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News

Competition for training contracts soars

updated on 08 July 2011

The latest Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) survey has revealed that the number of applicants going for each training contract vacancy has jumped from 35 (in 2009-10) to 65.5 (in 2010-11). Some consolation for wannabe lawyers is the competition faced by budding investment bankers and fund managers; there are now 232.5 applicants going for each job, compared with 84 last year. Across all sectors, there are 83 graduates chasing every position.

On a more positive note, the survey revealed that law firm vacancies rose by 14.6% between 2009-10 and 2010-11. The AGR had predicted that positions would fall by 11.8% in 2009-10.

Stats fans might be interested to know that - according to a RollonFriday survey - Slaughter and May is one of the least competitive firms with which to secure a training contract; it receives around 2,000 applications for its 90 available jobs. Shoosmiths and Eversheds were among the most competitive for training contracts, with 1,000 applications for 22 jobs and 3,000 for 50 jobs respectively.