Uptree

Sarah is a Year 12 student at Bohunt Sixth Form who is exploring the legal sector with the view of becoming a barrister or a solicitor in the future. With this in mind, Sarah took part in FuturesUP in March, hosted by Clifford Chance ; due to the covid-19 situation, this event was moved online so Sarah is here to share her experiences of the law panel session and what she learnt.

Sarah is currently studying English Lit., history and economics, and has secured a mini pupillage at Matrix Chambers & QEB Hollis Whiteman

How did you hear about Uptree in the first place?

I first heard about Uptree from my school's newsletter which flags up opportunities for sixth formers to gain work experience. I found it very easy to create an account and was surprised at how I was given access to apply for all Uptree events straight away.

This FuturesUP event was the first Uptree event that I was accepted for, although I applied for a similar event at Clifford Chance earlier this year. In some ways, it was beneficial for me to miss out on being able to attend the first event, as this experience allowed me to improve my application skills, and it certainly highlights how popular Uptree events are!

How did you find the online experience of FuturesUP?

I was emailed detailed instructions by Uptree which made accessing the webinar very easy, even though I haven't participated in anything like this before. I was surprised at how the video never appeared to glitch, which made it easy to hear what each panellist was saying. Although I wrote some notes during the sessions, Uptree has uploaded the videos on Youtube , so it is easy to go back and review the webinars again.

After hearing about the role of apprenticeships in the legal and technology sectors from this FuturesUP event, I signed up for an apprenticeship application masterclass with Facebook and applied to Clifford Chance 's legal application masterclass.

Tell us about the law panel session you attended.

The main session that I wanted to attend was the law panel with Clifford Chance and Dentons - the chance to hear from current solicitors, solicitor apprentices and graduate recruitment managers, gave me a good insight into working in a law firm.

I also watched the technology panel , with graduate engineers and junior management consultants from ARM and IBM , and the investment banking session .

What did you learn from the law panel you attended?

Before the webinar, I was relatively unaware of the role of a solicitor apprentice. However, Alice's experience of completing an apprenticeship at Dentons has made me consider this route into law.

Alice, a 2nd year solicitor apprentice from Dentons, talks about her role during the panel talk

The ability to study for one day a week while working, but also learn on the job, was very appealing to me. I was surprised by the fact that Alice's daily role was similar to Eleanor's typical day as a trainee solicitor at Clifford Chance. They both complete rotations in different "seats", and conduct similar work, by attending signings of essential documents and learning about the workings of different companies. However, they both stressed how no two days are the same in the legal sector!

Did you find the session interactive?

Nancy and Caitlin, the Uptree staff who led the panels, encouraged audience participation by asking viewers to send in questions for the panellists. This meant that the webinar was very interactive, and therefore, more enjoyable.

What interested me the most about the webinar was the advice from Jackie, the graduate recruitment manager at Clifford Chance. Jackie suggested that even part-time jobs can provide the transferable skills needed for a career in law, through increasing relationship-building skills and time management skills.

Jackie Trench is a Graduate Recruitment Manager at Clifford Chance

Jackie also spoke on the panel about how she wanted to see a willingness to learn, communication skills, teamwork skills and commercial awareness in potential candidates.

What advice do you have for students like you who are also interested in law as a career path?

As soon as you complete an Uptree event or similar work experience, make sure that you write on a document what you learned and achieved from the sessions. A good example would be that you gained commercial insight into a particular sector, particularly if you were able to talk to employees there. This document will be helpful when applying for future work experience with the same company in the future, or for adding to your CV or LinkedIn profile.

I would also advise to keep trying, even if you aren’t accepted into something straight away. Legal work experience and insight days, especially, are very competitive. Take the time to review your application and improve it (some companies might even give you feedback on your application), as this will provide you with a higher chance of being accepted next time.

Finally, legal work experience (outside of Uptree) isn’t very well advertised and can be tricky to find, as most summer internships are for university students. Searching for “[a top law firm] + [city, usually London] + year 12/13 work experience” can help to refine your search further. It may be that companies which run work experience days also advertise their work experience schemes on Uptree, under the “Opportunities” tab.

Uptree thanks Sarah for taking the time to share her experience of the online panels she attended at FuturesUP and also for the excellent advice given for other students also keen to pursue a career in law. We wish Sarah all the best in her final year of study and look forward to following her legal career.

If you'd like to watch any of the 6 FuturesUP panels, you can view them on our YouTube channel:

1. Technology panel with Arm & IBM : https://youtu.be/4_0ppb70eXU

2. Science & Engineering panel with MBDA & GSK : https://youtu.be/KiilaOZB_8g

3. Law panel with Clifford Chance & Dentons : https://youtu.be/h5qzUAETC4o

4. Professional Services panel with PwC , KPMG & Europa Capital : https://youtu.be/_rM8Hrh6xN4

5. Investment banking with UBS & J.P. Morgan : https://youtu.be/5yilCm6oISo

6. Creative panel with Ogilvy : https://youtu.be/C3ACxOw5p0w