Tag Archives: Vacation schemes

Too much legal work experience?

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I had a busy day recently in Brighton with Sussex University students – a group discussion for about 25 students, and then lots of 12 minute individual cv sessions. The cvs were generally very strong, and it was interesting seeing the different styles.

In previous cv sessions, I have presented these main cv tips: http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/blog-post/2227317/top-10-cv-tips-for-budding-lawyers?WT.rss_f=Students&WT.rss_a=Top+10+CV+tips+for+budding+lawyers, which I reckon are still relevant, but I thought of a couple more ideas during my day in Brighton and driving home.

The first might be obvious and that is: share your draft cv around for comments. Your cv is not so confidential that other students should not review it, your friends are not going to copy your good ideas and you are unlikely to be considered for the same jobs anyway. So it can really help with wording improvements, corrections of typos and order / structure suggestions.

The second is not so obvious and I’m aware that not everyone is going to agree with this. At Sussex, I met a few students who had a lot of legal work experience – up to 3 vacation placements with law firms, 3 mini-pupillages and a few open days, and were still applying for more. I can see the value of doing placements at a couple of different types of law firms / chambers to help with a decision, but suggest that there is a diminishing return in doing more than one at the same type, for example magic circle firms – especially if this is at the expense of other work experience or other achievements.

I don’t underestimate the value of a good placement becoming a short cut to a training contract offer, but take 2 equal candidates who have both decided that they want to be lawyers – candidate 1 who has done only legal work experience during the university holidays and candidate 2 who has done one vac scheme at a commercial law firm but used the other time to get work experience in other areas (e.g. consulting, banking and marketing). I’d bet that all other things being equal, candidate 2 would have a more credible story about why they want to be a lawyer and would have more to talk about in an interview. I also think that candidate 2 could construct a cv that shows the development of relevant transferrable skills, perhaps just as well as candidate 1. One final thought on this: don’t underestimate the value of any transferable skills developed during holiday jobs such as working in a bar or a shop or through other achievements.

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Vacation schemes

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I read an article recently (http://www.internshipprograms.com/become-a-super-intern/) shared on twitter by @UKLawStudents giving 25 really useful tips about how to behave on a vacation scheme; for example socialise, be positive, be modest, ask questions and stay in touch. I agree with all of these, and perhaps knew some of them already without realising, as years ago I got an offer from a large City Law firm after a summer vacation scheme.

When I look back at those 3 weeks during the summer of 1994, it really was good fun: a trip to the High Court, lunch-time learning sessions from all of the main departments, evening drinks with partners at the firm, informal drinks in City pubs with other vac scheme students, a tour of Lloyds and staying in London for 3 weeks. There was also the opportunity to get an insight into the type of work that is involved. In fact, we got to do real trainee solicitor work, such as legal research and bundling – some even attended client meetings.

But there is a crucial part missing in both of the paragraphs above.

The real point of these types of opportunities is to check that your chosen career path is the right one – do bear in mind that the vacation scheme is very different to actually doing the job – and students might get the wrong idea about what a certain career actually entails. At the end of any such vacation scheme, I’d bet that if you polled the students, nearly all would have a very positive view – but is that based on a well organised vac scheme or a realistic view of whether it’s right as a long term career?

So if you are lucky enough to secure a vacation scheme at a law firm (or any other type of future employer), I’d advise taking a step back to check that the skills required are aligned to what you are good at and enjoy using – doing the job can be very different to attending a vac scheme. It’s OK to conclude that what you thought was your chosen career path, is not actually for you – and if you do, then that’s time very well spent.