Legal and political services... in detail

What does it involve?

The job titles you might be most familiar with are solicitor, barrister, lawyer and legal executive. To do one of these jobs you'll need to be qualified to degree level but it's possible to train 'on the job' for a role such as legal executive or solicitor.

People in these work areas need a good understanding of the legal system and may represent people in court, draw up documents for people such as divorce papers, wills, house-buying or selling documents or may deal with legal matters for the government or commercial companies.

There are many other job roles within the legal services sector such as clerks, legal secretaries, registrars (people who register births, deaths and marriages) and other court services roles. Qualifications for these jobs will vary. And don't forget MPs (members of parliament) come under this job sector too - helping to run the country is a pretty important job!

You need to have good communication skills to work in this area as well as being able to pay attention to detail, and you must be well organised. For most of the jobs you'll need to keep on learning throughout your career as the law and its practice is constantly changing.

How to get into this type of work

Your Personal Adviser will be able to discuss your options with you.

School or college - study for GCSEs, AS / A levels, NVQs or other vocational qualifications that could lead to a job, an Apprenticeship, further qualifications or even a degree.

e2e (Entry to Employment) - if you’re not sure if you’re suited to this job you might be able to get some work experience through e2e. It can also give you extra support to gain the right qualifications, get onto a training programme or get a job.

Apprenticeship - train ‘on-the-job’ with a wage or allowance. For the latest Apprenticeship vacancies in Nottinghamshire go to Vacancies Online.

Work or work with training such as an ILEX course.

Which skills?

Communication
Team work and working on own
Problem solving

Which qualities?

Able to work under pressure
Trustworthy and reliable
Smart

What else can I do?

Get some work experience.
Brush up on some of your skills such as ICT or customer care.
Read about legal and political work on Jobs4U or look for the online EClips job descriptions in your school or nearest Connexions centre.
Talk to your Personal Adviser.

For courses go to MyChoiceNotts

For job and training vacancies go to Vacancies Online

For more job info go to Jobs4U

For useful links go to Fetch!