Does my non-law work experience undermine me?

[elizabethkate]

I recently completed a research internship at Oxford University, but it was not about law but about my sociology degree. I fear it doesn't match my current applications to commercial law firms. Surely, these firms will question my drive for commercial law if I am doing non-law internships that are also non-commercial?

Thoughts?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

This is not an issue at all.

You can demonstrate your interest in commercial law through other experiences outside of this internship and you can highlight your transferable skills you have gained from this internship.

 

[Andrei Radu]

I recently completed a research internship at Oxford University, but it was not about law but about my sociology degree. I fear it doesn't match my current applications to commercial law firms. Surely, these firms will question my drive for commercial law if I am doing non-law internships that are also non-commercial?

Thoughts?

I agree with @Jessica Booker that this isn't an issue at application stage. If anything, taking part of a research project at Oxford should be quite helpful in setting you apart from the crowd as a particularly high-achieving candidate. However, once you get to the AC/final interview, I think you should be prepared to be probed on your motivations for why commercial law rather than sociology research? In one of my final interviews I was questioned time and time again on why law rather than philosophy - and this was only because I was a delegate at a philosophy olympiad back in my final year of high school. As such, if I were you once I got to that stage I would try to come up with a really through and convincing line of reasoning and I would try to anticipate any further follow-up questions.