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This is a rather long article to tell you that you don’t need to know at this stage.

Starting a training contract is about having an open mind. The reason behind completing four to six different seats is to gain exposure to each of the different departments. For example, the work you do in commercial property/real estate, such as looking at leases and liaising with the construction team will differ from what you do in the private client team.

Many firms like you to start your training contract and have a generally high level of motivation for each type of work. It’s about sitting in your seat for four to six months and seeing how the type of work that they do fits in with your personality and personal motivations. If negotiation and litigation are your thing, you’ll find out, if they aren’t then it’s likely you’ll know this quite early on.

This is something that I’ve picked up from my various vacation schemes. But at the start of my journey, I thought that I had to know exactly what I wanted to do within the law. But how could I know that from a few weeks of experience? There are so many different elements of practising law that we haven’t been opened to yet, so sitting it out and allowing yourself to discover what you enjoy through experience is key.

Talking to current trainees really opened my mind. A lot of them say: “I didn’t want to go into this particular seat and really kicked up a fuss about it, and now I’m qualifying into it!” So don’t judge a seat before you have experienced it yourself.

Having said that, you don’t need to go into your training contract blind and not knowing about the different types of work you’ll encounter. I’d have a look at various law student websites which break down these areas, such as LawCareers.Net’s Practice Area Profiles. See if any seem of interest to you, and if they do then perhaps choose firms to apply to that specialise in this area. If there’s a particular field that takes your interest, then don’t avoid the opportunity to experience it for yourself by applying to a firm that doesn’t offer a seat in that area.

Check out LCN’s top five tips on choosing a practice area.

Also, look at the firm’s websites to see any new blog posts that they have written about the practice areas they offer. Some lawyers will write pieces on new cases that have been resolved or what is going on in the industry at the moment.

It’s about educating yourself on what seats you might like, while not making a definite decision in your mind and cutting off other opportunities. Try and see the chance to experience different departments as an exciting opportunity to get a little sneak preview into the world of different types of lawyers.