When to apply for paralegal roles?

[tobywstress]

Hi everyone, is there a general expectation/limit on when final year students can apply for paralegal roles? I am currently waiting for my marks for some of my modules and won't receive them until mid-July. A quick search on LinkedIn and I saw multiple openings in practice areas that I am interested in (either from optional modules or previous experience). Is it fine to apply regardless, or should I wait until I receive the marks back?

I don't have a preference on start date and don't mind starting as soon as I have final classification.

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi there,

There is no set expectation limit per se, but generally you will see most of these roles requiring “graduates“. As a final year student that has finished with their exams and is only waiting to hear back on your degree classification, you are “technically” a graduate. The only reason recruiters will be careful on progressing your application is because onboarding for paralegal roles typically start very quickly, and part of the onboarding process for these is meeting degree requirements, which you will need to prove with official transcripts. The flexibility on this differs between firms, so worth still applying and making a comment on the application form to flag this. The comment is important to make as a recruiter will wonder why an overall degree mark isn’t inputted.

So yes, someone can apply for paralegal roles without having received their final year grades, but if they get rejected, then that is probably why - a more operational reason than anything else.