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Aspiring Lawyers - Applications & General Advice
General Discussion
Gaining industry work experience
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<blockquote data-quote="j.s.cox" data-source="post: 112904" data-attributes="member: 20454"><p>I have a few thoughts on this.</p><p></p><p><strong>Why do you want industry experience? </strong></p><p></p><p>If it's just to be a more attractive TC candidate, you are probably better off asking to shadow someone within your target industry rather than gaining a role. Also, you could try to get work experience within a firm which works with similar clients. Personally, I gained a role as a legal intern/paralegal in a small boutique firm (literally just dropped the owner an email to ask if they would be willing to let me do some work experience). I ended up getting a lot of client contact and was able to ask clients directly if they would be willing to allow me to shadow them to understand their business better. For the most part, they were really happy to oblige, and I had always asked my supervisor whether this would be ok or appropriate beforehand.</p><p></p><p>If you are genuinely interested in the roles that are available in these industries, you may have to take a different approach. You could look at working at a smaller client within the industry. In terms of experience, I genuinely believe you are able to understand how a business works better when you work at a smaller outfit, but getting work as a data analyst etc at a bigger place is also really good experience. I'm not sure it really matters what role you go for within these companies as you'll be able to get a good idea of how the company works no matter what you go for.</p><p></p><p>One thing I know people are asked in TC interviews is 'why law and not x?' so make sure if you do manage to get some industry experience you have a convincing answer ready for this question.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Is a 1 month internship good experience?</strong></p><p></p><p>In short, yes, but as I said above, make sure you want the experience because you are completely interested in roles within the industry. 1 month is a long time to do something, so being in a role you won't enjoy just to understand the business better may not be the best use of your time. If you are genuinely excited about that internship, however, it may be really eye opening and enjoyable. I would just reiterate that you shouldn't do it if you just want to be a more attractive TC candidate as there are many other ways to gain experience of the industry.</p><p></p><p><strong>How to answer 'why consulting?'</strong></p><p></p><p>I reckon if you have an answer to why law, you probably have a good idea about why you want to do commercial law specifically. Your answer for why consulting could probably just rework this answer. </p><p></p><p>Also, if you know anyone who wants to do consulting or already works within a consultancy firm (LinkedIn is your friend) you could ask why they wanted to do consulting and see if you have any overlapping interests that you could use for this answer.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Sorry for such a long response, and hopefully there's some things you find useful here!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="j.s.cox, post: 112904, member: 20454"] I have a few thoughts on this. [B]Why do you want industry experience? [/B] If it's just to be a more attractive TC candidate, you are probably better off asking to shadow someone within your target industry rather than gaining a role. Also, you could try to get work experience within a firm which works with similar clients. Personally, I gained a role as a legal intern/paralegal in a small boutique firm (literally just dropped the owner an email to ask if they would be willing to let me do some work experience). I ended up getting a lot of client contact and was able to ask clients directly if they would be willing to allow me to shadow them to understand their business better. For the most part, they were really happy to oblige, and I had always asked my supervisor whether this would be ok or appropriate beforehand. If you are genuinely interested in the roles that are available in these industries, you may have to take a different approach. You could look at working at a smaller client within the industry. In terms of experience, I genuinely believe you are able to understand how a business works better when you work at a smaller outfit, but getting work as a data analyst etc at a bigger place is also really good experience. I'm not sure it really matters what role you go for within these companies as you'll be able to get a good idea of how the company works no matter what you go for. One thing I know people are asked in TC interviews is 'why law and not x?' so make sure if you do manage to get some industry experience you have a convincing answer ready for this question. [B]Is a 1 month internship good experience?[/B] In short, yes, but as I said above, make sure you want the experience because you are completely interested in roles within the industry. 1 month is a long time to do something, so being in a role you won't enjoy just to understand the business better may not be the best use of your time. If you are genuinely excited about that internship, however, it may be really eye opening and enjoyable. I would just reiterate that you shouldn't do it if you just want to be a more attractive TC candidate as there are many other ways to gain experience of the industry. [B]How to answer 'why consulting?'[/B] I reckon if you have an answer to why law, you probably have a good idea about why you want to do commercial law specifically. Your answer for why consulting could probably just rework this answer. Also, if you know anyone who wants to do consulting or already works within a consultancy firm (LinkedIn is your friend) you could ask why they wanted to do consulting and see if you have any overlapping interests that you could use for this answer. Sorry for such a long response, and hopefully there's some things you find useful here! [/QUOTE]
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