My Warwick Journey
It’s all about
YOU
And how you realise your potential
What does the Careers Service do?
Job
Job
We offer
• One to one appointments for guidance
Students only!
• Job search appointments and drop in at University House
learning grid 11.00-3.00pm daily.
• Skills sessions
• Careers Fairs – Law Fair is on 27th October
• Facebook page Law Facebook page
• Twitter Claire's twitter feed
• A wealth of resources on the university intranet
University Careers pages and the Law School careers pages
• Blog Warwick Careers Blog
• International Careers Moodle pages
It is completely up to you!
2 choices!
Working together ?
"Through an hour long discussion with Claire about my career
options, I benefitted enormously from her knowledge and
understanding of the legal job market. I left with a number of
great opportunities to apply to and with a second opinion on my
current application methods. Don't let your time at university fly
by without using the careers service. After all, an hour or so out
of your 3-4 years here is nothing and could completely change
your career prospects for the better!“
Ben Renshaw 2014 Graduate Law & Business
Legal Professional Careers are one possibility
of many!
• Solicitors
• Barristers
• Graduate schemes in Marketing, Human Resources, Retail, PR,
Financial consultancy, Accountancy, Financial Analysis, Civil Service
• Charity work
Do you want to be a solicitor?
Here’s how it works……….
Do a
qualifying
Law Degree
Do a non
qualifying
degree and
then the
GDL
Do the Legal
Practice
Course LPC
Undertake 2
years of
recognised
professional
training
Become
qualified
So how is the profession structured?
Understand the City
Magic Circle
Silver Circle
White shoe firms
Large City Practices
And the future?
Global Elite?
International Business Firms?
What else is out there?
All the rest of the profession!
• Niche Practices
• Smaller City firms
• Major National firms
• Smaller firms, (some in loose groups)
• High Street practice
• In house law
• Government Legal Service
• Local Authority Legal Departments
Pay on
starting
training and
just qualified
LPC
funded
Working conditions
Working hours
Training
Prospects
White Shoe
40/100
Yes
Functional?
Extreme
Active
involvement
Good retention
Magic Circle
40/75
Yes
Opulent offices
Extreme
Observation
Ditto
Silver Circle
40/75
Yes
Very smart offices
Extreme
Observation
Ditto
Major City
40/75
Yes
Very smart
Pretty awful
Work and
observation
Ditto
Top niche
35/60
Yes
Variable
Long
Ditto
Ditto
Smaller City
35/60
Yes
Quite smart
Long
Ditto
Ditto
Major
National
30/50
Yes
Variable
Sometimes
long
Work
Ditto
High Street
20/30
Possibly or
loan
Basic?
Often OK
Immersion
Early partnership
Key facts about City training contracts
You need to start working on it in your first year!
Only a tiny proportion of the training contracts available are in City
firms.
Timeframe for applications for Solicitors’
training contracts
Year1
Penultimate
Year
Final Year
• January application for experience days
• Attendance at various points during year
• January deadline for vacation scheme applications
• July 31st deadline for training contract applications
• Mid October deadline for Christmas Vac schemes
• January deadline for vacation scheme applications
What can you do to maximise your chances
of getting a training contract
• Get customer service work experience
• Get involved on campus
• Research the profession
Go to the Law Fair
Selectively go to presentations
Look for some experience in a small firm
For City practice go to 1 or 2 Open Days
• Take advantage of careers support!
• Do not just apply to top firms, spread your risk just like with university applications.
• Work for organisations likely to be clients of top
firms
Some brutal facts!
• Almost all law firms want a 2.1 degree in order to offer you a
training contract.
• Typically firms will scrutinise all your marks. Your 1st year marks
matter. You need a 2.1 -59% is not a 2.1!!
• Spelling or grammar mistakes or typos can be enough to stop your
application from progressing.
On the plus side
• Remember the earlier slide? There are
lots of possibilities with a law degree.
• There are alternative routes into a legal
career. More and more people are
managing to forge one having started as
a paralegal.
• There are a number of career routes
which are similar to being a solicitor: tax
practitioner, accountant, investigator,
contracts advisor, estate agent,
negotiator.
What about the Bar ?
Do a qualifying
Law Degree
Do a non
qualifying
Degree and
then the GDL
Do the Bar
Professional
Training Course
BPTC (you have
to pass the
aptitude test
first!)
Do a minimum
of 12 months
pupillage
Find a tenancy!
How does it work?
You need to sit the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) between the
beginning of April and end of July in the year in which you want to
start the course.
You must have joined one of the four Inns of Court before your course
starts. Your application must be received by 31st May in the year in
which you wish to start the BPTC.
If you are not a native English speaker you must have achieved IELTS a
score of 7.5 or above in all subjects before the BPTC starts.
There are no overarching deadlines for pupillage and tenancy
applications.
Barrister or Solicitor?
• Do you like working on your own or in a team?
• Do you like the security of knowing you are going to be paid or the
excitement of generating your own business?
• Do you want paid holidays and sick leave or would you rather be
completely independent?