If you think Osborne Clarke is the place to build your career in law, the next step is to apply for a training contract or a place on our Vacation Scheme.

We know there are a lot of people out there with the drive, determination and intellect to succeed at Osborne Clarke - and we'll give you every opportunity to prove it.

We welcome applications from penultimate year law students,  final year non law students, and graduates, as well as candidates seeking a career change.

What we look for

Strong academic achievement is essential and candidates should have achieved, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 degree in any discipline and ideally grades A – B at A' Level or equivalent.

Successful candidates will be commercially minded, highly driven and passionate about a career in law. They must be able to demonstrate initiative and have a thirst for early responsibility. We also value activities that can show effective communication and teamwork skills.

Our trainees come from a wide variety of backgrounds, regardless of gender, race or disability, with some joining after a first or even a second career.


Selection process

Training contracts

To apply for a training contract starting in September 2011 or March 2012 you will need to complete our online application form by clicking the link on the left hand side. The deadline for training contract applications is 31 July 2009. We regret that we cannot accept paper applications or CV's.

Our assessment days are held in our Bristol, London and Thames Valley offices and comprise of group exercises, verbal reasoning exercise and a panel interview with partners. During the day you will have the opportunity to meet our current trainees and take a tour of the office.

Throughout this process we are looking for evidence of your ability to:

• Communicate effectively
• Think commercially, practically and realistically analyse information and solve problems creatively
• Build effective relationships with others, and to organise yourself and prioritise your work.

Vacation scheme

The deadline for Vacation Scheme applications is 31 January 2009 and candidates should apply for the office that they would like to undertake the placement.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an assessment day for selection onto the scheme. The assessment day will consist of group exercises and a verbal reasoning exercise.

Please note that we are unable to defer applications. If you are interested in deferring your application by a year to go travelling or to complete a masters, then you will need to apply at the relevant time.


Hints and tips

Before you complete our application form, please find below some hints and tips which you may find useful.

- Spelling and grammatical mistakes can really let down an application. Before submitting your application, double check every section to ensure that your answers make sense and that there are no errors. If need be, get a friend or family member to have a read through.

- Do your research. If you have done your research this will really come through in your application.

- We want to know what it is about Osborne Clarke that is attractive to you. This means more than just stating our practice areas or repeating information from our brochure and website.

- Don't copy and paste answers from websites.