Articles From the Team
"Thank you for your application, but..." - the frustration of being a law graduate
"Thank you for applying for this vacancy, unfortunately as you have no experience for this position we are unable to take your application further"
How many times have LLB and LPC grads heard this? Sometimes you can apply for 100 jobs and they all come back with the same reply – sometimes even no reply at all. But how are you supposed to get experience with no experience? Surely this is a chicken and egg situation?
To be honest we feel your frustration. A lot of the recruiters here at BCL have been solicitors, legal executives or paralegals before they joined BCL. So a lot of us went through the same thing you are going through now. But it seems to be getting harder and harder to get that first foot on the career ladder. We get numerous phone calls and applications from law graduates and lpc graduates and I can honestly say I feel really bad everytime I have to turn someone good away - just because they don't have that important experience our clients need for their paralegal vacancies.
So... BCL graduates was born. A sister site to www.bcllegal.com, www.bclgraduates.com is for all the LLB grads, LPC grads, BVC grads and GDL grads out there who are looking for their first role in a law firm but don't have any experience. Register your cv on the site, including as much information as possible - such as, your grades, universities, electives, locations and availability. When our clients are looking to find legal assistants or paralegals, they are able to log on to the database, search under a wide range of criteria, and contact you directly for entry level vacancies they are looking to fill.
You could find yourself photocopying, shredding, archiving, preparing trial bundles, or answering calls – all of which may seem a bit menial, but they are the foot in the door you need to gain that first few weeks/months worth of experience that will get you to that next stage. With 6 months experience under your belt, BCL Legal are then able to help you secure the paralegal roles you see on our website. By signing up to BCL Graduates, clients have access to you directly, and with over 50 regional and national law firms signed up already (and growing), what have you got to lose?
No more rejections – you might be hearing “thank you for applying for this vacancy, we are delighted to offer you the role”… How amazing would that be?!
You can sign up to BCL Graduates by setting up your own personal profile on www.bclgraduates.com – you can also have a browse through the firms who are already signed up to the site. For more information please contact Rozie Rhodes at BCL Legal.
Good luck!