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If you’re a newly minted lawyer, the best time to invest in your career is now. According to the recruitment firm Robert Walters, one of the hottest markets for hiring happens to be the legal sector in the UK. In fact, top law firms are willing to offer as much as £147,000 to newly qualified lawyers who can make the cut.
While it isn’t easy for new lawyers to get into the top law firms, you can still get ahead of your competition by investing in your professional development. Here are a few tips for elevating your practise:
Build your network
Your professional network can house numerous opportunities through the length of your career. As such, it’s important to start cultivating this network while you’re still a newly qualified lawyer.
You can start by following law firms and joining groups of legal professionals on LinkedIn. This will let you easily engage with fellow professionals who have similar interests or career aspirations. These groups can also lead you towards useful, relevant contacts who can update you about any opportunities within their firm.
Once you’ve made a connection with these individuals, you also need to engage them by sharing content that demonstrates your competencies and knowledge as a lawyer. These can include discussions on interesting articles, write-ups about recent proceedings, and more.
Make room for extracurricular classes
You can build up your legal skills and discover better career opportunities by taking extracurricular classes.
The BBC’s article on becoming a barrister highlights that newly qualified lawyers can invest in their professional training and pupillage to become a barrister in court. Through the Bar Professional Training Course, you can learn how to speak on behalf of clients during courtroom proceedings. While there’s quite a bit of competition in this field, hard workers can earn as much as £250,000 per year while making profound changes in their clients’ lives.
Leverage workforce trends
You can get into your dream law firm and remain an indispensable lawyer by offering unique yet relevant competencies.
If you want to distinguish yourself in a crowd of newly qualified lawyers, LHH recommends staying updated with workforce trends, which can help you prepare for your career progression. Since today’s professional landscape changes quickly, you need to future-proof your career by looking into emerging business trends that will benefit from long-term legal counsel, such as blockchain and data management. By staying updated with workforce trends, you can become a valuable resource for your dream firm.
Work on the essential workforce skills
You can further leverage workforce trends by learning the skills necessary for these changes.
Now that remote work is here to stay, legal trainees are adjusting to the workforce trends by learning how to practise online. In fact, Simon Bennet of Fox Williams LLP stated that newly qualified lawyers must be more inquisitive, visible, and entrepreneurial to stand out in online proceedings. New lawyers also need to improve their communication skills, since it’s crucial to be able to clearly explain processes and support clients in both offline and online meetings.
There are great opportunities awaiting new lawyers, as long as you know where to find them. Fortunately, if you make the right career move you can get ahead of the competition and enjoy not only these opportunities, but a long and prosperous career.
