How to get more legal experience and get a legal role?

[comopsha]

Hi guys,

So I finished my joint hours Law and Finance degree in 2019 and finished a LLM in Banking and Finance Law in 2020 with the idea of starting a career in insurance despite having some experience working as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal. Job hunting during pandemic was a real struggle and although I was interviewed for jobs in insurance, I didn't get any. In the end, I accepted a job in Business Development at one of the city law firms and started considering applying for Paralegal roles and TCs in the future. I thought that could help me with gaining better understanding of the legal environment. I also started volunteering to develop some more new skills.
It's been over 6 months of applying for legal roles and I keep getting rejected or ghosted and I'm slowly losing my hope of getting into a legal role. I'm also 25 so I keep thinking I might be getting too old to start my legal career.

Please could anyone advise me what I should do to make my profile stand out or what are the best places to look for roles? I will appreciate any advice!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Normally, I’d advise to look for temp jobs as these can be a good way to get a first step into a firm, prove yourself and then potentially get contract/perm roles from there. But it sounds like you are already in a fairly secure role in your current firm so this approach may not be appropriate.

I wouldn’t underestimate your BD experience though - it’s a very good role to have on your CV and will help you build out your skills and knowledge.

The job market is exceptionally tough at the moment and recruitment is still fairly quiet for paralegal roles, so it isn’t surprising to hear you haven’t secured anything. I know six months can seem like a long time, but in a job market like the one now, it isn’t that long at all.

My advice would be to keep at it.

Average age of someone on a TC is 28, so I wouldn’t worry about your age. It really won’t be an issue unless you think so and make it one.

 

[comopsha]

Thank you for you reply and advice @Jessica Booker I really appreciate it.

Do you think paralegal recruitment might change later in the summer given the start of the SQE in September? I understand law firms are more likely to choose a person with a completed LPC rather than somebody without it but I have contacted a few law firms to ask about their approach to the SQE and I was told they are still working on it.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you for you reply and advice @Jessica Booker I really appreciate it.

Do you think paralegal recruitment might change later in the summer given the start of the SQE in September? I understand law firms are more likely to choose a person with a completed LPC rather than somebody without it but I have contacted a few law firms to ask about their approach to the SQE and I was told they are still working on it.

I don’t think so to be honest - not at larger firms or those with brand names. They will continue the trainee recruitment just via the SQE.

There might be more opportunities in-house or in smaller firms though (those that tend to hire trainees from paralegals).

I don’t think firms will have a preference for those who have completed the LPC though, unless they have relied on candidates having the LPC previously.

 

[aspiring_solicitor]

@Jessica Booker Hello, I will be eligible to apply for the Vac scheme next year and I don’t have much legal experience on me except a three month internship at a bank. I am doing various internships by forage, will that suffice? How should I look for more legal experience? I am currently applying to various open days and have some non legal experience like a reservation manager at a hotel and in tutoring. Does my non legal experience matter? Will my lack of legal experience be a hindrance in my applications?

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Hello, I will be eligible to apply for the Vac scheme next year and I don’t have much legal experience on me except a three month internship at a bank. I am doing various internships by forage, will that suffice? How should I look for more legal experience? I am currently applying to various open days and have some non legal experience like a reservation manager at a hotel and in tutoring. Does my non legal experience matter? Will my lack of legal experience be a hindrance in my applications?

Your non-legal work experience sounds great and will definitely be things to include. You should also include any part-time job or volunteering roles too.

I think you are doing the right thing in applying for open days - there will also be some first year "programmes" which are usually short term insight programmes you could apply to. Forage internships will also be a good thing to add too.

You may find local firms are more willing to take you on informally this year, so that could be a good way to gain further legal experience. You tend to have to apply to them speculatively - but don't be too concerned if you don't secure work via this route.

I think your experiences sound very good for this stage of your career and it sounds like you are doing a lot to try and develop it further, so I think this all sounds great.

 

[33c]

@Jessica Booker Hello, I will be eligible to apply for the Vac scheme next year and I don’t have much legal experience on me except a three month internship at a bank. I am doing various internships by forage, will that suffice? How should I look for more legal experience? I am currently applying to various open days and have some non legal experience like a reservation manager at a hotel and in tutoring. Does my non legal experience matter? Will my lack of legal experience be a hindrance in my applications?

Just to echo Jessica's point, plenty of applicants have secured TCs at top law firms with little to no legal experience- its all about leveraging your skills and communicating those in an impactful and convincing way.

I think your approach sounds great - I personally found open days to be so beneficial as they can really demonstrate your commitment to law / a particular firm.

 

[dangelataher]

Just to echo Jessica's point, plenty of applicants have secured TCs at top law firms with little to no legal experience- its all about leveraging your skills and communicating those in an impactful and convincing way.

I think your approach sounds great - I personally found open days to be so beneficial as they can really demonstrate your commitment to law / a particular firm.

Can anyone attend open days or do you need to apply to them specifically? I haven’t attended a single one and so reading your comment has worried me a little!

 

[33c]

@dangelataher For most firm-specific open days, you will likely to have to apply. However, I imagine many application deadlines for open days have still not passed, so you have time to apply!

If you don't want to apply to open days, you can also attend webinars hosted by the firm itself or legal cheek / virtual law fairs. You usually don't have to apply to these and it gives you a chance to speak to / hear from employees of law firms.

Just to clarify, its not 100% necessary to attend loads of events. It is just a good way to show commitment to law/a particular firm (particularly if you leverage your experiences in the correct way!)

 

[Kubed]

I would also echo what @33c has said - when I was going through the process last year, I found some of the Legal Cheek weekly themed webinars/networking incredibly useful as a first step to finding out about firms: https://www.legalcheek.com/events/ (hope it's ok to post this link!). You can then decide which firm open days to apply to, to find out a bit more.

They also have a virtual vacation scheme which I found useful.