2. Getting started
2. Getting started
- Emily Finch
- and Stefan Fafinski
Abstract
This chapter first considers one of the key questions that all law students must answer: to practise or not to practise? It then gives an overview of the two traditional branches of the legal profession—solicitors and barristers—before explaining the stages in qualification, the employability skills that are essential in each, and some insight into the likely competition and costs involved. The chapter introduces some of the alternative possible career pathways that can be pursued with a law degree on the strength of transferable employability skills; explains the idea of personal development planning, which gives students a framework within which to build an action plan of activities to enhance their employability skills portfolio; and provides an initial timetable of actions that will support students in achieving each step in the journey towards employment.
