I often get asked this question. Students applying for training contracts or vacation schemes or law graduates going for their first legal job might wonder how to present their law CV when they have no relevant work experience in the field. Does this mean you will struggle to obtain an interview? Will your law CV / application go straight to the reject pile?
Definitely not!
When I was studying my LPC, I was shocked by the number of people I met who secured training contracts with top firms without any practical experience in a legal environment. In fact, I met quite a few people who had no work history at all – they had gone straight from school to university to studying the LPC with their training contract lined up on completion (having secured this during their penultimate year in their law degree or GDL). I, on the other hand had worked as a paralegal alongside my law degree, but had nothing under my belt.
I personally think when it comes to training contracts or vacation schemes, law firms look at you as a whole – your academics, your reasons for pursuing law, extracurricular activities, and general work experience. They are looking for someone who has the skills and potential to make a good lawyer – not the final product. Getting some legal experience can help you demonstrate your commitment and interest in law, but it is not a deal breaker. Hiring a trainee for most firms is an investment for the future, so they can put in the time and effort needed to ensure trainees (with or without experience) meet the required standards.
When entering the legal market as a fresh graduate however, legal experience does give you a competitive advantage. Many firms prefer candidates with practical experience because it means they can hit the ground running or will get the hang of things quicker than someone who has never worked in that environment. It very much depends on the firm and the position – some firms value the fresh enthusiasm and academic strength of recent law graduates, whereas others may very much need to quickly fill a position to continue business as usual.
If you are looking to enter the legal market with no legal experience for your law CV – you need to work with what you have but highlight transferable relevant skills and experience. Law firms are ultimately businesses with offices – so any office-based experience is helpful. Whether that is organising files, archiving, email management, handling incoming phone calls – the same thing happens inside law firms no matter how big or small. Customer-facing roles of any sort are also helpful to demonstrate you can confidently deal with a firm’s valued clients. Other skills to extract and highlight from your education, extra curricular activities or previous work history include: working under pressure to meet deadlines, strong attention to detail and analysis, working as part of a team, document drafting, call handling.
If you want to better your chances even more of securing an interview – tweak your law CV to reflect the job description requirements (provided you have that skill and experience). Yes – you can literally let the JD guide your CV writing. For me – I had 3 versions of my CV. One for training contract applications, one for paralegal or legal support staff roles and one for non-law jobs. They were not dramatically different, but the structure and focus was tailored to the particular route. So for example, the training contract CV focused more on me as a whole (academics, extracurricular, achievements, awards, work experience etc.) whereas the paralegal / support staff CV focussed on my practical skills and experience from my work history that would make me a good fit for that role. That’s not to say all the other information was removed – but positioned further down or noted but not described in detail.
To conclude, not having any legal experience does not put you at a particular disadvantage if you are strategic with your law CV.
If you have no legal experience and need help with your new legal CV, please do get in touch with me.