Application Advice
With so many law graduates chasing training contracts and paralegal roles it is vital that your application stands out from the crowd. If you are serious about a career in law you should be thinking about ways to show this to prospective employers from the beginning of your law degree.
Law firms are looking for rounded, confident individuals who have shown that they are passionate about a career in law. Throughout university life there will be many opportunities that will allow you to develop skills related to your degree and display non-academic qualities to your future employers.
Develop Your Skills
Spending your afternoons in the student union might be the easier option but joining societies, organising events and taking part in mooting and other legal competitions will give you a better chance of standing out from other applicants, as well as providing something to write about on your application and talk about during your interview.
When you begin your law degree the world of work can seem like a long way off but it is never too early to gain work experience. Although some firms recruit on an ad-hoc basis, many of the larger firms recruit trainees up to two years in advance so if you want to walk straight into a training contract after completing the Legal Practice Course you will need to be on the ball. It is worth checking out websites that provide a detailed list of training contract application deadlines.
Tailor Your Application
Attention to detail, preparation and research are all skills that are required in a legal career and these can be put into practice during your job applications.
Don’t be lazy! If you send the same generic cover letter to every law firm there will be nothing that makes you stand out from the crowd. It may seem like a lot of effort but by tailoring your cover letter to the law firm that you are applying to you are much more likely to get noticed.
If you are sending out speculative applications phone ahead to get the name of the person who deals with recruitment, it is more likely that you CV will get looked at and your name will be remembered.
Finally, before posting any application ensure that you have re-read your CV and covering letter, checking for any spelling and grammatical errors; or even get someone else to check it for you.
What we are doing
- For specific application and interview advice check out other related pages on the Duncan Gibbins Academy website.
- Follow us on twitter @DG_Academy for the very latest legal vacancies and advice on how to get that first job in the legal profession.
- Email us any questions to academy@duncangibbins.com
