Editor's weekly: New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic festive break. I had a very sunny Christmas in Tenerife. Unfortunately Santa Claus didnt put an engagement ring in my stocking. But hey, its a leap year so I might just have to pop the question instead.

Seriously, one of my New Years resolutions is to be more proactive. Indeed, if you want to secure that dream job in law then I strongly recommend you do the same. For most of you a training contract or pupillage isnt going to land in your lap. If you want your applications to stand out then you need to start thinking about your future careers as early as your A Levels.

Thats where Lawyer2B.com can help as it contains absolutely everything you need to know about training as a solicitor or barrister. Whats more its now even bigger and better. We have now added a Salary index where youll be able to find out which firms are the most generous when it comes to trainee and newly qualified pay and maintenance grants. Incidentally, if you hear about any firms making changes to their salaries or grants then please let us know by emailing lawyer2b@thelawyer.com.

The Firms section of the website has also been overhauled and contains graduate recruitment information, including number of vacancies, application deadlines for the vacation schemes and training contracts and details of remuneration packages for around 150 law firms.

You shouldve also noticed a new addition to my newsletter called This week were all talking about. We introduced this section after feedback from you, which highlighted your concerns about commercial awareness. As I said in one of my newsletters last summer (Be aware) commercial awareness is essentially a secret code for a candidates ability to show a genuine commitment to a career as a business lawyer. That means having a proper understanding of exactly what commercial law firms do and how they interact with other City players such as investment banks.

To help you expand your knowledge in this area each week well take one of the biggest stories from the legal market remove the jargon and talk you through its significance. This week were focusing on whether 2008 will be boom or bust for law firms.

If there are any other improvements you would like us to make to the website then please do get in touch.

Finally, if youre at Warwick University then please go along to the Lewis Silkin presentation next Monday (14 January). Not only will you be able to meet the charismatic graduate recruitment partner and co-founder of the Warwick law society Cliff Fluet but my colleague Kian Ganz (who like myself is also a former City lawyer) will also be around to take your questions.

So go forth and be proactive.

husnara.begum@lawyer2b.com