“Having secured a training contract with a City firm, I asked the firm for permission to take a gap year for further study and travel before I commenced my LPC.

“After a few months in which I did not hear from the firm, I called up a partner of the firm and was told that ‘things were fine and my job was secure’. A while later, HR got back to me saying deferment was ‘fine’. However, at no stage was I given anything in writing to confirm these conversations – and I didn’t feel asking them for something in writing was appropriate since at that time I thought if they were really keen on reneging the contract there was not much I could do anyway.