would look good on my CV (see below!). My top tips for choosing your electives are: -

What Interests You?

First and foremost, which of the electives interests you the most personally? This is so important and I really can’t emphasis this one enough! If the subject doesn’t interest you, you are going to find it harder to study and will ultimately get lower grades as a result. This will be counterproductive – whilst you will have the more “professional” subject on your CV, it may be marred with a 2:2 or 3^rd, which won’t look very good at all.

In the long term, it is much better to go for a topic that really interests you and gets your blood pumping. This means that you will be much more likely to get a 1^st or a distinction, which will look great to future employers.

In my third year, I chose commercial law as an elective and almost immediately regretted it. I was never a commercial lawyer at heart, so found it really hard to pay attention in lessons and to feel personally interested in what the lecturer was talking about. I ended up with a 2:2 for that module, which was actually better than I thought I’d do!

What Do You Want to Specialise In?

If more than one subject interests you, what do you want to specialise in when you qualify? Do any of the electives on offer assist or compliment this specialism? For example, if you want to specialise in family law, a module in Care Proceedings may assist. Or if you want to be a litigant, choosing modules based on Negotiation or Advocacy may help you.

What Kind of Firm Do You Want to Work For?

If you aren’t sure on your specialism just yet (and don’t worry if you’re not yet – lots of law students aren’t!), do you have an idea of what type of firm you would like to work for? If you want to work in the City, subjects like Mergers & Acquisitions may be better options. If you want to work locally in a small to medium sized firm, you would be better off aiming for more private client subjects like Wills & Probate or Trusts. Look at the websites of the firms that you are interested in working for and research what specialisms they have. This may guide you somewhat in making your decision.

The Lecturers

This consideration is not quite as important as the points above, but is still worth thinking about. If you know that a particular subject is taught by a lecturer that you’ve always found it hard to listen to in the past, this may make it harder to get the grades that will ultimately impress your future employer.

Exam to Coursework Ratio

Have a look at the syllabus of each elective to see what proportion of the grades is attributed to coursework and exam performance. If you know that you personally excel at coursework, but tend to fold under exam pressure, it might be another vote for the coursework based electives. It is always worth playing to your strengths!

The Syllabus

It is definitely worth taking some time reading the syllabus for each of the electives before making your final decision to ensure that the subject teaches what you think it does. For example, when I was in my final year, I chose to study Internet Law. This was partly because I thought it was a good choice for my CV, but also partly because I had images of case law about social media websites and privacy laws. In reality, we ended up doing a term of website terms & conditions. Very dull in comparison!

I hope that this has given you some idea of the sort of things that you should be considering when choosing your electives. If you are still unsure and having difficulty making a decision, feel free to email me at sarah@fromstudenttosolicitor.com and I will see if I can help.

If you are reading this as a trainee or qualified solicitor, how did you choose your electives and do you now regret any of the choices you made?

Question: “I am currently doing my Legal Practice Course part-time, but unfortunately I only got a 2:2 for my law degree.  Is there any hope of me getting a training contract?”

To answer your question simply: yes!  Of course, there is always hope.  You may have to work a bit harder than some of your peers who got a 2:1 or a 1^st, but YOU CAN STILL DO IT!

I’m not going to sugar coat it for you – you may find that you are unable to get a training contract at some of the bigger firms, because a lot of them won’t let you proceed with an application unless you obtained at least a 2:2.  But, there are still a lot of chances with small and medium sized firms in most towns.

What you need to focus on now is two things: -

1.  Getting excellent grades on your LPC (distinction if possible!)

2.  Doing as many extra-curricular activities as you can.

The first point is fairly self-explanatory and if you don’t know why this is important then maybe it is time to explore other avenues for your career.

In relation to the second point, there are many different things that you can do to bolster your applications to training firms.  Here are some of my suggestions:

1. Get involved in mooting at your university.
2. If your university has a free law clinic, look into signing up to help others.  If it doesn’t, why not think about getting one up?  Alternatively, volunteering at the CAB would get you similar experience.
3. Do unpaid work experience at as many firms as you can during your holidays.
4. Become a member of the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society and get as involved as you can in their social events.  You may even be able to become a member of the committee where you can organise events and influence directly the messages that young lawyers send back to the Law Society.
5. Visit law courts in your spare time to watch cases in the public galleries.  This may give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to counsel or solicitors (but be mindful that they may not always be approachable – particularly when they are with clients!).
6. Get involved in local or charity events in your town.  Inevitably, a lot of these are sponsored or run by local law firms.
7. Set up a law-related blog or twitter feed and put details of this on your CV.  Make sure that you keep it updated with relevant, interesting articles about your chosen subject area.
8. Get a Linkedin account and use it to its full potential.  For more details of this, see my earlier post here.
9. Speak to as many of your contacts as you can to see whether there might be any opportunities at their firms.
10. If you do get an interview, be as polite as possible to everyone you meet at the firm.  You never know who you might be talking to!  A friend of mine got into a friendly conversation with the receptionist only to find out later when she was hired that the receptionist was the boss’ daughter!  Thank god, he didn’t shun her!
11. Develop your out of work interests: employers like interests that show a charitable nature, something that will assist with networking or hobbies that clients can relate to (e.g. marathon running, golf enthusiast, keen cyclist).
12. Consider part-time work as a paralegal while you train.  This will look great on your CV, give you lots of experience and you may find an opportunity within the same firm once you have finished your LPC.

There are plenty of other things that you can do, but this list would be a good start!

And if it helps you to feel more hopeful, I will let you into a little secret… I only obtained a 2:2 at my law degree and went on to qualify with a successful career as a solicitor!  I did have mitigating circumstances, which I won’t go into today, but it was still a battle to find a training contract.  The key point to remember is that I did get there with a lot of hard work – and you can too!

For my readers who have already qualified or obtained a training contract, can you think of any other things that a law student could do to bolster their CV?  Please comment below!

As we all know, the competition for training contracts is fierce at the moment and it is getting more difficult to get a foot in the door, particularly when there are less positions and more applicants than there were 10 years ago.  So what can be done?

The key weapon in your arsenal that will prepare you to face the competition in this tough legal world is your own knowledge.  Knowledge of your abilities, experience, attributes, strengths, weaknesses and interests are essential in this ruthless marketplace.

Not too long ago, what you learnt in law school was sufficient to secure you a career as a solicitor.  With new cases and precedents being set daily and an increased obligation on solicitors to market their own services, this is no longer true.  Your formal legal education now has a very short shelf life.  Learning must be a continual pursuit to help you stay one step ahead of the competition and I would say that it is absolutely vital to continued success.

According to Denis Waitley, a recognised business coach, research has confirmed that no matter what the field of employment, people with large vocabularies – i.e. those who can speak clearly and concisely who use simple as well as descriptive words – end up achieving their goals more often.  This is particularly true in the legal profession, where it is not only important to have a large vocabulary, but also to be able to communicate in Plain English.  Firms are particularly keen to recruit young lawyers who understand complex legal issues and who can “translate” them and explain them in a common sense way to clients, who may not necessarily understand all of the legalese used.

By using well chosen, carefully considered words, you can enhance client relationships, perform well at interviews, negotiate a pay rise and get instructions from that promising client!  There really is nothing that you can’t achieve with the right knowledge behind you.

I would suggest the following action steps to help you with this: -

1. Increase your reading by 100% and focus on reading more non-fiction.  Try reading books on marketing, accounting, presentations, goal-setting and so on.  Some of the examples given in my earlier blog here may assist.
2. To find more time to read, decrease your television watching – most of it is just junk anyway!  Although I said that increased knowledge is a powerful thing, it is highly unlikely that knowing which “celebrity” was voted out of the jungle last week will help you to secure that training contract!
3. Surf the internet and subscribe to motivational newsletters.  I would suggest the following as a good place to start: -

I will also be launching a newsletter in the New Year, so for more information or to join our mailing list in advance, please sign up to our mailing list on the top right of this page.

4. Read at least one non-fiction book per month and listen to at least one additional audiobook during your commute or downtime at home.

5. Keep a journal – whenever you read or hear something of value, make a note of it.  And make sure that you review your journal on a regular basis, maybe once a week or month, to remind yourself of all of the gems of knowledge that you’ve picked up!

What other methods have you found to be successful in increasing the power of your self-knowledge?

LinkedIn is often a completely underestimated tool for job searching.  I cannot emphasis enough the importance of using it and using it well!  Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the site:

1.  Ensure that your profile is complete and up-to-date.

If it is fully completed, your profile can act as a CV which can potentially be searched by thousands of employers.  That is why it is so important to make sure that you fully complete all of the sections and put as much detail about your experience in as possible.

This profile is a chance to showcase your skills and talents and assist the right people and job opportunities to find their way to you.  It can also act as your professional profile for the whole of the web, as you can set it to be discoverable through searches in leading search engines and LinkedIn.

Make sure that the information that you fill in is up-to-date with all of your work experience and a summary that includes your experience, interests and what you are looking for.  LinkedIn believes that users with complete profiles are up to 40 times more likely to have opportunities presented to them through LinkedIn.  Isn’t that worth a bit of time and effort?

2.  Look at your connections.

Search your old work colleagues, friends, family members, previous employers, people that you have done business with, clients and people that you know and trust, and then look to add them as connections on the site.  If you have a good network of contacts, you can utilise them for recommendations and ask for introductions to people that they know who may be of use to you in your job search.

You can do this in a few ways: you can import your outlook address book, you can access your hotmail/yahoo contacts, you can search by place of work/school or you can even just search people by name or company.  Once you have got a few contacts, you will also be able to access LinkedIn’s recommendations for “people that you may know”.  Whilst this is not always accurate, it does occasionally come up with gems for me by recommending people that I have worked with/for previously that I would never have thought of by myself!

You can also invite users who are not on LinkedIn by sending them an email request to join.

3.  Get recommendations!

Once you have created this fantastic network of contacts, start email them to ask for recommendations to put on your profile.  This can be particularly useful for old colleagues, employers or clients.  Having recommendations of your work by the people that you have worked for and on behalf of can really make your profile look even more attractive to potential employers if/when they stumble across your page.

4. Search on LinkedIn Jobs

This is a part of the website that has thousands of job listings for each category.  You can search by keywords, title, company and even location.  You will find that the roles for trainee solicitor or even NQ solicitor are very limited but it is worth checking this on a weekly basis as they do pop up every now and then!

This search will be boosted by making the most of your profile and really making yourself stand out.  Getting recommendations from past employers/clients and having a strong network really helps to build your professional credibility which will in turn help you to get hired.

5. Join Groups

There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn, which cover a wide variety of topics.  Join as many of these as you can (only ones of interest of course), such as groups dedicated to young lawyers, or lawyers in your field of expertise, or law recruitment.  If you have a specialist field, such as commercial law, you may find local groups in your area dedicated to local commerce or businesses in the area.

Once you have joined these groups, join in as many discussions as you can.  Be an active participator of these groups!  By doing so, you will show people that you are an expert in your field, an active user of LinkedIn and that you are taking time out to share your opinions with them.  This will, in turn, drive more people to your profile and raise awareness of your talents online.

6.  Contact Key Individuals

If you have an “inside connection” in a firm or company that you want to work for, use them!  Send them an email and ask who would be the best person to speak to at their company, ask them for more information about what it’s like to work there and whether they think there might be any opportunities in the future.  If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

You can also search to find a user by companies.  It is possible to directly contact other users through inmails, or request an introduction through one of your existing contacts if you have a common connection.

Another great way to use LinkedIn is to research your recruiters or interviewers. You can learn more about their background to have an edge over the other candidates.

7.  Demonstrate Your Expertise on LinkedIn Answers

This is a great place for LinkedIn users to share business knowledge.  Here, you can ask and answer questions on a specific subject matter.

By searching for questions on your specialism and answering them, you can demonstrate your expertise and earn recognition which will help to build your credibility and drive more traffic to your profile.  The more questions that you answer and points of expertise you are awarded, the higher up your profile will appear in the list of experts.

8.  Use the JobsInsider toolbar

Once you have installed this, the toolbar searches on your web browser, so that if you are looking at a job listing on another website, you will automatically be able to see whether you have any connections at that company!  You can then contact these people to see if they can help you through informal interviews or by directly introducing you to the right people!

As you can see, LinkedIn does have many beneficial elements which can be exploited to help you with your job search.  Do any of you have experiences of LinkedIn or questions that you would like to share?  If so, please comment below.