You're Never Too Old To Enter Law

Age is no barrier. It can open doors.

Denise Egan, careers adviser at BPP, gives tips to mature students entering the legal profession.

Imagine for a moment this scenario. I am interviewing you, a mature student, for a training contract at a law firm. I am looking forward to interviewing a person with a breadth of life and work experiences, someone who should be well prepared for the challenges of a career in the legal profession.

However,as your application progresses, you seem to lack self confidence, you have not shown me that you have gained practical legal experience, and you have not convinced me of the link between your previous experience and the needs of my law firm. This is a common scenario. With a little effort, though, this can easily be avoided.

Mature students have a great deal to offer in terms of valuable skills and useful work and life experience. True, competition in the legal profession is strong, but to say that a mature student’s application is going to be weaker than someone of 21 is wrong. Mature students should not think that they are starting at a disadvantage. In fact the opposite is often true. Part of the role of careers services is convincing mature students of the truth of this statement.

To ensure that mature students are able to articulate fully what they can offer the legal profession, at BPP we urge mature students to consider two things above all: make the most of your previous work and life experiences and gain the maximum amount of practical legal experience.

The advantage of being a mature student is the combination of experience and qualifications. Many mature students feel that their previous experience is not always relevant to the legal profession. From BPP’s experience it is exactly this range and diversity of experience that makes mature students such a potential asset to employers. To begin with, we advise mature students to reflect on their past experience and then identify the range of skills they have to offer. Consider weaknesses, mistakes made and lessons learned. Think about values, work style and approach. Pull together specific real life examples to demonstrate your suitability for a legal career.

Clearly not all of a mature student’s experience will be directly related to law. Indeed it may be very little. Instead, think laterally about the qualities, skills, knowledge and insights gained or developed from previous employment. Informal, unpaid or voluntary experience can provide strong evidence of skills, motivation and willingness to handle responsibility. Most law firms are looking for transferable skills and this is where mature students have a clear advantage. Typical examples of transferable skills include team work, written and verbal communication skills, negotiation, attention to detail, meeting deadlines and problem solving.

Allied to identifying transferable skills is the need to get exposure and practical experience of the legal profession. Mature students need to be able to say with authority: “I know what a barrister or solicitor does”. Not only does this demonstrate a candidate’s ability to “hit the ground running” but, perhaps more importantly, it shows that they have made an informed decision about their career change.

Gaining hands on experience need not involve a three month summer internship. Simply shadowing a local solicitor when time permits shows potential employers a clear commitment to a new career in law. Many law firms run open days and evenings to give mature students an insight into the profession. This will also help a mature student learn more about the different cultures of firms and enable them to link their own experience with the requirements of the firm.

There is one final point we at BPP always stress upon mature students and it is this: commercial law is a meritocracy. The industry wants and needs the best people, regardless of their background. The challenge for a mature student is to articulate why they are the best person for the role, why they have chosen law, and why their background has prepared them so well. If they can do that, then they are on the first step to a rewarding career.

www.bpp.com