legal careers guide What is StEP?
Our specialist legal Student Employability Programme (StEP) includes careers advice and practical activities that are designed to help you take the first steps towards a successful career in the law.
Click on the Steps below to get started.
If you are interested in a career as a lawyer but don’t know where to start, our Legal Careers Guide will help you get all the essential information you need. In this guide, you will find information about everything you need to know about the legal market, your skills assessment, how to plan, research and gain legal experience. Then we will help you with your cover letter, CVs and completing application forms. After that, we will get you ready for the interviews and prepare you for your assessment. The last step will help you look at your options and what you can do to achieve your ambitions.
There are also some key questions that you might have, and we can help to answer them. Among other things, our Legal Careers Guide will help you to find out what you have to offer and how to sell your skills and personality to employers.
employability servicesEmployability
Find out about the range of support and opportunities we offer at the University of Law to help get your career off to the best start possible.
Useful links
Looking for help with your future career? The links below are here to make your career decisions a little easier.
Careers
- The central recruitment site for trainee solicitors and pupils into government departments.
Job Search - ذكذكتسئµ’s vacancy database (available to access for accepted and current students and alumni only).
– Contains advice, guidance and news (including a newsletter), as well as details of courses and information on law firms, chambers and vacancies.
- Information and a searchable vacancy database for training contracts and legal assistant positions in local government.
– Has information on employers, training contracts and how to get a graduate career in law.
- Information for those interested in a legal career within local government.
– Graduate careers advice and information about graduate recruitment with a focus on law.
- The official site for advertising all pupillages and the site for online pupillage applications.
The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook – Lists details of chambers offering pupillages and over 1,000 firms that offer training contracts.
- The central application website for entry to higher education which includes information for prospective students and advice on qualifications.
- The National Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) for the UK provides the only official source of comparison information on international education and qualifications.
Assessments and practical tests
– Provides a range of practice tests.
– This law firm’s website provides a sample of the Watson-Glaser critical thinking test.
- SHL is one of the leading providers of psychometric tests. The site contains advice and practice tests.
- Select Candidate Guide with information about automated online interviewing, from one of the providers of video interviewing technology. See in particular the candidate information sheet.
Associations, Boards and Societies
- Information for barristers working in local government and those interested in this sector.
- Central applications for full-time LPC and GDL courses.
- Run by and for practitioners working in-house.
- The Law Society’s Directory of Solicitors.
– UK government website including information on education funding.
- There are a range of local groups, information and events run by students for students, trainees and junior solicitors.
- A national charity which campaigns for equal justice and supports activity in publicly funded legal work. The Legal Action magazine is available on subscription.
- This agency commissions and procures legal aid services from providers like solicitors, barristers and the not-for-profit sector.
- Represents solicitors working in legal aid as a support and lobbying organisation. The site has useful news and information on what is happening in the legal field.
- Covers the practice areas of wills, probate, financial planning and tax, trusts, Court of Protection and estate administration.
- Magazine and website for sole practitioners.
- The regulatory body for the solicitor profession responsible for legal training.
- The Bar’s representative body. .
Juriosity - The Bar Council’s Bar Directory
– The Bar’s regulatory body which oversees training, qualification and entry to the profession.
- The representative body for the solicitors’ profession. This includes links to a range of membership groups, information on practice areas and legal developments, and the ‘Find a Solicitor’ database.
Publications
- Access to a range of publications including the Chambers UK client guide and Chambers Student Guide.
- The monthly Journal of the Bar of England and Wales.
- Weekly magazine published by the Law Society with legal news, views and vacancies.
– News and information for students planning a career in Law.
– A business-to-business guide for solicitors and barristers, which organises the leading law firms by region for the UK and overseas.
- The journal most used by senior members of the profession to gauge the effectiveness of their firm and their rivals within the legal marketplace.
- Provides details of family law solicitors by region and a useful list of fact sheets on key issues such as divorce and mediation.
– One of the main weekly legal magazines which also provides daily email alerts.
Organisations you can volunteer with
is a global human rights group. Their website is useful for information and voluntary or paid opportunities.
– Includes information about on the CAB network and voluntary or paid opportunities.
– Information about becoming an independent custody visitor, who is a person that checks on the welfare of people in police custody.
– Find out about opportunities to become a member of your local Inspection and Monitoring Board, which is responsible for monitoring prisons and immigration removal centres.
– Information about JUSTICE, law reform and human rights. This organisation has a number of annual internship opportunities.