Anyone wanting to get a training contract is well advised to get some legal work experience along the way. By getting some legal work experience they can see the difference between practising a particular area of law and studying it.
Many students will find that they enjoy more than one subject when studying, for example commercial law and criminal law. But when they start looking into which firms to apply to they will find that firms will tend to practise one of these areas or the other.
Therefore, they decide to make applications to both groups of firm. They may, however, be taking a risk if they do not also have some practical experience of the different areas of law.
When they have success in gaining a training contract the risk is they will find out that they do not like practising the particular type of law in the same way they enjoyed studying it.
This illustrates how important it is for law students to undertake some real world legal work experience with a range of law firms.
The individual in the previous example would have been much better undertaking short law placements with a large commercial firm and a smaller high street firm specialising in criminal law. By doing so they would have been able to make a much more informed decision about where to apply to for their training contract and therefore reduce the risk of making a mistake.
Legal work placements can be done at various places from law firms to voluntary organisations.
It is important to look into the various work experience possibilities not only in the area you live to study but also where you might be living during the university or law school holidays if different.
After doing the research you then need to form a written plan about who you are going to approach for work experience and when. Not only will this ensure you get practical experience in the areas of law you are interested in, it will also give you a broad experience to help with your decisions making later on.
For further pointers on legal work experience check out: http://www.traineesolicitorsurgery.co.uk. There is also lots more advice on how to get a training contract.