Job seeking

Planning your career

By the time you've qualified and reached the stage of applying for jobs, you should have a clear idea of what area of law you want to work in.

If you’re newly qualified you'll probably have some relevant work experience from volunteering and your period of training.

If you’re already working and want to take the next step in your career you should think about how you want to progress.

If you’re changing career, your experience and industry insights may be useful for certain law firms, especially if the firm has clients in your previous industry. Look at firms’ recruitment information to find out which may value your skills and experience.

Find out more about career options in law

Preparing for job seeking

Before applying for jobs, look at your knowledge, experience and skills, and think about:

• your strengths and weaknesses
• your experience
• the types of work and areas of law that interest you
• skills that you want to develop
• the qualities you can bring to an employer
• where you want to work and the opportunities that are available

You should leave enough time to research and prepare applications to improve your chances of success.

Resources

Articles from the Law Society Gazette

How to prepare for a video job interview during the pandemic

A new world of work – Maria Shahid reports on life for solicitors in the 'new normal'

A junior lawyer's guide to cover letters in 2021

Your guide to writing the best personal injury lawyer CV 

Three things recruiters want candidates to know about the legal recruitment process

A guide to negotiating your salary as a solicitor

Blogs

10 top tips for supercharging your legal job application

Webinars

A conversation on returning to work and working flexibly (webinar held 5 October 2021)

Preparing 2nd year trainees for qualification (webinar held 9 June 2021) 

Skills audit for returning to the profession following a career break (webinar held 13 May 2021)

Changing career direction:

• Hear from those who have successfully changed career (webinar held 19 October 2021)
• What are my realistic options? (webinar held 20 April 2021)
• Options outside of practice (webinar held 20 May 2021)

Recharge series:

• Marketing yourself (96 minutes) 
• Confidence building (webinar held 29 September 2021)

Q&As with JMC Legal Recruitment:

• An overview of the legal jobs market during COVID-19 (6 minutes)
• Changing career direction during COVID-19 (held 18 November and 24 November 2020) 
• Career planning for 2021 (held 23 February 2021) 

Podcasts

Impressing at interview when returning after a career break: recharge webinar (18 minutes) 

How to sell yourself as a candidate with JMC Legal Recruitment (38 minutes)