Do you have the skills an employer is looking for?

Students set to graduate next year lack the interpersonal skills needed to succeed in the workplace, according to new research.
Talent assessment solutions provider SHL asked eight companies, including the NHS and KPMG, what they look for in graduates. Read More

Target Jobs - National Pupillage Fair

The TARGETjobs National Pupillage Fair is open from 10.30am to 3.00pm on Saturday 5 March 2011 at Lincoln’s Inn and is a great opportunity for students looking for pupillage to meet representatives from chambers, course providers and other organisations essential to a successful career at the Bar. Link to further information

Institute of Paralegals pledge to improve law graduates employability.

The Institute of Paralegals is pledging to support law graduates by helping to increase their employability.
The organisation plans to implement the Introductory Level Competency Standards for Paralegals into law degrees to equip students with the necessary skills needed to pursue a career as a paralegal if they choose. Read more...
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SRA - student enrolment and completion of the academic stage of training processes

The SRA student enrolment and completion of the academic stage of training processes is going online in mid February. (See link on the left under Pupillage and LPC Application - requirments for commencing an LPC course).  NOTE: The SRA will no longer be sending student enrolment application forms direct to students. The emphasis is on you to ensure that you have the necessary documents submitted in time to commence the Legal Practice Course.

Interested in a placement year in industry?

Book your place at the Midlands Recruitment Event
28th February 2011 at The University of Nottingham.
Up to 20 companies will be interviewing for  9—12 months paid work placements in Midlands and National Locations Placements in Engineering, Science, IT & Computing, Logistics and Business
For more information contact Laura Forbes, on: 0115 951 6688 E: l.forbes@etrust.org.uk
Or apply on-line @ www.yini.org.uk

Testimonial on the value of graduate internships

Dan Lamoon from Dusk2Dawn comments on the benefits of graduate interns.  link to videoclip

Charity Works Launch

For the first time charities have come together to create a shared graduate traineeship and high flyers programme  Read More details.  Recruitment will open 1st February (details) when a link will be available in the current vacancies section of this blog.

Children with learning disabilities more likely to go to prison

Children with learning disabilities and other impairments are more likely to go to prison than other young people because the youth justice system is failing to recognise their needs, according to a major survey of youth offending team (YOT) staff. Link to Seen and Heard Report

Proposed Policing Reform

Public to have more say in policing in radical shake-up

The biggest shake-up in policing for more than half a century have been unveiled with plans to recruit tens of thousands of volunteer officers and give the public more influence in what the police do. Read More

IPCC Update re N Yorkshire Police recruitment investigation

A misconduct meeting has upheld a case for misconduct against Adam Briggs, the Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police.
DCC Briggs faced the meeting following an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation into allegations that he assisted a relative to circumvent part of a recruitment process for police constables run by North Yorkshire Police in February 2010.  Read More
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Government's Green Paper on Sentencing

Government's Green Paper on Sentencing signals shift in funding to focus on rehabilitation.  Commenting on the green paper Sir Alan Beith MP, Chair of the Justice Committee, said:  Ken Clarke is right to seek a rehabilitation revolution: the all-party Justice Committee unanimously recommended that funding should be shifted from extra prison places to rehabilitation, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health provision and early intervention to prevent youngsters getting involved in crime in the first place.  Read More   Link to green paper.  Daily Telegraph Review of proposals (Mary Riddell)  Comment, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust.

Police Recruitment continues in Scotland.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today welcomed figures showing a Scottish Government pledge to recruit more than 1,000 new police officers continues to be delivered ahead of target.  Central Police is seeking new recruits and Northern Police are now working through existing applications, means the Scottish Government's pledge to deliver an additional 1,000 police officers remains on track.  Link to Central Scotland Recruitment

Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook

If you haven't already got one from the Law School there are copies of, The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook available in the Careers Center. It contains a directory of hundreds of law firms and sets of chambers.

PSA Peugeot Citroen Graduate Scheme

Vacancies
X 3 Commercial Vacancies,
Can include Sales, Marketing, Distribution, etc
2:1 degree or above in ANY discipline (current recruits include French and Politics and Geography Graduates)
Driving Licence Essential, GCSE French grade C essential
X 1 HR, X 1 IT, X 1 Logistics as above
Closing Date 31/12/10
X 3 Retail
Based in showrooms locations.  Not online as until New Year
Key Details for scheme
· 2-4 placements during first year,  Various training package, including French
· Starting Salary of £25,450 and 4 year salary plan
· Car Scheme, · 26 days holiday
Key Competencies –
Communication, Planning and Organising, Influencing, Problem Analysis, Judgement and Problem Solving,
Resilience and Self Confidence, Building and Maintaining relationships, Achievement Orientation, Taking Responsibility
See link under current vacancies

Target Jobs launches on-line careers support for students

The TARGETjobs Careers Report uses questionnaires and psychometric tests to explore your interests, strengths, personality and abilities and matches you to jobs that would suit you.  Link

Review of Work Based Learning pilot

The trial of work-based learning to replace the Training Contract has finished, leaving the SRA to consider whether to roll it out to all firms. Julie Brannan of the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice and Jane Ching of Nottingham Law School assess the pros and cons of WBL, and how it might change the face of training. Read more...

Improve your assertiveness & negotiation skills

Assertiveness & Negotiation Workshop
Thursday 2nd December 2010
4.30-6.30
Room N412, Kedleston Road
This interactive workshop will introduce you to a range of assertiveness techniques and to the underlying principles of successful negotiation. You will have the opportunity to practise both skills in a fun and engaging group exercise.  Book online here

Civil Service Fast Stream

The Civil Service Fast Stream application process will be closing on 30th November.  See link under Latest Vacancies to apply

CV Workshop

WHEN: Next week Wednesday 24th November 4pm - 5pm
WHERE: OL2 - The Courtroom
WHAT: CV workshop - all you need to know about writing your CV.

REMINDER - LPC Application - Deadline Approaching

The deadline for first round is 1st December 2010 - remember - to be included in the first round you must ensure that your application form AND REFERENCE have been received by CAB by 1st December 2010.
If you have not yet applied use the link on the left under - LPC  CAB application.

Justice - Winter Internship Programme 2011

Justice - the all party law reform and human rights organisations has 2 vacancies on the winter internship programme: one criminal justice internship and one internship in EU justice and home affairs. The programme will take place in January and February 2011. Successful applicants must commit to working in our central London office 4 days per week, between 10am - 5pm for at least 6 weeks during that period.  Read More

Can you cut it in the commercial world?

Law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has come up with an innovative new way of finding candidates who can cut it in the high-stakes world of business. The firm has designed the Taxi Test, an interactive video game which simulates a taxi journey to a make-or-break meeting with a client. After watching a few short clips, the candidate must answer a number of quick-fire multiple-choice questions and the quicker the answers are given, the more points the individual wins. Up for grabs is an automatic place at the firm's trainee solicitor open day and a £500 voucher to spend in Selfridges. Take the test

Advanced Communication Skills Workshop

Thursday 25th November,   4.30-6.30pm
Room N513, Kedleston Road

Communicating with others is not just about the words we speak. Understanding how we communicate verbally will help you to build rapport with others, improve your communication skills and help you to manage those difficult conversations that don't seem to be going anywhere. Further information and booking

Are you a budding entrepreneur?

Global Enterprise Week   15th-19th November
A week of workshops, activities and lectures for budding entrepreneurs and those in the early stages of developing their own businesses. Further information and booking Website

Enterprise Rent-a-Car - Graduate Opportunities & Work Experience Placements

Enterprise Rent-A-Car will be running a recruitment drive at Derby University in the Spring Semester for graduate opportunities and both 3-month and 12-month placements. The recruitment process is the same for all types of vacancies. They will also run workshops before the interview process.  The schedule, is as follows:

Commercial Awareness Workshop Wed 9th February, 12-1pm
Employment Opportunities Information Session Wed 16th February, 1-2pm
Practice Interviews Thursday 17th February, probably pm
Closing date for applications Friday 4th March
Shortlisting & telephone interviews Monday 7th March onwards
Assessment Centre at UoD – the real thing Wed 6th April

Number of training contracts at top firms shrinks

The numbers of training contracts offered by the top 30 UK firms has gone down by 11% in the last three years, according to research undertaken by Legal Week.  Read More

Your chance to experience running a law firm

Legal Profitability For Students - Improve your Commercial Awareness

All law students are invited to participate in a one-day law firm simulation in Birmingham on Saturday 13th November 2010. Run by Legal Profitability, you will get the opportunity to be on the inside of a virtual law firm and be a managing partner for a day. You will gain experience in making strategic, operational and financial decisions as a team while setting up, running and expanding a legal practice in competition with other teams. Please see brochure attached and listen to what participants had to say on our facebook page 'Legal Profitability For Students' after its successful pilot in July.  Date: 13th November  Place: Birmingham Time: 8.30 am - 5.00 pm
To register contact: Facebook 'Legal Profitability For Students'  Tel: 01491 821900 or  Email: matthew.ballard@profitability.com   Lunch will be provided.  Read more.

Justice Student Human Rights Network Seminar
The future of human rights and civil liberties: Do Dave, Ed and Nick agree?
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Allen & Overy LLP, One Bishops Square, London E1 6AD
Join us on Tuesday 9 November for an event which will consider the implications of recent proposals for the future of civil liberties and human rights, both domestically and within the EU. JUSTICE experts will lead a discussion that will bring you right up to date with issues important to you. The conference is suitable for students of all levels who are interested in human rights and will be followed by a drinks reception.
Click here to download the programme.http://www.justice.org.uk/images/pdfs/JSRHN%20Seminar%20November%202010.pdf   The event is free but places are limited and so booking is essential. To book please RSVP to jshrn@justice.org.uk  For more information, please email jshrn@justice.org.uk or call 020 7762 6422.

Public Sector Spending Cuts Update

Home Office
Department's key responsibilities: Policing, anti-terror operations, crime prevention, immigration, passports
Annual budget: £10.2bn
Cut required to meet 25% savings target: £2.55bn
What's been cut so far: Theresa May's department has been told to make £367m in cuts. Of this £135m is to come from police efficiency savings and £82m from "arm's-length" bodies such as National Policing Improvement Agency and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Mrs May has also said nothing will be off limits in a review of police pay and conditions - due to report in June 2011.
Rumour mill: The Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Denis O'Connor, has said the Home Office can cut its spending on policing by 12% through a "total redesign" of working practices. The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, predicts as many as 40,000 front-line posts could go in England and Wales over four years. The Scottish Police Federation predicts 2,800 posts could go in Scotland.

Department of JusticeDepartment's key responsibilities: Courts system, prisons, probation, elections
Annual budget: £9.7bn
Cut required to meet 25% savings target: £2.43bn
What's been cut so far: Ken Clarke's Ministry of Justice became the first Whitehall department to give its outline figure for savings demanded ahead of the autumn Spending Review, saying it planned to cut £2bn of its budget. The Public and Commercial Services Union estimates this will mean that 15,000 of 80,000 staff will have to be laid off. The department's finance director, Ann Beasley, acknowledges the situation will be "extremely challenging". In the earlier round of savings outlined by the government in May, the Ministry of Justice was told to economise to the tune of £325m. The government is also considering closing 157 magistrates' and county courts across England and Wales.
Rumour mill: There is expected to be a major reduction in prison places, meaning more community sentences.

Nottingham Law Fair

Tickets for transport to the Nottingham Law Fair will be on sale TOMORROW at the Law Society General Meeting in the Heap Lecture Theater 1:30-2:30pm.
******We only have 45 seats available at this time and they are QUICKLY selling.

The Nottingham Law Fair is on Wednesday 20th October. This Law Fair is one of the most significant networking events of the year and is defiantly recommended to everyone. The Law society will be arranging a bus to take you there and back for this event. The event is being held from 1-4pm, the details are as follows:
Members: £3, Non-Members: £4
Departing from Derby: 12:00 noon, Returning: 5:00pm
The exact location for departure and return meeting spots will be provided shortly.
If you have any further question, please feel free to email us at derbylawsociety@gmail.com, message us on our Facebook page or contact me directly - Aman Vaid, President

National Association of Probation Officers AGM

Savage cuts will lead to more imprisonment and industrial action.
Delegates to Napo’s 98th AGM, to be held at the Spa Complex, Scarborough from 7-9 October, look set to vote for a campaign of industrial action if the 25% cut to the Probation Service and threats to privatise unpaid work and hostels go ahead as expected.  More

Work experience & graduate opportunities for disabled students.

This month the Shaw Trust's Graduate programme includes opportunities at Slaughter & May and K&L Gates.  More

Guardian Careers - how to get your foot in the door at magic circle firms.

From training contracts to vacation schemes, Guardian Careers gets the experts let you know what recruiters are looking for.  more....

Law Society Diversity Scheme

In response to a surge in applications, the Law Society has decided to increase the number of places available on its Diversity Access Scheme.
The Diversity Access Scheme supports individuals who must overcome exceptional obstacles to qualify as a solicitor. Obstacles may be of a social or personal nature, relate to difficult family circumstances or to a disability that makes the goal of qualifying as a solicitor a particularly challenging one. (See also the link to the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society under Useful Links and Blogs.) Read More... 

Careers Events in October

Teaching Fortnight
11th-22nd October
Two weeks of workshops and information sessions for anyone thinking about teaching. Detailed information available at www.derby.ac.uk/careers/events
USA Summer Camps
Want to spend a summer working in a summer camp in the USA and having a great time? Roles include Camp Counsellor, Activity Leader, Specialist or Support Staff. USA Summer Camps are running an information session at the Devonshire Campus, Buxton:
Date: Thursday 7th October 2010 Time: 5-6pm Room: DG110
Placement Year at Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors take on undergraduates from a large variety of disciplines such as business, engineering, computing, maths and many others for a placement year. The company is running an information session for students looking for placement opportunities, as follows:
Date: Monday 18th October, Time: 1-2pm, Room: N501, Kedleston Road
Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Assessment Centre Workshop
Date: Wednesday 20th October, Time: 11am-1pm, Room: N702
This practical interactive workshop will enable you to understand what recruiters are looking for at assessment centres and will help you to prepare to impress the selectors. This is the first of three workshops delivered by Enterprise Rent-A Car. Look out for the Commercial Awareness Workshop and Practice interviews scheduled for February 2011.
CCUSA
Work abroad for a summer or take a gap year. Paid and volunteer projects around the world!
Information session:  Thursday 28th October, Time: 5-7pm,  N512, Kedleston Road

The Bigvbus is coming to derby

The bigvbus will be travelling to over a dozen universities and colleges across the country to promote the message that "volunteering can give you the skills and experience to help you get the job you want - and it's fun too!" The bigvbus will be on site at the University for one day on Wednesday 3rdNovember 2010, Volunteering Fair.

Interested in starting your own business?

 At the ‘Open for Business’ trade fair tomorrow, Wednesday 6th October, some of last year’s students will be showcasing the businesses they have started. The event will be at the Enterprise Centre, Bridge Street,  Derby, from 2-6pm.

LPC application process now open (see LPC & Pupillage links section)

See information recieved from ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY
Why You Should Choose Aberystwyth…
More personal tuition: Aberystwyth have one of the best teacher student ratios in the UK.
Quality teaching: Aberystwyth University was rated in the top four universities for teaching and learning in the recent Times Higher Education survey.
University accommodation is guaranteed to all applicants who apply during the first round of applications.
A distinguished reputation with the oldest law department in Wales, Aberystwyth has a long, reputable and varied experience in legal education.

A resource rich environment which includes state of the art IT facilities and dedicated resources.
A beautiful campus lifestyle: a compact, safe campus overlooking stunning Cardigan Bay.
A professional approach: A wide variety of teaching staff including solicitors, barristers and senior academics
LLM Legal Practice: Upgrade to LLM Legal Practice from September 2011 (subject to approval)

LDD Mini Conference

The Lawyers with Disabilities Division (LDD) are holding a mini conference entitled "So you want to be a solicitor?" at the Law Society's Hall, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL on Wednesday 27 October 2010. More

Proposed changes to Police recruitment

A radical proposal to change the way Metropolitan police officers are recruited is being considered by the capital's police authority.  It is belived that if adopted, other Police Authorities will follow suit.  More

Securing a Training Contract - Webinar

Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society have produced a webinar with advice and tips on gaining a training contract. View.

Prospects Guide to Law

Hard copies of the 2010/11 Prospects Guide to Law have arrived and are available in the Career Development Center on a first come first served basis. 

All About Law - Guide to Law Fairs

See attached guide to 2010 Law Fairs.  See also the Law Fairs 'search' link under 'Useful Links and Blogs'

Nottingham Law School Open Days

Nottingham Law School holds open events in October each year for LPC, BPTC and Postgraduate coures. Further details and to book your place.

Inner Temple Scholarships

With a long-standing commitment to social responsibility, the Inner Temple aims to ensure that no one with the necessary talent is prevented from coming to the Bar solely due to financial need. The Inn has available scholarship awards to a total value of over £1,260,000 in 2011. The closing date for scholarship applications for the 2011-2012 Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) is 5th November 2010. Read more

Volunteering Fair - Wednesday 3rd November 2010 - 10am - 2pm.

Looking to add relevant work experience to your CV?  50 organisations with voluntary opportunities locally, nationally and overseas will be attending this years Volunteering Fair.  More

Innovative Job Hunting Tactics

One graduates innovative approach to finding a job.  Read more

Weekly updates from Law Careers Net

You can use the link in the 'Useful Link & Blogs' section of this blog to register for MyLC.N, giving you access to a weekly blog and career planning tools.

New centre to help women turn away from crime.

A new centre dedicated to helping women turn away from crime, and funded by the Ministry of Justice, has opened in Bolton.
'Eve’s Space' works with women who are at risk of offending, as well as those already involved in the criminal justice system, such as those on probation or recently released from short-term prison sentences. More

Employer Mentoring Scheme

The Employer Mentoring Scheme is now recruiting students for 2010/11, starting with information sessions as follows:


Thursday 23rd September, 11.00-12.00, room S101/102, Kedleston Road

Thursday 23rd September, 15.00-16.00, room SB103, Buxton

By being paired with mentors from local, regional and national organisations as well as local entrepreneurs, students gain one-to-one tailored advice on making themselves work-ready and planning strategies for career success. The scheme is open to all HE and Access students.
If you cannot make it to the information sessions you can download application forms from the Career Development Centre website at www.derby.ac.uk/careers or collect a paper form from our reception on the lower ground floor of the library.
Apply early in order to avoid disappointment.

Chancery Bar Careers Fair

The 2010 Chancery Bar Careers Fair is being held on Monday 25th October at the Royal College of Surgeons.  Chancery barristers act as advocates and give advice, applying their knowledge of legal principles to provide practical solutions for their clients, whether they are individuals or multi-national corporations. The legal principles which they apply span a wide range of areas, from company and insolvency to property, trusts and tax and many in between - If you want to find out more about a career at the Chancery Bar and Chambers which offer pupillage in those areas, the Careers Fair is an excellent opportunity. Register using this link.

Special Constables

In the Daily Telegraph Christopher Hope reviews the Governments plans to dramatically increase the number of Special Constables.

Do you have the skills an employer is looking for?

The LawCareers.Net team has come up with a new tool the takes the pain out of self-analysis. MySelf gives you the structure and instruction on how to pick apart academic, extracurricular and work experience, pull out the skills and competencies you have learned and serve them up to recruiters in the most positive, appealing way.  Give it a try by joining MyLCN

Legal Apptitude Tests

Guardian article in which Neil Rose considers the Law Society's announcement that it has appointed a consultant to look at whether it should follow the Bar Standards Board by introducing an aptitude test for would be solicitors.

Trainee Solicitor positions - Shacklocks

Please see attached

Lawyers with Disabilities Division

Lawyers with Disabilities Division of the Law Society(LDD) is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for people with disabilities - including would-be solicitors.  They run a Mentoring Scheme and offer Networking opportunities......read more

Vanessa Vivian-Shaw  July 2010

Government Legal Service - Trainee scheme.

The GLS trainee application process is now open.  Read more about the application timetable and links to further information.

The future of the legal profession

In his recently published book The End of Lawyers? Richard Susskind (Emeritus Professor of Law at Gresham College) examines the radical changes he forsees for the legal profession, arguing that it will not continue in its current format.  Read more ....published extracts [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6]   (I also have a copy of the book in the Career Development Centre if you wish to read it in full).
 In response Chrissie Lightfoot (CEO EntrepreneurLawyer) argues that the current climate of change presents opportunities for enlightend lawyers to become 'Super Lawyers'.

Vanessa Vivian-Shaw  July 2010

Amicus - lawyers for justice on death row.

Are you interested in gaining work experience in the USA or working on US cases from the UK?  Amicus is a charity assisting in providing legal representation for prisoners on death row.  Follow the link to see how UK Law students can get involved.  Amicus

Getting work experience

Volunteering is a great way to gain valuable work experience in your chosen career area.  It allows you to discover what it is really like to work in a particular area or for a particular company.  It also provides a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your worth and make valuable industry contacts.  Interested?  Check out the Skills for Justice 'How to Guide' on volunteering in the Criminal Justice System. 

Vanessa Vivian-Shaw   July 2010

So you want to be a lawyer?

Do you know what working as a lawyer actually involves?
are you sure of the steps you have to take to qualify as a solicitor or barrister?

So you want to be a lawyer?
Do you know what working as a lawyer actually involves? And are you sure of the steps you have to take to qualify as a solicitor or barrister? If not, then read on because this, the fourth edition of The Lawyer Guide to a Career in Law, contains all you need to know about securing your dream job.....  [read more]

Lawyer 2B  July 2010