Can't get a job in a legal environment

fairy_gurl

Hi everyone

I recently graduated with a LLB Law degree, I have 5 years of continous work experience (not legal), but I just can't seem to get any type of legal work, even very basic admin roles, in which I do have experience.

I usually get told its because I have no other legal experience but how do you get this magic experience in the first place?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks In Advance

sporedude

Im in the same boat, Just cant find anything, Trained in Customer Service and still cant get anything.

fairy_gurl

sporedude wrote: »

Im in the same boat, Just cant find anything, Trained in Customer Service and still cant get anything.

It's awful isn't it!

I just can't understand because I did so many extra curricular activities to do with law, and have a good work history.

It's so fustrating and I am supposed to be doing my LPC in september, but you start to think will I get a job after!

Roobarb73

You have my sympathy. I graduated in Scotland in 1994, got my Diploma (scottish equivalent to lpc) in 1995, and I finally qualified as a solicitor in Jan 2006 (and 6 months pregnant!)

I did manage to get legal-ish type jobs - straight from Uni I worked on a telephone advice line giving legal advice on motoring matters, then I worked for the Scottish equiv of the CPS preparing cases for court. Then finally in 2004 I got my legal training job. Twas a long slog! Have you looked at even doing stuff like volunteering with CAB or something?

Roobarb73

I am sorry I don't know why that went all italics and I couldn't change it.

kittylitter

I know this is probably not what you want to hear but there's been such a huge decline in legal work that there's hardly any jobs out there. I can tell you this with confidence as I work for a medium sized firm and I got told yesterday that my department is closing and I will be redundant before the end of the year. There have been loads of redundancies in the legal and insurance sectors up north over the last 12 months, jobs are like rocking horse doodah!

I'm about to ask for some advice on this board with regards to what our firm think they can do, its an irony that solicitors firms seem to think they can pull one over on us because the employment department are conflicted and can't talk to us - great innit!

danfl2004

Also, what University did you graduate from, i know law and training contracts are very competitive and normally only top 20 unis are good enough to secure a training contract.

Horace

Unfortunately, you have chosen a career that has been in decline for several years - even back in 1995 (I worked on an LPC course at a leading University) students were finding it difficult to find firms to give them jobs so that they could do their articles. Things haven't changed. I think at this moment that you should try and get any job that you can - for the person who is about to start their LPC, start looking for a job now don't leave it until after you graduate.

ploder

Greetings fairy_gurl. I can certainly vouch for the fact that the legal industry is being hit hard. I passed the LPC in 2006 after getting a 2:1 from a respectable uni and ABBB A-levels and have never been able to secure a TC. Supply of able candidates vastly outstrips demand. Since 2006 I've been working in a couple of paralegal jobs on short term contract basis and have plenty of legal experience (albeit from high street firms). The firm I worked for had a large proportion of its work in property.

Needless to say with far fewer people buying and selling there just isn't the work to go around and thus costs have to be reduced by laying people off. Naturally it is those at the lower end of the pay scale who weren't high value fee earners that faced the chop. I understand from friends that the work in other legal areas is holding up only slightly better than property.

After losing my job at the end of last year I have found it extremely tough going and demoralising trying to get any kind of suitable job let alone a legal job. I am either 'overqualified' or don't have the 'right kind of experience' for other jobs. I can't diversify because of the sheer amount of other applicants and the reluctance of employers to employ without hands on experience.

It's a hard slog that gets you down and undermines your confidence, is looking for gainful employment. You could try what I did when trying to get legal experience and search for the contact details of every law firm near your residence on the Law Society's website (find a solicitor). You then phone every single one asking for work experience and/or paralegal positions. Expect to be knocked back over 90% of the time. I have made well over 500 apps and enquiries in trying to get a TC and attended 9 interviews.

Apart from that you could scour all the usual job websites like monster, jobsite, totaljobs, reed, jobcentreplus for any kind of employment and upload your CV, although after months of spending 3+ hours applying nothing has come of it for me yet...

It's a sad day when all your experience and hard work amounts to nothing in the current economic environment and you are heavily in debt after Labour's attack on high education. I am even thinking of leaving the country because I can't bare the thought of being in positons with little jobs security and no prospect of career progression.

ScoobyStew

ploder wrote: »

It's a hard slog that gets you down and undermines your confidence, is looking for gainful employment. You could try what I did when trying to get legal experience and search for the contact details of every law firm near your residence on the Law Society's website (find a solicitor). You then phone every single one asking for work experience and/or paralegal positions. Expect to be knocked back over 90% of the time. I have made well over 500 apps and enquiries in trying to get a TC and attended 9 interviews.

Apart from that you could scour all the usual job websites like monster, jobsite, totaljobs, reed, jobcentreplus for any kind of employment and upload your CV, although after months of spending 3+ hours applying nothing has come of it for me yet...

It's a sad day when all your experience and hard work amounts to nothing in the current economic environment and you are heavily in debt after Labour's attack on high education. I am even thinking of leaving the country because I can't bare the thought of being in positons with little jobs security and no prospect of career progression.

its easy to loose confidence I the situation, but that's your strongest tool as long as you keep your head up, a confident person is much more likely to stand out and impress at the moment