Husnara Begum Amanda Jardine-Viner

22/03/2018 Careers: Preparing mature students and career changers for the solicitors’ profession Sponsored by Wednesday 21 March 2018 Husnara Begum Career Strategist / Coach, Husnara Begum Consulting Amanda Jardine-Viner Trainee Solicitor, Buss Murton 1 22/03/2018 Training routes to qualification Diane Goodier Head of Students, University of Law Why choose a career in law? • Intellectually stimulating and challenging • Variety of practice areas • Job satisfaction • Career progression • Financially rewarding Training routes Qualifying degree in Training Legal Admission Contract English Law Solicitor Practice as a solicitor 2 years Course Non-Law degree Bar Professional Call to Pupillage Graduate Barrister Training the Bar 12 months Diploma in Law Course 2 22/03/2018 Funding options • Sponsorship by future employer • Loans – – Government funded (masters’ programmes) – Commercial Providers • Scholarships and bursaries The SRA’s plan is to replace the LPC as the route into the profession 2. SQE Stage 1 3. Qualifying Work Very limited skills content Experience No electives 4. SQE Stage 2 Expected that SQE1 is sat Must pass all of SQE1 before work-based before attempting experience SQE2 SQE2 is taken 1. Entry 3 during/following work- based learning Entrance are graduates, 2 4 solicitor apprentices and foreign qualified lawyers 1 SQE 5 5. Qualification No definition of a Qualifying Law Degree No prescribed non-law conversion course 8 Solicitor Apprenticeship Qualfication Type of Student Solicitor Apprenticeship with How long does it last? LLB (Law Degree) in Legal 3 A Levels A-C Practice & Skills 6 year programme 5 GCSE’s including Maths & & September & January starts English or equivalent Preparation for SQE 1 & 2 How does it work? Employers 80% work- 20% study and Plexus training Ulaw materials – i-LLB (canvas) Training Fletchers Ulaw subject tutors Ulaw WBA assessor visits the Gowling WLG apprentice every 10- 12 Ulaw WBA weeks to check progress and Exeter City Council Admin Support build a work based portfolio. City & Guilds Students are registered with a Fieldfisher Ulaw Centre (all centres host apprentices) 3 22/03/2018 Who are we? • World’s largest professional law school • Global connections • Award-winning practice-based teaching • Market-leading Employability service • 8 fully resourced centres and Exeter • 97% of our full-time 2015 LPC students secured training contracts or other legal work within 9 months of completing the course Employability – Careers support • One to one advice • Interview preparation • Skills workshops • External speakers • Mentoring scheme • Jobsearch – exclusive online legal database • Online student employability programme (StEP) Employability – Pro bono • Get involved with pro bono to bring your learning to life and develop your legal skills • Our award winning pro bono programme includes: • Legal advice clinics • Shadowing • Public legal education • Tribunal representation 4 22/03/2018 Scholarships and Bursaries • We are committed to widening participation to those wishing to study law. • We offer a comprehensive range of scholarships and law bursary schemes. • Applications are open for September 2018 • Register your interest by emailing [email protected] Come and meet us Attend an Open Day – www.law.ac.uk/events Join the Future Lawyers Network Engage with us on: on facebook.com/universityoflaw @universityoflaw youtube.com/universityoflaw Any questions? 5 22/03/2018 Training Contract Applications Julia Sadley Managing Editor, gti Hannah Erskine Talent Manager, Howard Kennedy LLP Outline • Introductions • Shortlisting firms • Psychometrics • Application forms • Assessment centres • Interviews Introductions • Hannah, talent manager, Howard Kennedy LLP • Julia, editor, TARGETjobs Law, TARGETjobs Law Vacation Schemes and Mini-pupillages, and targetjobslaw.co.uk 6 22/03/2018 Shortlisting firms • Why is this important? • How many? • Where to start – • Practical factors e.g. location / salary • Types of law • What makes a mature candidate attractive to a firm? Psychometrics • 2 main types – ability and personality • Ability – e.g. Watson Glaser • Personality – e.g. MBTI, SJT • How to prepare Gamification 7 22/03/2018 Typical format of online applications • 1. Contact details • 2. Academic results and achievements • 3. Work experience • A list of your legal and non-legal experience (including today’s event) • 4. Demonstration of core qualities • A series of competency/commercial awareness questions and/or a covering letter Before you start • You won’t get a training contract without demonstrating these four: thorough research, motivation, key competencies and accuracy • On a big piece of paper, list the competencies the firm is looking for and match them to your previous career, hobbies and academic study • If the firm doesn’t list its competencies, list the skills lawyers need and match to your values The covering letter Some law firms use a covering letter only without any extended questions. For example: ‘In your covering letter, please explain your reasons for wishing to pursue a career in commercial law. Please also explain your motivation for applying to Baker & McKenzie. You should also use the covering letter as an opportunity to include any additional information that is relevant to your application but is not covered in the form. (750 words max)’ 8 22/03/2018 The covering letter Use it to prove: • You can follow instructions • You can write concisely and to a word count • You can use a professional tone. NB plain English! • You have considered the firm’s culture and values, and made it clear how they relate to you • You have thought about what you want from your working environment and how that firm can provide it The covering letter Use it to prove: • How the training programme appeals to you • Your commercial awareness: • Talk about any of the firm’s cases that have caught your eye recently and why they appeal to you • Emphasise any experience you have had in a legal or commercial environment • How your previous career relates to law Typical application form questions • ‘Please describe a recent major challenge that you have faced and specifically how you responded as an individual’ (250 words) – Classic competency question. • Use the STAR technique to organise your answers to competency questions: the situation, the task required, the action you took and the result of your action. Avoid ‘we’. 9 22/03/2018 Typical application form questions • ‘What are your main interests, activities and pastimes? Please describe any related positions of responsibility you have held from school/university and onwards.’ (250 words) • ‘Tell us why you want to be a lawyer and why X firm?’ Show a clear motivation for (a) law and (b) a career at that firm Application form tips • Quality not quantity • Don’t cut and paste • Think ahead to the interview; make sure you are prepared to be quizzed on any examples in your form • Check the firm’s website and Facebook pages for application FAQs or hints and tips • Use examples from more than one area of your life • In each section of the form, ask yourself which skills can I showcase here? Assessment centres • What do they involve? • Group & individual exercises & often an interview • Legal / commercial topics • How to prepare • Go back to your research on the firm • Do everything possible to be ‘yourself on a really good day’! • What to bear in mind for mature applicants 10 22/03/2018 Types of law interview • Phone interviews • Video interviews • One-to-one interviews, with HR or partner • Panel interviews • ‘Article’ interviews Interview preparation tips? • Practise! Sign up for a mock interview at your careers service if you have access. Get honest feedback • Find out the format of the interview from the firm or from websites such as targetjobslaw.co.uk • Be up to date with current affairs • Read business pages regularly – what is this law firm’s perspective? • Remember: there is no substitute for research. Types of law interview questions • Broadly speaking, interviewers use questions to test three things: motivation; commercial awareness; skills • Legal work experience suits motivation questions (as opposed to skills questions) • Read TARGETjobs Inside Buzz reports to research types of questions: – ‘I was asked "If you were going to set up a new office, where would it be?” first-year trainee at Hogan Lovells – ‘Why do you want to be a solicitor rather than a consultant or banker?’ first-year trainee at White & Case 11 22/03/2018 Why ask questions? • To show you’re prepared and enthusiastic • To find out more information not available elsewhere • Use it to further show your research and interest – in a deal, a sector or an area of law • Find out who will be interviewing you and pitch your questions appropriately • Advice from Hogan Lovells: ‘If in doubt, ask the partners about themselves… how they got into their area of law, their client base, the type of work they do and what they enjoy about being at the firm.’ Help is at hand! • Read the advice and FAQs on law firms’ websites • Use TARGETjobs Law pages 18 to 33 for targeted applications advice and tips from graduate recruiters • Read the interviews and applications advice on targetjobslaw.co.uk • Sign up to other workshops and events… • … add this event to your CV or application • Follow @TjobsLaw on Twitter for application deadline reminders and timely tips Time for questions… 12 22/03/2018 Tips for boosting your commercial awareness Chris Cowland Associate, Cylde & Co LLP What does it really mean for aspiring City lawyers? • Understanding that English law promotes commerce • Knowing about the UK’s specialist commercial courts and London’s role as the world’s leading centre of arbitration • Appreciating that clients need commercial (and not just legal) solutions • Recognising some of the commercial considerations of litigation • Knowing how law firms operate as a business o How do they make money? o Current / future trends English law promotes commerce ‘We are there to oil the wheels of commerce, not to put spanners in the works, or even grit in the oil’ Lord Goff • Law affords parties wide discretion in their allocation of risk e.g.

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