Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any advice about what the best route to take might be. I graduated from law last year and I am planning to make as many applications as possible in this coming cycle but I need work. Should I go for part-time work unrelated to law (e.g. retail) so I have more time for applications and schemes whilst earning money or go for a full-time job in the commercial world whilst still applying for vac schemes?
If I worked retail, I would still try and get experience related to law (e.g. I have a virtual in-house legal internship in the summer and have been attending open days) and I have previously done legal work experience and insight schemes.
I'm worried about not having enough time to write good applications/attend interviews and schemes if I start working full-time but I'm also concerned my application would be weaker if I'm not doing a role that benefits my career. Does anyone who has maybe been in a similar position have any advice?
Hello, I might be able to help with this somewhat. I'm currently in full-time employment in an office/professional job whilst also studying full-time and completing TC applications.
In my experience, being able to experience any professional environment first-hand increases your understanding of how businesses work and gives you a nice understanding of general office etiquette. I've found that this experience has helped me when filling out applications as I have a more natural commercial awareness at this point.
I have also had part-time retail jobs whilst applying in the past, and these can be valuable too. You can still learn valuable skills in these positions which you can transfer over to TC applications. Also, as you said...this will give you far more time to attend open days and gain legal work experience. However, from my understanding law firms aren't always looking for legal work experience in particular but the skills learnt from multiple environments.
In my opinion, being able to experience office work before entering a TC with a law firm is beneficial - there are lots of extremely relevant skills you can learn and, for me personally, it's made me feel much more confident about the transition. However, as you said, this isn't without its challenges. It is difficult and the reality is, I don't have an awful lot of free time anymore. It is hard and extremely stressful. I would advise you really think about how much time you're willing to sacrifice and ask yourself if you think you can do it, as opposed to opinions of other people. Be extremely honest with yourself.
If you do make that decision, make sure you plan your week thoroughly. Break things down into manageable chunks and try to negotiate hours that work for you with your employer. I'm sure whatever decision you make will be the right one, but try and weigh up all the pros and cons.
Hope that helped you out. Feel free to DM me at any point if you need any guidance - or just support! ☺️
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