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Emaan Zia is a final year History student at KCL! In her account below, she reviews her work experience at Dell EMC that combined both the legal and tech sector!
Hi, my name is Emaan and I am a history student! At the end of my second year, I completed a legal internship for the technology company Dell EMC. If you’re looking to go into law, securing some work experience or an internship in your second or final year is important. Not only does it give you an insight into law as a career, but it also makes you a more attractive candidate to law firms. Work experience allows you to understand if law or that specific company is best suited for you. It can be a very enjoyable experience which equips you with the skills you need later on when applying for jobs. The experience, as a whole, is created so you are able to network and meet peers in the field. You are able to socialise and make friends, so it isn’t all work!
Image Source: https://www.novaloca.com/office-space/to-let/london/146922
Innovation and technological advances are a major aspect of the legal sector at the moment. My internship was based around an innovation task for the company and this is how it was structured:
We started off by getting to know one another and I found out that 12 interns were doing different degrees. Then we spent time in many workshops with different business executives across all the departments and shadowed them. For example, I spent a day with the Blockchain executive. They wanted us to learn more about how these different departments worked with the in-house legal team on various projects. It was interesting and the atmosphere was fairly relaxed. There was no pressure or anything to be nervous about! The guidance and support given across the internship was immense. The team that ran the scheme really made sure that everyone was supported and catered for our long-term career goals and interests.
One massive advantage of legal work experience are the connections you make and the network you build up. This is something that is useful if you are looking to go into law, as you are able to contact the network you have built and ask them for guidance or even to mentor you! Things become a lot easier as your network builds up, allowing you to get more guidance and advice on how to navigate onto your career path. After having gained an insight to how an in- house legal team operates, we were split off into two teams where we were given our hypothetical project.
We were given a deadline and research time to produce our presentation which was to be presented to the Head of Legal EMEA. This project task was beneficial for teamwork skills and being able to build on our communication skills. Both of these skills are essential when working in the legal sector! We were given access to a large pool of resources to create an imaginative recommendation for the company. It was definitely a worthwhile experience and the skills developed and utilised were invaluable for personal development.
Finally, we presented our presentation against another competing group. The panel decided who won the award and gave us detailed feedback on our teamwork, ideas and presentation skills. The whole aim of the work experience was to help you improve your skills and to better equip you when facing interviews or assessment centres. Usually, after the completion of your internship, the company interview you for a permanent job after you graduate. So, work experience and internships are a great gateway into a professional career with a company you are interested in!
Overall, my experience was incredible. I was lucky enough to secure an internship with a massive technological company- it was a different experience to working within a law firm as it was based within an in-house legal team. However, it gave me the confidence and knowledge that I needed to understand if law was the career for me. It also helped me gain experience that I needed to apply for jobs. So, I would say if you are looking to go into law as a career, you should know that there are plenty of worthwhile opportunities out there for you to develop your employability prospects. There are so many chances and opportunities to gain the experience you need to become a lawyer and it is definitely a fantastic sector to go into!