Professional Mentoring Schemes
Informal and supportive schemes for students to connect with professional and alumni mentors working in the legal and business sectors. Student mentees receive support with professional development, teamwork and communication skills. The schemes provide an opportunity to network with legal practitioners and professionals from the UK and international corporate world.
What are the benefits?
The schemes help students to develop a range of transferable skills including:
- Communication: Improve your ability to express your expectations, goals and concerns.
- Professionalism: Learn what it is like to work in the legal sector and commerce.
- Networking: Learn the importance of connecting with like-minded professionals, and how to do it effectively.
- Feedback: Receive honest independent feedback to help prepare you for the next steps in your career development.
LLB and LLM students attending EMW Law work experience day
How did the students find the 1-1 meetings?
“My mentor has been, and continues to be extremely helpful. I have met him on several occasions and he has provided very good advice. I completed two days of work experience with Stephen and he went out of his way to maximise the value of this.”
– Rory, PT LLB student
“I think just overall getting an insight from someone who has actually made it through everything is incredibly helpful. Having a contact to talk to about my career plans and things that have gone well and not so well just gave me a better perspective on becoming a solicitor, and I think also helped me accept that rejection and failure are just part of the journey to successfully landing the vacation scheme or training contract you’re after.”
– Tessa, FT LLB student
“The most memorable thing for me was learning about the different forms for family and employment practice, and especially knowing how the client fees are calculated. I really didn’t know much about it prior to the workshop but by the end I felt like I had a really good grasp on it. Overall, I’m very grateful for this experience. The team at SE were nothing short of wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable and so friendly. They really could make anything interesting.”
– Zainab, FT LLB Student
Find out more
Take a look through our frequently asked questions for further details.
Frequently asked questions
Who can apply?
This opportunity is open to all Buckingham law students.
Which organisations participate?
Mentoring is offered by regional law firms: EMW Law and SE Solicitors. Students have the opportunity to receive mentoring guidance for careers in governance and commerce from Eitan Fono, CEO and International Lawyer and Honorary Senior Fellow at Buckingham.
What is the selection process?
There is a short interview with the Clinical Legal Education Manager and Professional mentors to establish student’s aspirations and what they want to seek to achieve from the scheme. This helps student’s gain experience with interview technique prior to graduating in a supportive environment, with an opportunity for feedback from the team.
How is the scheme organised?
Students are invited to an introductory workshop with the Clinical Legal Education team and practitioners. Student mentees progress to 1-1 career conversations with their Mentor. each term and a reflective workshop session in the final term.
What does it involve?
Mentors assist student mentees with career path guidance, the recruitment process for training contracts, interview technique and provide an insight into practical legal & commercial skills.
What type of workshop activities are included?
One session popular with student mentees is the opportunity to present a short 5 minute presentation on a topic of their choice. A frequent form of interview assessment in many law firms. This opportunity helps students to prepare and test their skills in comfortable familiar surroundings before embarking on the real thing!
What do students think of the mentoring experience?
Tessa, LLB Undergraduate: I enjoyed the presentation/assessment centre style exercise session where we had to deliver 5-minute presentations and also do a group exercise. It was very valuable to get the mentors’ feedback on how we did as this is directly applicable to the training contract application process.