Looking for a Graduate Career in Law? Beat the Competition Today... Our
Senior Consultant Lydia Holder is a fully qualified level 4 career guidance
counsellor, member of the Institute of Careers Guidance and former senior
headhunter at a specialist legal recruitment firm. Lydia understands the differences between the different graduate careers in law and the different routes to market. For example: You could work as a solicitor in a range of settings, including:
Solicitors 
- Private practice, where you would provide a range of legal services such as conveyancing, probate, civil and family law, litigation, personal injury and criminal law
- Commercial practice, advising and acting for businesses in areas including contract law, tax, employment law and company sales and mergers
- In-house legal advice for companies, the government or local authorities
- The Crown Prosecution Service, examining evidence to decide whether to bring cases to court.
- Gaining a qualifying law degree
- Gaining a degree in any other subject, then taking the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)
- Qualifying as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX)
- Completing and passing the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
- Securing a two-year training contract with a firm of solicitors
- Passing the Professional Skills Course (PSC) during your training contract
Barristers
To become a barrister, you must complete two stages of training – academic and vocational.
You can complete the academic stage by gaining either one of the following:
- An approved law degree at class 2:2 or above
- A degree at 2:2 or above in any other subject, followed by a postgraduate Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).
After you have completed the academic stage, you must pass further vocational training to qualify to practise as a barrister. This involves:
- Joining one of the four Inns of Court
- Completing a one-year full-time or two-year part-time Bar Vocational Course (BVC), and 12 qualifying sessions (educational activities) with your Inn. After this you will qualify, which is known as being ‘called to bar’
- Spending 12 months in ‘pupillage’, which is practical training with an experienced barrister. You will spend six months shadowing and six months on supervised practice, and take formal training courses in advocacy and advice to counsel.
- After your have completed pupillage you must then find work as a qualified barrister. If you want to move to a new chambers then it is at this stage that you will benefit from a professional legal CV to help you stand out from the competition
We know what legal firms want to see and will design you a graduate law CV which has shows that you are "In Touch" with your chosen area and suggest ways to increase your links within the industry.
Click here for more information on our Graduate Legal CV Writing Service.
Interviews
in the legal sector are few and far between due to the amount of competition
and the extremely small number of entry-level openings. When you get an
interview it is important to maximise the opportunity by delivering a
confident and well-prepared interview. Our Interview Coaching course is
designed to make sure you avoid making amateur mistakes at interview as
you won't get a second chance to make a first impression.
Click here for more information on our Graduate Interview Coaching service
We offer discount graduate legal CV Preparation services at just £49.99 for our Quick CV Service, £95 for our popular telephone service and £249 for a face-to-face consultation at our Manchester or London offices.Click here to read what our client's have to say about us!