The mix of skills required will always depend on the specific job however the following skills tend to be important in the legal sector:

• Commercial awareness
• Communication
• Attention to detail
• Time management and organisation
• Academic ability
• Resilience and self-confidence
• Research and analysis

Other significant skills recruiters look for include teamwork, problem solving, and creativity. For further information on skills valued by the sector and how to develop them: Prospects ‘7 skills for a successful law career’

Securing a law firm vacation scheme and/or a mini-pupillage at a chambers is a great way to gain an insight into a career as a solicitor or a barrister. However competition for places is fierce and there are lots of other ways to gain experience outside of these formal schemes. In addition gaining other experience will help you to stand out in applications for vacation schemes and mini-pupillages.

Use the link below to explore how to gain legal experience: Prospects – Law work experience

Consider whether you are interested in a specific role (solicitor or barrister), it might be too early to make that decision and you may ideally be looking for experience across both roles. Also consider whether there are any areas of the law that particularly interest you. This will help you target firms/chambers. Were you impressed by specific firms/chambers that you spoke to at the Law Fair or at a Law firm presentation on Campus? Use some of the websites listed below to research firms and the opportunities available.

myAdvantage – the University vacancy database with details of employers who are targeting University of Warwick students

Law Careers Net:

• Solicitor
• Barrister

Chambers Student Guide:

• Law Firms
• The Bar

Target Jobs Law:

• Solicitors
• Barristers

Prospects:

• Work experience and internships
• Graduate Jobs

InsideSherpa has collaborated with a wide range of graduate recruiters to produce virtual internships including Law firms – so if you haven’t managed to secure a vacation scheme it may still be possible to gain the experience you need.

Current collaborations with Law firms include:

• Linklaters - Commercial Law
• White & Case - The Future of Law is Global
• Latham & Watkins - Mergers & Acquistions
• Latham & Watkins - White Collar Defense & Investigations
• Baker McKenzie - Begin your World Class Career
• Pinsent Masons - Virtual Work Experience Programme
• Leo Cussen Centre for Law - Human Rights Virtual Internship

Not all small firms will be in a position to offer work experience but many will consider it following a speculative approach using a targeted covering letter and CV. Whilst small firms may not offered the structured experience of larger firms with vacation schemes they do offer the opportunity to experience the delivery of legal services to individuals and small businesses. To find small firms use the following sites to research firms by location and practice area:

Find a Solicitor – free online service run by the Law Society for information on organisations/people providing legal services in England and Wales

Find a Solicitor in Scotland – contact details of law firms in Scotland

Local directories like Yellow Pages and Thomson will also have listings for law firms.

Law firms typically recruit more than two years in advance for training contracts so for law students this means making applications for training contracts during your penultimate year often at the same time as you are trying to secure vacation schemes. Graduates from other disciplines typically apply during their final year. Entrants to training contracts at law firms and pupillage at chambers will usually have gained a wide variety of law related work experience such as open days, vacation schemes, mini pupillages and other legal experience to demonstrate commitment, insight and motivation. For those heading down the solicitor route if you don’t secure a training contract during your penultimate (law students) or final year (other disciplines) you can continue to apply it just means that there will be a gap between finishing university and starting the next stage of your training as a solicitor. You could look at it as a great opportunity to gain more law related experience or maybe you might decide this field isn’t for you and choose to use the skills gained through your law/other degree in another sector. The great thing is the majority of graduate job roles advertised are for graduates of any discipline. For those heading for a career at the Bar the application timetable for pupillage runs from approximately January to May each year with adverts live in December of the year before. Applications are made between January and February with offers made in May (based on the 2017-2018 application cycle). Competition for pupillage is even fiercer than for training contracts. Those determined to pursue a career at the Bar may choose to gain further law related experience before reapplying for pupillage. Well researched and targeted applications are most likely to succeed which provide evidence of the skills and attributes sought by employers and show motivation towards their practice areas and clients. In addition to referring to the information sources below students are encourage to make use of the information and support provided by Student Careers & Skills and to approach their dedicated careers consultant for help with producing quality applications.

Chambers Student: Law firms making successful applications

Pupillage & how to get it

Chambers Student: The Bar – pupillage applications and interviews

Target Jobs Law: Applications and CVs

Target Jobs Law: Scholarship funding from Inns of Courts for the BPTC

Prospects: Applying for Jobs

Warwick Law Careers Blog

Applications – the Legal Sector: Youtube clips with advice from Law Firms on how to approach applications including ‘mitigating circumstances’

Commercial Law School Youtube channel

Careers Blog

Get your application right and the chances are you’ll get invited to attend an interview and/or assessment centre. Large firms have a multi stage application process and you need to successfully navigate each stage before proceeding to the next one. Many (but not all) use psychometric assessments after the application form and you can use the link below to identify examples and practice taking similar tests. Large firms will often use video interviews before inviting you to a face to face interview and/or assessment centre. Smaller and many midsize firms use a more straight forward approach and are likely to invite you to a face to face interview straight away which may include other elements often found at an assessment centre e.g. formal presentation, case study or group exercise.

Use the following links to access information on preparing for psychometric tests, interviews and assessment centres.

Student Careers & Skills – advice on approaching psychometric tests and succeeding at interviews and assessment centres

Chambers Student – Pupillage interviews, what to expect

TargetJobs – Preparing for training contract and vacation scheme interview questions

TargetJobs – How to ace your pupillage interview

Preparing for Legal Interviews handout

Top Tips from students and law firms

Inns of Court Scholarship Interviews – sample questions handout

Watson Glaser - practice tests

Interview Feedback – feedback from Warwick students attending law firm interviews and assessment centres (Word documents)

• Addleshaw Goddard 
• CMS Cameron McKenna 
• Clifford Chance 
• Herbert Smith
• Linklaters 
• Norton Rose 

Applicants may be asked questions at interview about how the law is changing and challenges for the profession. ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyers: an Introduction to Your Future’ by Susskind, Richard E (OUP 2013) predicts changes in the world of law and provides a guide to what future legal practice will look like and offers practical guidance to those who intend to build careers in law. The book is available from the University Library

See also: BBC Law in Action