Russell group uni improve employability? postgraduate

I am currently a second year law student at the university of the west of England, Bristol. I discovered that most top law firms recruit solely from Oxbridge or Russell group unis (a bit late, I know. I just started thinking of my future). As such amongst other reasons, I plan on taking a masters in law and economics at a russell group uni. UCL my first choice, although uni of Reading offers a more suitable module specification pertaining to me, but they do not have as many professional contact as the London unis.

Does doing the postgraduate degree in a russell group uni improve my employability or ifs it pointless? Thanks

Reply 1

Duncan2012

19

What do you want to do career-wise?

Reply 2

Stephendj

OP

Original post by Duncan2012

What do you want to do career-wise?

I plan on working on commercial/banking/finance law - first choice
The economics aspect of the Masters I'm hoping will mean I can branch into banking.
Working for international origanizations such as world bank or the IMF

At the core of it all, my goal is to have a successful and financially fruitful career

Reply 3

rbgpwer

13

I would say 50/50. Saying that university reputation doesn't count would be a lie, it counts. However, I would say that your overall CV, your practical skills, your interview skills and what you are as a person count a lot as well. You can come from an excellent university and hardly get a job because you are not competitive enough as a potential professional (and this is not necessary linked to your academic potential).
Coming from high ranked uni can help you to get the first stage of a job application (providing other satisfactory requirements), but is not enough.

I hope this helped

Reply 4

k3ro

16

Original post by Stephendj

I am currently a second year law student at the university of the west of England, Bristol. I discovered that most top law firms recruit solely from Oxbridge or Russell group unis (a bit late, I know. I just started thinking of my future). As such amongst other reasons, I plan on taking a masters in law and economics at a russell group uni. UCL my first choice, although uni of Reading offers a more suitable module specification pertaining to me, but they do not have as many professional contact as the London unis.

Does doing the postgraduate degree in a russell group uni improve my employability or ifs it pointless? Thanks

Doing a postgrad degree is a very expensive method of increasing your employability...

I go to one of the worst unis in the country and managed to get interviews at three large London law firms. My advice to you would be to save your money and instead work on your CV. Most law firms still take applications from Law undergrads until around June so there's still time to apply. Alternatively you could take a year out to work on your CV then apply early next cycle.

Reply 5

Newcastle456

14

Original post by Stephendj

I plan on working on commercial/banking/finance law - first choice
The economics aspect of the Masters I'm hoping will mean I can branch into banking.
Working for international origanizations such as world bank or the IMF

At the core of it all, my goal is to have a successful and financially fruitful career

I am going to be really frank with you. Those organisations are mad competitive, and you really do need a top university or a PhD to have a shot. Interestingly enough, as it happens, 1/3 of successful PhD completions in the UK are at Oxbridge.

In terms of the Economics part of the degree, I am not sure what courses you are looking at but without a mathematical subject or an Economics degree, I find it hard to see you get a place on those courses at places like UCL. Not to mention, even for postgraduate, they often look at the university you went to before anyway, although it's not the be all and end all.

I think your best shot would be to get some work experience under your belt at a good law firm then apply for a law master's course with a certain specialism. Then, you may, just maybe have a chance at those international institutions.

To put it into context:

I have a PPE degree from Warwick, will be doing my master's at Cambridge/LSE next year in Development, got a couple languages apart from English, worked at political parties/think tanks and my chances are still slim at those institutions at least for a couple of years.

Russell group uni improve employability? postgraduate

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