Sectors: Law - solicitors

There are formal schemes (a proportion of which have migrated to virtual delivery). Most will apply to both law and non-law students although the timing available may vary. There are Insight schemes (which will be short) for pre-penultimate year students and vacation schemes in summer and winter (usually 1–3 weeks in duration). It is also recommended that you approach law firms local to you for unsolicited work experience.

In addition to work experience directly in a legal context, work undertaken that is legalistic is also well regarded. Legalistic work requires attention to detail, with formal documents or routines. You may be researching a complicated problem and delivering an outcome where you explain or highlight something to somebody else.

Recruiters will also look positively at transferable skills from a student environment. Society roles such as Secretary or Treasurer can be very useful where they involve paperwork and responsibility for a formal process. Find out more in our Volunteering page

There are many sources that list law firms, although no single one is comprehensive. The most available and popular are LawCareers.Net, Student Chambers, and TargetLaw.

All those qualifying will need to study further, funded by either law firm sponsorship or personal sources. Course providers are based in London but also have important centres in several major cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, York and Nottingham. The only one based in Cambridge is BPP. The course providers are University of Law, BPP Law School, and some University Law departments (not Cambridge) such as City Law School at the University of London.

There are vocational law student societies in nearly all colleges, as well as a highly effective and proactive Cambridge University Law Society (CULS). There is an extensive alumni network to draw on with access provided by colleges, Handshake, and LinkedIn.

Hear lawyers share insights, advice and knowledge on this diverse career in the Careers Service YouTube channel.

Here are some resources on Handshake to help you get recruitment ready for legal careers.

Here is a Handshake journey to help disabled students who are considering a career in law.