University of Manchester Careers Blog

Written by Bernadette Lyons, Careers Consultant at the Careers Service

Hello and welcome to the third in a series of updates aimed at law (LL.B) and non-law students who are interested in pursuing a career in the legal sector.

All sectors are experiencing challenges due to the global pandemic, but the legal sector has the double whammy of also bracing itself for the new system of legal education to qualify as a Solicitor and as a Barrister. So lots going on.

This blog will be blissfully brief, and offers 3 things:

One Overview

Two Tips

Three Resources

One Overview

You’ve heard it before, the importance of networking and connecting. The legal sector and entry into it, is based on developing connections, now more so than ever. The only difference is now we have the ability to engage online. Legal employers will expect engagement with this new normal, so it is wise to start to explore now how you can usefully connect over the next few months.

Two tips

When you are doing your research on legal employers and the sector, think about how you might connect with them – what about using Twitter and LinkedIn? Set up a new Twitter account purely for connecting with the legal sector, and follow law firms, providers of the LPC, GDL, the legal press, and student advice websites who offer virtual information sessions and virtual law fairs. These are free, and are aimed directly at you, so take advantage. Connect with each one and don’t miss out on scheduled events.

When you feel more confident, look at setting up a LinkedIn account, which is like Facebook for professional connections.  

Three resources

Careers Service Guide to connecting using social media here

Tap into the Events pages of sector websites such as LawCareers.net   

There is a Virtual Internship starting in June, and a Virtual Law Fair in September, both organised by Legal Cheek, open to all and not part of any recruiter assessment programme – www.legalcheek.com