Why You Should Make The Most of First Year Opportunities

Feb 11, 2018

Written By Linda Luong, Graduate Recruitment Advisor, DLA Piper

Linda Luong of DLA Piper explains why first year students should hunt out the opportunities available to them as soon as possible as they “enhance the students work experience profile when applying for later opportunities”, such as vacation schemes and training contracts.

Earlier opportunities to experience life in a law firm are becoming more commonplace. The legal industry has traditionally always been very competitive but this has increased over the last few years. The competition isn’t just amongst students though! It extends to the firms who are trying to compete for the brightest and best students and trying to secure them as early on as possible.

Upon starting university, students are provided with a number of opportunities to meet and experience different law firms. These range from more formal presentations to sponsored social events where there will be a few representatives from the firm present.

Students should be looking for more opportunities early on in their academic studies to gain work experience. DLA Piper offers a number of Insight Days which are targeted towards first year law students. Second year non-law students are also eligible to apply for Insight Days as they are not eligible to apply for a vacation scheme until their final year of study.

Our Insight Days take place in our Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester offices, so that we are able to provide a fair range of opportunities for students to attend. The Insight Days are designed to allow students to gain a more detailed understanding of what a career in law will entail. Students spend a day in the office and learn more about the firm and its people and as a full service firm we have a variety of practice groups including Corporate, Employment, Finance and Projects, Intellectual Property and Technology, Litigation, Real Estate, Restructuring and Tax. It’s a great opportunity for the students to talk to solicitors and trainees who are currently in those groups and gives them the chance to go beyond what they read on the website about these practice areas and find out more such as the type of work undertaken on a day to day basis. Most importantly, the Insight Day gives students an unparalleled opportunity to talk to a variety of trainees, associates, partners and graduate recruiters. This is vital; it allows the students to talk to the people who are in the positions they aspire to be in and who have first-hand experiences they can share about how they got there. It also gives the student a real glimpse of the culture of the firm which we believe is highly important. It's fantastic to see so many students taking the initiative to get involved and really engaging with these first year opportunities.

Alongside our Insight Days, we also like to get out on to campus and deliver workshops and presentations. Topics range from 'Life as a Trainee' to more practical based skills sessions such as negotiation workshops and application tips. As the student population becomes more attuned to seeking out more work experience early on, we want to be in a position to help them really make the most of these opportunities.

We also recruit DLA Piper Brand Managers to represent us on campus throughout the academic year. Their role is to help us to organise events and help generate brand awareness amongst the student population. Being a Brand Manager is a great opportunity to develop networking skills and to gain an understanding of the firm from a different perspective. We actively encourage first years to apply for this role.

The firm also benefits from being able to meet a wider pool of students earlier on in their studies. This gives us the time to build a relationship with them and hopefully see an application from them for a vacation scheme or training contract in the future!

There are many benefits for students who make the most of their opportunities. It enhances the students work experience profile when applying for later opportunities, it enables them to develop their networking skills and meet people they may encounter again when applying for vacation schemes and training contracts. Ultimately, it also gives them a chance to see whether a career in law is really for them.

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