Broaden your legal work experience to kickstart your graduate career at the Bar

You'll need to arrange mini-pupillages, or work experience at barristers' chambers, in order to put together a strong application for a graduate training position to become a barrister, known as pupillage. Strengthen your hand and your understanding of the legal profession as a whole by seeking out other law-related work experience opportunities.

Work experience at a solicitors’ firm

Would-be barristers are well advised to spend some time in a solicitors’ firm. This shows recruiters that you have actively explored your options and have good grounds for your eventual career decision. It also gives you a feel for how things work in the other main branch of the legal profession and the types of tasks that solicitors are likely to be involved in. You’ll spend a great deal of time as a barrister in contact with solicitors so the clearer the idea you have of what they do the better.

Many large solicitors’ firms run formal work experience schemes, generally known as vacation placements. These tend to be longer than mini-pupillages, typically lasting between one and four weeks. As well as shadowing solicitors and completing small, discrete tasks there may well be presentations about the firm and its work and a number of social events. Many vacation placement students are paid: between £100 and £300 per week is typical. Unsurprisingly, vacation placements are extremely popular – it can be harder to get onto one than to get a training contract. Most vacation placements will have fixed closing dates.

• More information about work experience with solicitors' firms

Other legal work experience you can fit in round your studies

As well as spending time with a solicitors’ firm, other good forms of legal experience include volunteering at a Citizens Advice Bureau or law centre, marshalling (shadowing a circuit or high court judge for up to a week) and getting involved in mooting and debating. You could also consider taking on cases via the Free Representation Unit (FRU), which provides legal advice, case preparation and advocacy in tribunal cases for those who cannot otherwise obtain legal support. To begin training with the FRU you will need to have reached at least the third year of a law degree or have started a conversion course; other volunteering schemes may require you to have a certain level of legal knowledge depending on the position you are applying for. You can arrange marshalling opportunities via the Inns of Court or by contacting your local Crown Court.

Legal work experience you could plan for a gap year

If you have a substantial amount of time available to you (for example if you are thinking of taking a gap year to gain more experience) there are various other options you could consider. Emma Zeb, a pupillage committee member at St John’s Chambers, comments: ‘I spent a summer at an American law firm doing personal injury work on the recommendation of my Inner Temple sponsor. I know that this impressed the interview panels when I attended pupillage interviews.’ Other options include becoming a paralegal; working as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal; spending time as a research assistant at the Law Commission; or becoming an outdoor clerk in a litigation firm.

Paralegals are employed by solicitors’ firms to assist their lawyers on cases and transactions. There are no official rules as to who can apply but most firms will favour those with some legal knowledge (generally law graduates and those who have completed the conversion course).

Judicial assistants spend between three and twelve months at the Court of Appeal, assisting judges with their work and observing how things work behind the scenes in court. Positions are normally advertised three times a year in The Times and at Her Majesty's Courts Service website. Again, there are no hard and fast rules about who can apply, although many assistants take up their positions at a relatively late stage in their training.

Research assistants at the Law Commission help more senior members of staff to develop recommendations for legal reform; positions last for approximately 12 months. If you’re a non-law student, be aware that the Law Commission requires its research assistants to have studied law for at least two years, so you may not be eligible to apply. Outdoor clerks assist solicitors at locations outside the firm, for example going to court to complete admin tasks or other errands.

Non-legal graduate work experience that will help you become a barrister

Don’t make the mistake of overlooking opportunities that aren’t law-related. You’ll need much more than just legal knowledge to practise as a barrister and you can develop the relevant skills (commercial awareness, communication and organisational skills, teamworking, professionalism and so on) via a whole manner of activities. What’s more, some recruiters tend to feel that applicants who’ve done nothing apart from law are just a little bit dull, and lack broader practical experience of the world of work.

Pupillage recruiters look for candidates with commercial awareness, and casual jobs can help you to demonstrate this. Barristers provide a service and need to be focused on their clients' needs and aware of the wider market in which their clients operate. Casual jobs that involve client contact, such as bar or shop work, provide experience of dealing with customers and the opportunity to see how businesses operate.

Casual work on your CV also shows that you have gone out and been independent; if you’ve juggled a part-time job with your studies this also indicates that you’re able to prioritise and manage your time. Office experience with any type of employer can be helpful, particularly if you can find a position with the sort of organisation you'd like to represent as a barrister. 

Volunteering or charity work always looks good, and positions of responsibility or significant involvement with clubs or societies can potentially impress as well. However, beware of joining a group or taking up a position as a ‘CV filler’ – unless you’re prepared to get actively involved and make a significant input, it’s probably a waste of time.

Information for graduates wanting general legal work experience before applying to become barristers

• Find out more about gaining legal experience by volunteering at a Citizens Advice Bureau
• Research the Free Representation Unit
• More information about Crown Courts and the Court of Appeal from Her Majesty's Courts Service
• Research the Law Commission