It’s in the bag: packing for a bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition

I bought the 65 litre rucksack (“black please, not pink or anything” said my teenage son) and stared at the kit list in horror. Once the sleeping bag, bivvy bag, roll-mat, waterproof trousers, spare jumper, spare gloves, multiple pairs of socks and underpants had all gone into the bag, there wasn’t much room left for the other vital stuff such as food and the very random stuff such as a scratchy pan scrub and tea-towel. 

I found a dry sack for vital things such as matches, plasters and spare torch batteries, but what food to pack? For someone who can empty the bread-bin in a day and make a serious dent in the contents of the fridge, my son was curiously uninterested in what he planned to eat. “Just noodles and biscuits” he suggested. 

Well, that was no good, so we embarked on a tasting session: boil-in-the-bag dinners were tracked down on the internet and tested in our kitchen (for the record, the Wayfarer chicken curry was not too bad) and lists of snacks were drawn up. At the last minute, I threw in two packets of Super Noodles just in case. 

The night before the expedition, my son started to pack his rucksack. An exchange by Messenger with his team-mates ensued. “Is a10kg rucksack normal?” asked one of the girls, sounding worried. My son weighed his – it was 12 kilos and still being packed. Then there was an emergency pitta bread purchase: apparently one of the team was bringing paté. This was proving to be a very middle-class D of E expedition. 

With no agreement on who was going to carry the tent, off he went the next morning, looking for all the world as if he would be gone for a fortnight, so much stuff was crammed into his bag.

Three days later, we are both much the wiser. What did we learn?

Well, the super noodles got eaten and at least one of the boil-in-the-bag meals is back in the cupboard (five minutes is too long to wait, apparently).

Pop tarts do not travel well – they turn to crumbs quite easily. All those Himalayan mountaineers who swear by them as a boost when climbing forgot to mention that they were probably frozen solid in their packaging.

Little cheeses in their red waxy shells go down a treat.

Teenagers do not use bivvy bags to cover their sleeping bags in a leaky tent, although they will later wish they had.

Finally, it was pointless packing lots of spare clothes: only the socks got changed. Mothers of teenage boys take note...

Status update: my profile is locked

According to research by recruitment company Oilandgaspeople.com, employers now routinely vet social media profiles to find, or reject, potential candidates. The pretty comprehensive survey of 7,000 firms found that over 80 per cent have looked up candidates’ social media output and 64 per cent had rejected applicants as a result of what they found.

This is backed up by research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which shows that two in five employers look at candidates’ social media activity and most won’t bother to tell you, either.

I suppose there are two ways of looking at this development. I’m sure some of you are confident that your Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Flickr accounts will boost your employment prospects. I know of several Facebook pages which are practically works of art: their owners are funny, creative types who do not hide their light under a bushel, so to speak. 

But if you are like me, this may not be the case at all: a quick look at my Facebook account reveals a discussion about the benefits of chocolate covered coffee beans to try and stay awake, followed by an exchange about how terrifying it is to fly to Glasgow in a turbo-prop plane, complete with my friends’ helpfully graphic descriptions of how sick they were when they did something similar.  Hmmm. This may not be the impression I’d hope to give to potential recruiters if I was on the job hunt.

The CEO of Oilandgaspeople.com says that “Social media is now a powerful recruitment tool for getting the right person in position faster and cheaper than traditional forms of advertising.” I suggest that if you are applying for a job, you might want to tidy up your social media accounts for a while. Just saying... 

If grown-ups are doing it, then it’s oh-so over

I’m a grown-up and I tweet. 

I’m sure you are a grown-up who tweets too. So, are your kids tweeting? Probably not. In fact, you can be sure that if grown-ups are doing anything, then for the kids, it is already passé.

This summer, my son and his cousin were off doing teenage boy stuff, and that seemed to include a lot of messing about on their iPads and a huge amount of hysterical laughter. They were even keen to go to their rooms early and gales of laughter from there made me wonder what on earth they were up to.

Turns out, they were Vine-ing. Yes, I had heard of it, but had no clue about what it was about: Vine is an app for sharing short, looping videos. I still don’t get it, because I’m over the hill. But here’s the news – twitter is so over: the kids are hanging on the Vine. 

Is your application letting you down?

It’s a competitive world out there and as a result, I would expect to see job candidates trying hard to impress in their applications. But even in these difficult times, it is quite common to see candidates making basic mistakes which will ensure they do not make the short list. 

While it is amusing to read that a candidate has excellent time management skills as she has to balance her studies with an active social life, this may not be the best way to impress the selectors. Neither is being an ‘excellent active listener’. This seems to crop up a lot – is there an online CV site promoting this description? 

Here is a list of some easy-to-avoid mistakes:

Spelling mistakes 

Spelling and grammar. Spelling and grammar. Repeat after me until you are bored. Check your letters and CV. Check again. Ask someone else to read them for you, to check again. Use spell-check for goodness sake: that is what it’s there for. Applications containing spelling mistakes and dreadful grammar will go straight onto the reject pile. Regular mistakes include:

• using the plural when the singular applies. For example, ‘Government’ is singular. So often people will write, ‘the Government are bringing in new legislation later this year....’ Please don’t do this: it makes my head hurt.   
• Which brings me neatly to the next one: using the capital letter spray gun. Capital letters are for the beginning of sentences, names and proper nouns.  Lawyers are particularly bad at this: they love making the claimant and defendant into proper nouns. Stop it, please!  
• The grocer’s apostrophe. No, no, no. Mind you, even Sainsbury’s (?) makes this mistake. I try not to look at the signs as I walk along the aisle selling “CD’s”.

Apply for the right job  

... not the job you wish you were applying for.  

No covering letter with a CV 

Where the job advertisement asks for a CV rather than completing an application form, it should never be sent in without a covering letter. This document is vital to bring your application to the selector’s attention. It is your opportunity to show that you know something about the company you are contacting and to highlight the most pertinent aspects of your CV. No covering letter? Your CV may well go straight onto the reject pile.  

Generic CV
There is no excuse these days for having a generic CV, which you then send out with all your applications. It is so important that you read the advert, the job and skills specifications and then ensure that your CV covers all of them. Even if you lack a particular skill, you should refer to it, explaining why you think you can still do the job. You never know: that skill may be a rare thing among all the applicants and your candid assessment of your abilities may be just what we are looking for. 

Strange fonts
This may seem unfair, after all, it’s the content which counts, right? Wrong. Anyone who sends in an application printed in a strange typeface will be viewed with suspicion. Why have you done that? Can you be trusted to write sensible, professional documents or will you be signing off emails with lols or xx? We selectors may well think you are not the level-headed person we are looking for.

At the interview

Find out about the firm before you get to your interview. I am always amazed that some candidates appear to have not even had a cursory glance at the company website. In answer to the question, so why do you want to work for us, it is not enough to say, “well I quite like the law....” 

... and don’t be late
It’s not always possible to do a trial run to the place of interview in advance, but Google Street View is the interviewee’s friend. My employer’s office is off the beaten track and we have had anguished calls from interviewees who have followed their sat-nav and found themselves the wrong side (really) of the railway track – able to see the office, but barred by a two-metre high fence. It takes no more than five minutes to find most places using Google and the Street View option means you can ‘walk’ up and down the street and find out exactly what the location looks like. I never go anywhere important for the first time without doing just that.

Finally, good luck! Be yourself and don’t forget to clean your shoes before you head off to your interview...

Cycling is the new golf

So ladies, played any golf recently? No, me neither. And your partner - has he been climbing the greasy pole, playing golf with the boss? No, thought not. So, what are thrusting young lawyers doing these days to get ahead, entertain their clients and keep fit? Well, the golf bags have been consigned to the attic and they are buying expensive road bikes instead. They are dashing off on rides, raising money for charity, networking like mad and entertaining their clients at the same time.

Cycling is the new golf, take my word for it.

When was the last time you received one of those round-robin emails, full of self depreciating comments and a request for charitable donations which mentioned a golf day? Ages ago, wasn't it? But I bet it's less than a month since a similar message, only this time entailing a thrilling cycle route, horrible hills and a lycra-clad colleague's photo, popped into your in-box.

In the past fortnight, I've heard about three cycle rides organised by lawyers - two with work colleagues or clients and one which was a gruelling 120k road race in Snowdonia. At these cycling events the age range is wide: trainees can rub shoulders with partners, clients get to meet their lawyers and they all share in bike envy: even I, a twice-a-year-on-holiday-cyclist, know my Bianchi from my Boardman these days.

Cycling is being taken seriously by law firms as a profile raising, charity supporting, client entertaining pastime these days. Lawyers at Pinsent Masons are taking part in the London to Paris cycle ride, raising money for the charity Cure Leukaemia. Bott & Co, solicitors in Wilmslow, have gone even further and sponsor a cycling team as part of their interest in road safety.

Its also a popular topic for bloggers: The Cycling Solicitor at Bolt Burdon Kemp writes about cycling safety and current issues while The Cycling Lawyer is a blog written by a QC who is chairman of Thames Velo - East Berkshire's cycle road racing club.

So, if golf is dead, then long live cycling.

And not all of it on the roads. If you are more interested in watching, and not getting rained on, then give the velodrome a try. There is nothing more exciting than a high speed whirl of colour and noise which the enclosed space can supply. The success of Team Sky and the Olympics have encouraged a wider UK audience and it's been a pleasure to watch the sport evolve and to see cycling go mainstream. It is really great to see people who would never have visited a velodrome a few years ago, cheering on riders from all over the world and having a great night out. How fantastic is that?

Happy birthday – here’s your spam

It was my birthday this month and along with the cards, birthday messages and presents I received some unexpected mail.

It started at midnight and went on all day: my email inbox filled up with messages from practically everyone I have ever shopped with online, all wishing me happy birthday and offering me hyperlinks to their latest great deals.

I’m sure it wasn’t this bad last year: I had a couple, but didn’t give it much thought. But this year, it has been ridiculous.

Here’s a message to all online retailers: birthday messages are last year’s marketing wheeze. This year, you are all just spamming: filling up my inbox with your less than heartfelt greetings is no way to encourage me to visit your site again.