Mentor Meetings

During my time as a Trainee Solicitor, I have been assigned a mentor. At my firm, the general rule is that the mentor must be at Partner level.

The aim of having a mentor is to have someone to go to when you have any worries and stresses, or if you just fancy a chat with someone that has experience and has been through the same process as you. The meetings are extremely informal and it's just a casual chit chat with someone in the workplace.

Being a Trainee is a very daunting experience and sometimes it can become overwhelming, so it's good to have someone to talk to. For others, it may be that they feel that they can't speak to those that they currently work with, so it's a good opportunity to separate this part of the training process and have someone to confide in.

I always enjoy having the occasional meeting with my mentor, one of which we held recently. We always talk about how I'm getting on and if I've had any problems. Luckily for me, I haven't had any problems so far so I don't really need to talk about much in that respect.

At this meeting we were able to talk about my Supervisor's comments at my mid-seat appraisal and how I found the Professional Skills Course.

I also talked about my worries of not knowing much again when I move on to my second seat, it's strange to think that this is just around the corner, time goes so fast when you're training.

For me, having a mentor keeps me reassured that although the training process can be hard at times, everything will be ok in the end.

Our next meeting will be held when I am at the end of my first seat to see how well I got on in the Corporate and Commercial department. I look forward to reflecting on my experience in this area of law.