Law
Whether you want to be a lawyer or not, a law degree gives you plenty of career options to choose from. Many law students choose to pursue a career in law, others do not. It is your choice.
As an aspiring lawyer, a career in law offers you an amazing array of opportunities domestically and internationally.
Your choice of legal career very much depends on your motivations and values be they your earning potential working for a city firm, being driven by equality and fairness and access to justice, working for the government or other public body, or working in-house?
Some students do not pursue the LPC or BPTC and choose an LLM instead.
What skills will I gain during my degree?
In addition to your subject knowledge your law degree equips you with key skills valued by employers:
- professional communication, presentation and negotiation skills
- commercial awareness
- problem solving and analytical techniques
- reflection and critical thinking
- digital capabilities and research techniques
- language skills (if combined with a language)
- team work and successful collaborative practice
- creativity
What are my career options?
The graduate labour market is competitive and you need to be prepared to excel in all stages of the recruitment process The legal sector is especially competitive with approximately 5,500 training contracts and 541 pupillages offered each year.
Legal employers expected candidates to be commercially aware, have an understanding of the firm as a business (commercial awareness) and have personal qualities such as leadership, teamworking and good communication amongst others.
You may not want to pursue a career in law at all, that is fine too. A law degree is valued by private and public sector organisations across the whole of the economy.
Whatever your aspirations, law or not law, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself:
- The type of organisation/firm/chambers you would like to work for?
- The sectors they operate in. For example, sport, media, entertainment, finance, public sector etc.
- The role you would like to perform such as solicitor, barrister, accountant, consultant, marketeer, police officer, social worker etc.
- Personal fit – does the organisation fit in with your motivations, values etc.
- The locality – London, the regions, internationally
- Entry routes, qualifications, and the application process.
Our law graduates secured employment across a diverse range of sectors, but the key sectors of employment for our graduates are:
- financial and insurance activities
- legal services
- public administration
- retail
- hospitality
Visit the Prospects website for further Information on qualifying as a solicitor and the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE)
Find out about qualifying for the bar
Some students decide to continue academic study and choose to study an LLM.
Find out how to choose an LLM
What do graduates from my course go on to do?
Graduate Outcomes is a national survey capturing the activities and perspectives of graduates launched in 2018 and is the biggest annual social survey in the UK.
You can view the destinations of graduates, who completed the survey, from your course by booking an appointment with an adviser. This can help you to explore your options if you are unsure what you want to do.
Find out more about the Graduate Outcomes survey
Alumni Solicitor Careers Panel Event
Three law alumni give an insight into their work, their route into the profession and advice if you want to become a solicitor or if you are undecided about which route to take.
Speakers:
- Stuart Vandermark: Chief Executive Officer of Nelsons Solicitors Ltd
- Sam Harkness: Solicitor with Clarke Willmott LLP
- Paige Tugby: Solicitor with Phillips Solicitors Nottinghamshire
Login to SharePoint to watch the webinar
- Alumni: Email us to gain access to the webinar
How can I improve my employability?
There are lots of things you can do to improve your employability and raise your awareness of jobs and professions.