Using the Christmas break to start those Work Placement applications

The Christmas break is a great time to unwind with family and friends and have fun.  You've worked hard all term so why not relax a bit? It might be a good idea, however, to give some thought to getting some legal work experience in 2017, particularly if you are a second or final year Law student.

You can leave it until after New Year but you do need to be aware that Work Placement or Vacation Scheme application deadlines will be coming up fast at the end of January or February 2017.  The holiday might give you time to look at the list of closing dates on Lawcareers.net and decide which, if any, of the larger firms you'd like to apply to.

Work Placements in the larger commercial firms usually last for one or two weeks during Easter or Summer 2017 and they are paid! You can also apply for other work placements in smaller firms.  You probably won't get paid but the experience gained could be just as valuable and you will be adding useful contacts at the same time.

If you are a second year opting for Work Based Learning in May 2017, why not look for opportunities at home to carry out your 5 week placement?  You can search for local firms at Find a Solicitor

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us in Careers and Employability!

Applications for the BPTC open on Monday 12 December 2016

If you are an aspiring barrister in your final year of university, Monday 12 December 2016 should already be imprinted on your memory.  In case it isn't, this is the date from which you can apply for the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) on the BARSAS website.

There is a very useful guide on the website which is worth reading before you start your application.

I have summarised the key points below:

Students can apply for up to 6 programmes across the 8 Providers of the BPTC.
The 8 providers are:

1. BPP University Law School - London , Leeds, Manchester Birmingham
2. University of Law - London, Birmingham, Leeds
3. The City Law School (formerly Inns of Court School of Law)
4. Manchester Metropolitan University
5. Nottingham Law School
6. The University of Northumbria at Newcastle
7. University of the West of England at Bristol
8. Cardiff Law School

Most providers offer full time (1 year) and part-time (2 years) options.  

Funding

The costs of the BPTC vary from £14,500 to over £18,000 depending on the provider and its location.  You may be fortunate to receive a Scholarship for at least part of the cost from one of the Inns of Court if you applied in November.

If not, you may be eligible for a postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company for up to £10,000 if you choose to study the BPTC with a Masters option.  Check with providers to see if they offer this.

Other options include:

• Future Finance Loans
• Professional and Career Development Loans
• High Street Bank loans

Applicants are not required to be a member of an Inn of Court upon submission of their application but must be a member by 31 May 2017.

The closing date for BPTC applications is Wednesday 11 Jan 2017 at 12 noon.

 Applicants pass an aptitude test, known as ‘BCAT’. It is a multiple choice computer based test which assesses applicant’s critical thinking and reasoning. Applicants will not be able to enrol on the BPTC without passing it. For further guidance on the BCAT click here

Some dos and don'ts for training contract and vac scheme applications

I copy below a really useful list of dos and don'ts for training contract and vacation scheme applications written by Sinead Dineen of Lawcareers.net.

Dos:

• Do check the application form for spelling and grammatical errors multiple times before submitting. Remember lawyers are expected to have excellent attention to detail.

• Do spell the name of the firm you are applying to correctly – this is so basic, yet it still amazes me how many applicants get this wrong.

• Do explain your pre-university academic grades if you were not educated in the United Kingdom (eg, write the score as 18/20 or as a percentage). If you are unsure about what to include, contact the recruiter who will be able to advise you. Do not leave this section blank.

• Do detail the skills you have developed from your work experience. Don’t just say you worked as a waiter – expand on this by telling us how you developed your team working skills and learnt how to handle difficult customers.

• Do read the long-answer questions and make sure you understand what you are being asked. For example, we asked, “Why do you believe you possess the skills and attributes to become a successful commercial lawyer?”. Therefore we expect to see details of skills and how they are relevant to being a lawyer. We did not ask what are your reasons for wanting to become a lawyer.

• Do check the whole application form when you have finished, but before submitting. The AllHires Graduate (formerly Apply4Law) application forms offer you the chance to preview the entire form. Make sure that each section that should be completed is.

Don’ts:

• Don’t write the whole application in lower case or upper case (including your name). Recruiters want to see that you can write/type properly and carefully.

• Don’t type ‘I’ as a lower case ‘i’. This shows a lack of attention and is not appropriate in a professional environment.

• Don’t refer to yourself in the third person (eg, Sinead has excellent communication skills).

• Don’t leave your university degree grades blank. We ask these for a reason (to see your progress from A level or equivalent to degree level) and if they are not completed we suspect you are trying to hide something.

• Don’t include mitigating circumstances unless they are genuine mitigating circumstances. You should be able to back this up with a school, university or medical report and preferably email this to the recruiter.

• Don’t miss out any of the long-answer questions. Their inclusion in the form is twofold: to get a better understanding of you, the applicant, and to check that you can write in clear, comprehensible and structured sentences.

• Don’t write in a colloquial or humorous way. Consider your application to be an important business document and take a professional tone.

Good luck with your  applications!