Category Archives: Employability

Careers-oriented resources for law students

lawlibraryIn addition to the Library’s print and online material available to support your studies, you will also find careers related content,  which will help you plan and prepare for your future career opportunities.  A selection of material is highlighted below – much more material is available in print and electronically.  Take some time to explore these resources when planning your graduate career, or to prepare for job interviews.

Interested in a career in the City and need to build your knowledge quickly?

If you are interested in a career on the City then these new additions to the library come highly recommended by leading recruiters.  They advise that many successful applicants to their graduate trainee programmes have read these materials and these have helped them through the selection process.

Know the City 2015/16

Commercial Awareness 2015/16

General Legal Careers Books

The following titles discuss the legal skills needed for the modern legal professional.

Lawyers’ Skills

Legal Skills

Legal Systems & Skills

Tomorrow’s Lawyers

The futures of legal education and the legal profession

Journals

There are a number of general interest law related journals available to you.  These can be useful preparation for interviews as you can keep up to date with the latest debates on topics in the legal news.  Recommended titles are:

Lawyer 2B

The Lawyer (Online)

New Law Journal

Solicitors’ Journal

Legal databases

Use the current awareness features on the legal databases to help you prepare for job opportunities.

The Lexis PSL database is a great way to keep up to date with what is happening across a range of practice areas.  If you are interested in a specialism such as Banking Law, Commercial Law, Corporate Law  – or one of the many other practice areas covered by Lexis PSL – then login and browse or search for the latest updates.

The Westlaw database offers a Current Awareness feature so you can search or browse for recent information on a range of legal topics.  The Insight feature is also a useful means of getting a quick up to date overview on a legal topic, with content authored by leading practitioners in the field.

New Resource – Coming Soon! Practical Law (PLC)

Keep an eye out for the new Practical Law database coming soon.  Many students use this whilst on placement and report back on how useful it is for their legal studies and as preparation for working in a legal firm.   As soon as access is live you will be able to login via the Library Catalogue or Electronic Library.  This database provides tailored information for understanding both scholarly and practical aspects of topical legal issues.  A wide range of practice areas are covered. Content includes standard documents, how-to guidance on the law, practice notes and updates on the latest legal developments.

Legal Careers Websites

There are many legal careers website which bring together job opportunities alongside hints and tips to help you prepare for career opportunities.  A selection of the more comprehensive legal careers sites are provided below:

All About Law – law jobs, courses and advice

Lex 100 – a student guide to the top law firms.

Law careers.Net – a comprehensive career oriented site aimed at future lawyers and legal recruiters.

Target Jobs Law – graduate careers guidance and directory of graduate jobs schemes and internships

Want to become employable?

If you have just finished your exams you may have started looking for or applying for jobs. While the Career Zone should be your first port of call, it is worth remembering that the library can help too.

When you start applying for jobs in business it is important to find out as much as you can, then if you are lucky enough to get an interview you will know what sort of questions you may be asked and what you could ask them. The Electronic Library has a number of databases which can give you news and updates, as well as detailed company information. Have a look at the guide to Researching companies to find out more.  

If you want advice on subjects like writing a CV or preparing for interviews have a look at BookBoon’s free site on Careers.  As well as short blogs with practical advice this site also includes short books, which can be downloaded free – you just need to register with your name and email.

Don’t forget to use the help provided by employability offices in your Colleges, like Social Sciences and International Studies and the Business School.