The following roles are examples of the types of job opportunities available to Law graduates, utilising your critical thinking, attention to detail, and the ability to evaluate evidence and present arguments.
Solicitor - Provide expert legal support and advice on a range of personal and commercial and necessary courses of legal action. Clients can be individuals, groups, public sector organisations or private companies.
Barrister - Hired by Solicitors to represent a case in court, and only involved once advocacy before a court is needed. Most Barristers work in sets of chambers on a self-employed basis. Others are employed in public sector bodies such as the Crown Prosecution Service and the Government Legal Service, as well as in the in-house legal departments of companies.
Chartered Legal Executive - A similar to a Solicitor. Qualified lawyers who usually specialise in one area of law, some of the most common being property, family, employment, personal injury, civil and criminal litigation, wills and probate, and public law (such as welfare benefits or immigration).
Licensed Conveyancer - Qualified, professional property lawyers who specialise in the legal aspects surrounding buying and selling property in England and Wales.
Paralegal - Carry out legal tasks and services, such as undertaking legal research, drafting and preparing legal documents, and giving legal advice.
Civil Service Fast Stream - An accelerated leadership development programme, with 17 specialist development schemes. each offering responsibility across roles in government departments, providing structured learning, on-the-job coaching and mentoring, and a clear career path into a government profession.
Human Resources Officer - Develop, advise on and implement policies relating to the effective use of staff in an organisation. Responsibilities include hiring, developing and looking after employees, as well as training and monitoring performance.
Compliance Officer - Responsible for helping an organisation adhere to relevant external statutory and regulatory requirements.
Chartered Accountant - Financial analysis, auditing accounts and providing a range of information about financial records. Accounting has several distinct areas of specialisation: corporate finance, taxation, audit and assurance, forensic, corporate finance and risk management, and business recovery and insolvency.
Management Consultant - Help organisations improve business performance by cutting costs, increasing productivity, creating value and maximising growth.
Insurance Underwriter - Analyse risks and make decisions on whether or not to accept applications for insurance cover, and on what terms, with the aim of minimising the risk to their company and helping make a profit.
This is a selection of organisations that have employed University of Kent graduates in the past. There are many more possible employers in these and other industries.
Law Firms
Chambers - Leading Barristers, A-Z Barrister Chambers
Public Sector - Civil Service, OFWAT
NGOs & Risk Firms - Human rights roles, political risk analysis
Investment Banking - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group, Santander, BNP Paribas, Citibank, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Schroders.
Insurance - Allianz, AON, AXA, Lloyds of London, Marsh, Zurich, Hiscox, Hastings Direct, RSA
Consulting & Professional Services - Accenture, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, McKinsey & Company, NERA Economic Consulting, Frontier Economics, and Cornerstone Research.
The Careers and Employability Service provides information and advice on job searching to University of Kent students and recent graduates. This includes Uni Kent Careers Hub, advertising a range of graduate jobs, placement year and vacation work/internships.
Solicitor:
Barrister: Chambers Student. Pupillage Gateway
Paralegal: Law Gazette, Totally Legal, The Lawyer
All About Law: Digital Campus Presentations
Law Society: Alternative Careers with a Law degree
Kent Law School: Skills Hub
TargetJobs: Twelve jobs you can do with a Law degree
Gain hands-on experience: Volunteer in Kent Law Clinic or mooting workshops.
Join law societies and events: Network with legal professionals at Kent and national events.
Leverage your network: Use LinkedIn and Kent’s Career Mentoring scheme to build connections with alumni and professionals to gain insights into your target roles and industries.
Prepare for vocational training: Start early with SQE prep or bar applications.
Develop transferable skills: Write well, lead seminars, and analyse policy or business implications.
A year in industry can have a big impact on your employability. By gaining real-world experience and learning key skills in the workplace, and pairing these with the knowledge you gain on your degree, you can become a highly employable candidate in the labour market. The year can be based in the UK or abroad, including your home country if you're an international student, and contribute to your final degree. At The University of Kent, many courses include an optional year in industry between your second and final year, where you undertake graduate-level work related to your studies.