Ways for aspiring lawyers to get ahead over the summer

Soaking up the sun and relaxing should be part of any summer, but as an aspiring lawyer, you should also be looking for ways to boost your CV because when you come to apply for a training contract or pupillage, it will be highly competitive.

Legal work experience

If you can, pursue legal work experience over the break. If you haven't got a vacation scheme or mini-pupillage lined up, there are still other routes in. This might mean sending a speculative letter to your local high-street firm, community law centre or Citizens Advice Bureau asking for voluntary work or shadowing. Alternatively, you could think about contacting your local court centre to see if it is possible to do some judge marshalling or even just sit in on a few cases. At the very least, you should go to your local court and observe the law in action - most trials are open to the public, so just turn up and see how it all works.

Non-legal work experience

You may well be working over the summer, which is also great for your CV – almost any role will involve key transferable skills. For example, working in a bar or shop - you're dealing with (sometimes tricky) customers, managing your time, handling enquiries and working within a team. All are useful skills that are a part of every lawyer's daily working life. What about getting involved with voluntary work in your community? That always looks good on a CV, plus you have the warm glow of doing some actual good!

In addition, you can start to think about the sorts of firm you might be interested in applying to next year. Some questions to ask yourself include: What sort of law interests me? Does size matter? Does location matter? Does money matter? To enjoy some face-to-face time with different firms, you should be attending all the law fairs and firm presentations that you can fit in, most of which take place in October and November. To keep abreast of which firm is doing what when, check the LCN Diary.

And to get some in-depth insight into what it's like working at either a City or a national UK firm, you should consider applying to attend one of our LawCareersNetLIVE conferences. They offer unrivalled access to a handpicked selection of firms, with panels and workshops, and plenty of opportunity to network with recruiters and lawyers.

Finally, remember that excellent academic grades are essential. You need to be aiming for a 2.1 or higher, so at this stage you may even like to get ahead with your reading for next year - nothing wrong with reading Chitty on Contracts by the pool or on the beach! Happy holidays!