Discovering Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with UWE Bristol, get free advice >>

Job Prospects for Internationals

Hi,

I am an international student (not EU) who received offers to study law at UCL, King's, and Durham. How realistic is it for me to attain job sponsorship and work in the UK after my studies?

Would really appreciate any advice given.

(Please do not delete this thread as I'm hoping for responses from the Law forum section as well as here.)

Reply 1

GenialGermanGent

Depends on where you're from (and which languages you consequently speak), the specific degree, how you did at it, quality and quantity of job placements and internships, how badly people are sought for in the branch of law you want to go to. The universities you listed are good, but to make a valid prediction, a lot more information is needed - but even then state of economy in 3-5 years plus political actions pro/contra hiring of foreign professionals are making this a tough one to call.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

paintfresh22

I am from Singapore.

I have two Singaporean friends who are in their third year of law (one in Bristol and the other in Manchester) and they both told me job sponsorship is extremely competitive and not realistic, unless I get into Oxbridge. Is this true? Would a law degree from UCL, King's, or Durham be undesirable for foreign sponsorship?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

mishieru07

Original post by paintfresh22

UCL/ King's/ Durham are perfectly fine - if you check LinkedIn, you'll find some profiles. For instance, this guy (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jerrold-yam/41/686/797?trk=pub-pbmap) studies in UCL and has a training contract with Baker and McKenzie in London.

Getting a training contract is extremely competitive, but hardly unrealistic, Oxbridge or not. In fact, my personal take is that the UK firms tend to be less fussed about one's academic "pedigree", compared to the Singapore ones.

J-SP has given some good advice on what law firms look for generally, so to put it into more concrete terms, I would suggest you aim for the following in your first year (up to the first term of second year):
1) Attain good grades (minimum 2i)
2) Take part in extra-curriculars (eg pro bono, sports, drama, orchestra) and preferably hold some positions of responsibility
3) Go for firm events (eg networking sessions, open days, first year programmes) - this makes it easier to convince people that you have a genuine interest in working in the UK as you have done your due diligence from an early stage.
4) Get some work experience (a very small handful of UK firms offer vacation schemes for first years, and the Singapore law firms do take first years for summer internships if I recall correctly)

You should then be applying for vacation schemes at the start of second year. Apply early, and send off a reasonable number of applications (obviously depending on when you hear back from the firms; some people do incredibly well and get offers early on). Try to do as many vacation schemes as possible (realistically, I think it's probably 3-4 for summer, although you could squeeze in 1-2 over Easter). Regardless of how many (or any) vacation schemes that you do, you should probably also do training contract applications to other firms to maximize your chances of landing a job in the UK (read: you should keep up 1)-3) even during your second year). Once you get a TC, all you need to do is graduate (usually conditional on a 2i) and finish LPC before you start.

It is worth bearing in mind that getting a TC is just incredibly competitive in the UK, so you should have back-up plans if things don't work out (eg going back to Singapore or working in a different jurisdiction like Hong Kong, doing a Masters/ gap year so you have an additional year to apply).

Hope this helps! :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 4

paintfresh22

Thank you Mishieru07 and J-SP for your kind and comprehensive responses. I will heed your advice if I do decide to take up the Law offers. Thanks so much!

I have another question - does the branch of law I choose to specialize in for my degree matter? I am thinking of doing Human Rights law. Would doing financial/business/contract law give me a better chance over Human Rights law?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 5

mishieru07

Original post by paintfresh22

J-SP is probably right on the Human Rights as a career front - you need a minimum salary of 20 500 pounds or higher, and you can see the list of firms currently licensed to sponsor internationals for a tier 2 or tier 5 visa here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414955/Tiers_2___5_Register_of_Sponsors_2015-03-20.pdf.

I would say your best bet at employment is probably with the City law firms that do a lot of international work, because they can a) afford to pay you the minimum salary, and b) are more likely to find your skills to be an asset (eg ability to speak different languages, cultural awareness).

That said, I know very little about working in Human Rights/ Public Interest law, so you should definitely do your own due diligence.

If we're talking about whether subject choice in optional modules makes a difference as to your chances of securing a TC in a City law firm to do commercial/ corporate, I'm inclined to say not really (I did medical law and ethics, which is completely unrelated to the type of work I'll be doing in the future), although be prepared to explain and justify your choice in interviews. You might come across as less convincing if you don't take any commercial/ company law modules though.

Reply 6

paintfresh22

Ah I see your point. Thank you so much for the clarification! :smile:

Reply 7

paintfresh22

Original post by J-SP

There are probably only 20-25 law firms out there who can get you a work permit though. That's probably no more than 500 training contacts that they offer altogether.

Suddenly the competitiveness point really becomes an issue. Your institution won't matter but the following things will:
Posted from TSR Mobile

J-SP, I was wondering if you could quantify the competitiveness issue. As the 20-25 firms you mentioned belong to the large corporate law companies, do you know how many applications there are per contract? I have heard the number is around 100 applicants per spot, is that a reasonable estimate?