Year-long Placement in a Legal Environment
21st March 2022
Our LLB, including Specialist Routes, give students the option to undertake a year-long placement in industry between their 2nd and 3rd years of study. Placements can be a really good opportunity to put theoretical knowledge from the degree into practice, as well as developing those crucial legal skills and general employability attributes. For some employers, knowing you have worked in a legal environment as well as having completed your studies will be seen as the final puzzle piece of a highly-employable graduate!
Jocelyn Hadden, an LLB student in the final year of her studies, undertook the placement last year and has shared her experiences below:
“I am currently enrolled on the four year sandwich law course offered at the university and have just completed my year long placement at MOHLaw, a Law Firm in Cheltenham specialising in Personal Injury and Insurance, and returned to my final year of study this September.
I found my placement through the help of the University’s Future Plan Team, who advertised the placement. They were very supportive throughout the application processes; I initially did not think I’d be able to secure a placement in a Law Firm, but the Team helped to show me just how many opportunities were out there if you looked, and I’m so glad I did! Something I’ve really taken from the whole application process is to apply for everything! Nothing through that period was a wasted experience, so applying for as many placements as I could, receiving feedback and going to interviews (successful or not!) was definitely a learning experience in itself!
As well as loving every minute of my placement with MOHLaw, I have learned some invaluable skills; for example improving my communications skills with clients, as well as learning to prioritise whilst having multiple tasks to complete at one time. These are skills I can bring back to university with me as well as take forward into any future career.
Doing a placement year has also reshaped my career path, I had not previously expressed interest in wanting to become a solicitor in a law firm, however since spending the last year supporting and assisting solicitors at MOH Law, it’s a career I am now looking to pursue, and I cannot wait!”
We currently have students on placement who are also enjoying their workplace experiences, and look forward to more placement success stories over the coming years!