Tom Warrender on the guest panel at careers in law event
Reasons to choose Wilson Browne
Partner Tom Warrender recently had the privilege of being part of a guest panel, volunteering as an Alumni Ambassador, at De Montfort University’s “Careers in Law” event.
The panel comprised a mix of employers, recent graduates, and alumni in order to give a spread of views and experiences to law students. The format of the panel session also meant that the law students (a mix of Years 1,2 & 3 as well as SQE students) got to ask the questions they wanted, and (hopefully!) find the guidance they needed.
From Tom’s part he not only shared his journey, but he was also able to share those experiences as both a graduate, a trainee, and now as a Partner & employer; hopefully covering both sides of the coin in a relatable way.
Tom commented
Having studied the LPC at DMU (far too many years ago than I care to remember!?), it was a real pleasure to give back and talk about my career path from passing the LPC at DMU through to Partner & Board Member at Wilson Browne Solicitors.
A common thread was experience; how to obtain it in an ever-competitive market. For me, it’s about how you can stand out from so many other people, with the same qualifications, applying for the same role.
Experience can take so many forms, whether that’s paid employment in law or outside of the law (transferable skills, showing reliability and responsibility etc), work placements, through to even thinking about careers events (even this very panel discussion) and how those experiences have helped shape your desired path – using the covering letter/email, as much as the CV itself, to show the active steps you’ve taken.
For example, I did a placement at the CPS, whilst at university, and when applying to Wilson Browne (who don’t specialise in criminal law) my honest comment was the experience was good but also showed me that it was not the path for me – experiences don’t all have to be reaffirming why you want to do something, but maybe why you’ve ruled out another route.
Other obvious, but often over-looked, feedback that I could give is when applying for roles to make sure its specific to the firm, role and location you are applying, why that firm, in that location, in that role and then why you – the cover letter/email is a perfect place to really hammer home why you’re applying. That doesn’t mean anyone is naïve enough to think graduates only apply for one job at a time(?!), but that little bit of tailoring can make a big impression.
There were so many fantastic questions posed by the students and it was great to hear the perspectives of others on the panel as well as share my views and experiences.