First year schemes

[ML07]

Are applications for first year schemes on a rolling basis?
Also, as a non law student, what are some good activities I can do this year to boost my CV and prepare for VS? Thanks

 

[Monica Badescu]

Are applications for first year schemes on a rolling basis?
Also, as a non law student, what are some good activities I can do this year to boost my CV and prepare for VS? Thanks

Hey!

For the first point, I think this will vary between firms. Some first-year schemes are reviewed on a rolling basis and others are not, so I would always check the individual firm's website/application guidance rather than assume. If a firm does recruit on a rolling basis, there can be an advantage to applying earlier, but I still wouldn't rush an application before it is ready.

As a non-law student, I also wouldn't worry about trying to fill your CV with lots of specifically legal activities. I would focus more on building experiences that give you transferable skills and help you understand commercial law better.

A few things I would consider are:

• Attending open days, insight events or firm presentations to learn more about different firms and practice areas.
• Joining societies, volunteering or taking on positions of responsibility where you can develop teamwork, communication, organisation or leadership.
• Getting involved in competitions such as negotiation, commercial awareness or mooting if they interest you.
• Building your commercial awareness by following business news and thinking about how developments affect clients and law firms.
• Looking for any part-time work or internships where you can develop client-facing, analytical or organisational skills, even if the role is not legal.

I think the key thing is not necessarily having the most "legal" CV, but being able to explain what you learnt from your experiences and why the skills you developed would be relevant to a trainee solicitor.

You have plenty of time at this stage, so I would focus on exploring the profession and building experiences you genuinely enjoy rather than trying to do everything at once.

Hope this helps!

 

[CommunityAssistant_MH]

Are applications for first year schemes on a rolling basis?
Also, as a non law student, what are some good activities I can do this year to boost my CV and prepare for VS? Thanks

Hi there,

My advice is, particularly as a first-year non-law student, use this year as an opportunity to build your understanding of why commercial law interests you rather than worrying too much about making your CV look like a future lawyer’s CV already.

You're at a very early stage in the process and you can really leverage this! I'd say keep a record of the experiences/events you attend and what you actually take away from it. If you attend an open day, for example, note down what you learnt about a particular practice area, a conversation with a trainee that changed your understanding of the role, or something about the firm that stood out to you. By the time VS applications come around, you then have genuine experiences to draw on rather than trying to remember everything you did a year ago!

I’d also use first-year schemes/open days to compare firms rather than just focusing on getting the name on your CV. Speak to people at different types of firms – US, international, City, regional etc. – and start working out what differences actually matter to you. That will make answering “why this firm?” much easier later because you’ll have a real basis for your preferences.

Don’t overlook your degree just because it isn’t law! Depending on what you study, there may be particular industries or issues you naturally develop knowledge of that you can build on. That can eventually become a really useful part of your story and commercial interests rather than something you need to compensate for.

At this stage, I’d prioritise depth over quantity. One or two experiences you can speak about really thoughtfully will usually give you far more to work with in future applications than doing ten things purely because you think they’ll look good on a CV.

And remember to have fun with it – you have plenty of time! Finding the areas of law, firms and even industries that genuinely interest you is all part of the process. You definitely don’t need to have your “commercial law story” perfectly figured out in first year. Explore different things, change your mind and work out what you actually enjoy. That curiosity will give you much more to talk about when applications eventually come around

Best of luck!