Another week, another careers fair!

This week I attended Woodbridge School to represent my firm at their careers fair. The fair was held on a Saturday and it allowed students not just from Woodbridge School, but those also in the local area to speak to people from all kinds of different professions.

To the stand on our left was a Barrister who works in London and to our right was the RAF. The Barrister had a mannequin with a wig and gown displayed and the RAF of course had plenty of interesting things to look at on their stand. So we had good competition and needed to make ourselves appealing to the students.

We were approached by a lot of students which was pleasing, but interestingly, there were a number of students who weren't looking to attend University. We therefore advised them of the Legal Executive route or the new Apprenticeship schemes which are being introduced. Perhaps this is a telling sign that the increase in University fees really is putting people off  higher education.

Attending the fair was also a good way for us to show our presence as the firm has recently opened an office in Woodbridge. We could speak about the types of services we offer to the parents that were with their children.

The day was cold but glorious and the grounds around the school looked beautiful in the beaming sun, particularly with all the golden leaves falling off the trees.

I hope the students found us informative and helpful, there were some keen listeners which seemed promising! Hopefully we will be back next year to do the same again.

University of Essex Law Fair

Last week I attended the University of Essex Law Fair. This event gave the law students or other students that wish to pursue a career in law the chance to speak to those that work in the legal profession. A number of local law firms attended as well as those that work for the government legal services, providers of the LPC and BPTC courses and so on.

It was great to see so many students interested in a career in law, particularly those that aren't even studying law.

There were a variety of students. Some who had no idea what they were going to do when they leave University, some who had various options to explore and those who were set on what they wanted to do and were determined to achieve their dreams.

Being a Trainee I was able to give an explanation of the change from studying to working in practice. I gave the students tips on what to focus on in their interviews and also advised them to get as much experience in as possible!

Of course we brought chocolates to please the students...I obviously dipped my hand in several times. Needs must!

I hope the students found the evening informative. I'm sure I'll be back this time next year to do it all over again!

Back to Work, Back to Networking

After a great week off, which went way too quickly might I add, it's time to get back into the swing of things.

As I got back into the office and opened my email inbox, I found that I had been signed up to a number of networking events. The majority of them involve attending Universities, I assume it's at this time of year that the careers talks and events are put on. I can't actually remember as my education seems so long ago (She says at the ripe old age of 24)

Last week I attended the University of Suffolk Law Programme Launch and this week I will be attending the University of Essex Law Fair.

The University of Suffolk (formerly University Campus Suffolk) has just started offering the LLB Law degree from this year. We were invited as lawyers from the local community to help mark and celebrate the occasion. There was food (always a bonus!) and a couple of speeches from local judges, and also those working at the University. The students of the new law programme also attended which gave them the opportunity to ask us any questions that they had.

It's great to see that the local University is now offering a law programme. Not only does it give the University the opportunity to offer a wider range of courses, but it also gives those local to Suffolk a chance to consider a career in law when perhaps they did not have the opportunity to do so.

Here's to a good future for the University of Suffolk.