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EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS for Law Students

EMILY FIPNreChvtHtiep?:w//Sw-TwCEowFp.ApybrNiogoFhkAtesFhdoIMNp.SacotKemIrial

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Understanding

1

employability skills

INTRODUCTION

ial In an uncertain job market, skills are your best security.1 aotemr The title of this book is Employability Skills for Law Students; but what do we actually mean by this?

As a law student you will undoubtedly gain many practical, personal, interpersonal, and profes-

M.c sional skills throughout your degree. The purpose of this book is to help you to: tehdop ? Understand the different type of skills employers are looking for when recruiting graduates igohks ? Identify the skills which you will build by studying throughout your law degree, and participatr o ing in extra-curricular activities p.pyb ? Take positive action to develop and add to your personal skills portfolio during your time at o university - wCw ? Demonstrate effectively to employers the skills and attributes you possess, which will make ie:w//w you stand out from other graduates. vttp This chapter will begin by setting out our approach to the subject and then looking at the term e `employability skills' both in general and in the context of legal studies. After this, it will move on Pr h to explain just why these employability skills are so important and why you should take every

opportunity to develop them throughout your time at university. Having set the scene, it will next give you a brief overview of some of the possible career pathways that can be pursued with a law degree before getting you to start thinking about the skills that you already have and spotting any gaps that might need to be addressed.

This chapter will be a valuable foundation for the rest of the book in helping you to understand what is meant by employability skills so that you can begin to understand why they are important and how you can develop them throughout your study of law. Remember that you are not just studying law to get a degree but to get a job and you need to be aware of what you should do to maximise your chances of getting the one you want. Overall, this chapter explains how this book will help you to emerge from your three or four years of study with the best chance of entering your chosen field of employment in an increasingly competitive market.

1. Donna Dunning, `Top nine transferable skills' (2010) accessed 19 July 2012.

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UNDERSTAN DING E M P LOYABIL ITY SKIL L S

Our approach

We have constructed this book around three key themes:

? Maximising opportunities to develop skills. Throughout this book you will find a variety of ways in which you will be able to develop your `transferable skills'. These are generic skills that are equally applicable in a whole range of careers, such as problem solving skills and IT skills. Throughout your law degree you will grow these skills which will be useful across a range of different jobs and industries, not just those which are directly related to law. In essence, these are the skills that make you attractive to employers, and you should take every opportunity to develop them during your time at university.

? Demonstrating skills to obtain employment. As well as developing your skills to enable you to seek out job opportunities and successfully negotiate the appointment process, you will also need to demonstrate those skills to potential employers. This book

l will cover the process from the initial application form or CV, through to the face-to-face ia assessment at interview or assessment centre, so that you come to the attention of suitaotemr able employers and maximise your chances of getting the job you want.

? Applying skills in the workplace. Finally this book will cover the development and

M.c application of the particular skills that will ensure you are able to carry out the requiredop ments of your desired job in a proficient and professional way; such as advocacy skills for teh working at the Bar or legal research skills for employment in academia. hks The book is designed for all law students, regardless of their chosen career path or the stage riogo of their university life. It is never too late to start developing your employability skills. yb Indeed, you should be developing them continually throughout your working life as it is p.p virtually certain that you will change jobs at some stage between graduation and retireow ment and the skills you demonstrate to get your first job will be supplemented by those - wC that you acquire throughout your career. So, you should not panic if you are not in your ie:w//w first or second year-- there are still practical steps that you can take in order to enhance

your skills and thus your prospects of success in the world of work. Your skills development

Defining `ePmrehpvtlotpyability skills' will be more effective if it is done in a systematic way which this book is here to support.

The term `employability skills' means different things to different people. For some, it means everything that is involved in getting a job, for others, it is little more than interview technique or writing a good CV. For us, employability skills are those that make the link from learning to earning.

There are two formal definitions of employability skills that are widely adopted in higher education. The first is found in a report published jointly by the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI):

A set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace ? to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy.2

2. Confederation of British Industry and National Union of Students, `Working towards your future: Making the most of your time in higher education' (May 2011) 14 accessed 19 July 2012.

TYPES OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

5

This definition focuses on applying employability skills in the workplace. However, as previously explained, we think that employability skills go further than that, since they are also needed to obtain employment in the first place: you cannot be effective in a workplace without a job! Moreover, it does not focus specifically on graduate jobseekers. This second definition, from the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England includes these two missing aspects and is more in line with our view of employability skills:

A set of achievements--skills, understandings and personal attributes --that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.3

Therefore, employability skills can be considered to be a range of skills and capabilities that virtually every employer is looking for in potential graduate recruits and an essential precondition for the effective development and use of other, more specialist or technical skills required for particular jobs. They are also a key underpin to your effectiveness at work.4

ial However, since every employer is seeking such skills, you need to take every opportunity r to develop your employability skills so that you can maximise your prospects of success aotem in an increasingly competitive job market by demonstrating those skills to employers.

Exploring these themes of development and demonstration of skills is the primary purpose

M.c of this book. Types of employability skpi.lpylsbriogohkteshdop Just as there is no set definition of employability skills, there is no definitive list of what o types of skills are included within the term. However, there are several skills that are com- wCw monly listed as key to overall employability. These include: ie:w//w ? Self-management

? Team working

vttp ? Problem solving reh ? Application of information technology P ? Communication

? Application of numeracy

? Business and customer awareness.

You will see from this list the general nature of these skills. They are good examples of transferable skills which can be equally well applied to non-law as well as legal careers. For example, a barrister and a human resources manager will both be required to understand the needs of their clients and a solicitor and a management consultant will both benefit from a methodical approach to problem solving.

3. M Yorke, `Employability in higher education: what it is ? what it is not.' (Learning and Employability Series One, ESECT and HEA, 2006) 8 accessed 19 July 2012. 4. Confederation of British Industry and National Union of Students, `Working towards your future: Making the most of your time in higher education' (May 2011) 8, 11.

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