When I started University, the legal profession often felt like a world people somehow already understood how to navigate. Growing up in East London in a low socioeconomic area, careers in law rarely felt visible or particularly accessible to people around me. I did not come from a legal background, had no professional connections within the industry, and arrived at university with very little understanding of how people actually built careers in law beyond applying online and hoping for the best.
What I did not realise at the time was how quickly opportunities could build upon one another once you start putting yourself forward for them.
Looking back now in my final year as an LLB Law student at Kent Law School, many of the experiences that ended up shaping my degree initially seemed quite small at the time. Attending networking events, participating in skills modules, taking on committee positions, pursuing careers support opportunities, and gradually becoming more involved within the university environment all opened doors in ways I could not have anticipated at the beginning of my degree.
What I have valued most about Kent is not simply the number of opportunities available, but the way those opportunities become connected. A skills module can lead to work experience. A law fair conversation can lead to a mini-pupillage. A careers appointment, a mock interview, or an Employability Points entry can become
part of a much wider professional journey.
One of the experiences that most significantly shaped my time at Kent came through the Mooting Lawyering Skills module I chose to take in my second year. Kent Law School offers students a wide range of co-curricular Lawyering Skills modules designed to develop practical legal skills beyond the classroom, and mooting immediately stood out to me despite feeling quite far outside of my comfort zone at the time.
Like many students, public speaking initially felt intimidating to me, particularly in professional settings. At first, I viewed mooting as a way to challenge myself and build confidence rather than something that might genuinely lead anywhere beyond the module itself. Very quickly, though, it became much more than that.
During the Mooting competition, one of the judges, a partner from one of the country’s leading criminal defence firms, saw potential in the confidence and communication skills I had developed through the module and subsequently offered me a placement with the firm. I initially assumed this would be a short-term experience. Instead, I found myself attending courts and shadowing and assisting solicitors and partners on a bi-weekly basis for almost six months before later completing a formal week-long placement with the firm during the summer. What began as a co-curricular module became my first sustained exposure to legal practice. I do not think I would have accessed that experience had I not chosen something that initially made me uncomfortable.
Another experience that had a huge impact on me during my second year was attending the University’s Annual Law Fair, where students have the opportunity to speak directly with various law firms, barristers’ chambers and other legal
organisation. At that point in my degree, I was not particularly used to networking with legal professionals and initially worried that I would not know what to say or how to approach conversations confidently. Before attending, I remember reading the Law School’s guidance on how to prepare properly and make the most of the event. I researched the firms and chambers attending beforehand, prepared questions and went into the day with the mindset of pushing myself to engage in as many conversations as possible. One conversation in particular ended up becoming incredibly important for me. After speaking with representatives from a Legal500-recognised barristers’ chambers, I pushed myself to ask directly whether there were any opportunities available for students. By the end of the conversation, they had offered me a mini-pupillage with them for the summer.
Through the placement, I gained exposure to courts across London and had the opportunity to meet and observe different barristers each day. It gave me a much clearer understanding of courtroom advocacy and professional communication in practice, as well as exposure to work environments and areas of law that I had previously encountered only academically.
For a long time, networking was something I associated with confidence I did not think I had yet. Experiences like this completely changed that perception. Some of the most valuable opportunities I have had at University ultimately began with conversations I nearly talked myself out of having.
As well as creating opportunities, Kent also played an important role in helping students access them. One thing I particularly valued during my time at University was that Kent recognised that professional opportunities often come with practical and financial barriers attached to them, whether that is travel costs, professional clothing or attending recruitment events and assessment centres in London. Initiatives such as the EMPOWER scheme are designed with this in mind and help make those opportunities more accessible for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Through the EMPOWER scheme, I was able to purchase business attire for Kent’s annual on-campus mock interview programme, where I had my mock interview with a partner from a Silver Circle firm. Preparing for the interview made me engage with the firm in a much more serious and practical way than I otherwise might have done at that stage in my degree. The mock interview became a strong talking point in later applications, and following a competitive application process, I was able to attend the firm’s open day.
Kent’s wider careers support also exposed me to recruitment processes in a far more practical way, from careers advice appointments to mock assessment centres and employability workshops. By the time I began applying for opportunities myself, assessment centres and commercial interviews no longer felt completely unfamiliar because I had already spent time engaging with those environments throughout my degree.
By my final year, the Employability Points Scheme had become one of the clearest examples of how engagement at Kent could translate into genuine professional experience. The scheme is unique to the University of Kent and allows students to earn points for participating in co-curricular and employability-focused activities, which can then be redeemed to apply for exclusive rewards such as internships, project placements, work experience and training opportunities. What I liked most was that it gave visible value to experiences students might otherwise underestimate. Not every point has to come from a major placement or formal internship to matter. Students can earn points through a wide range of activities, including joining societies, attending careers events, creating a LinkedIn profile, attending careers appointments, and participating in wider university events. I had been logging points throughout my degree for many of the things I was already doing: attending the Kent Law Fair, joining Kent Student Law Society, and recording
legal work experience.
My Employability Points account became a record of my degree beyond the classroom, capturing the skills, experiences and professional exposure I had built across my time at Kent. By the spring term of my final year, the points I had built allowed me to apply for one of the larger rewards available through the scheme: a two-week in-house legal placement with Brett Group, the UK’s largest independently owned construction and building materials group.
During my placement, I worked with Brett Group’s in-house legal team on commercial and property-related matters, including contracts, disputes and land queries. The experience gave me insight into how legal work operates within a business. For me, that captured the real value of the Employability Points Scheme. The placement was the reward, but the scheme itself was what turned my wider engagement at Kent into access to genuine legal experience with a major business.
As I became more involved at Kent, I also wanted to contribute more actively to the student community that had helped me access so many opportunities in the first place. Becoming part of the Kent Student Law Society committee gave me a different way to use my time at Kent. Rather than only attending events, I began to understand the
work that goes into organising them, communicating with students, liaising with external speakers and helping create spaces where other students could engage with the profession. That experience developed a different kind of confidence from mooting, placements or interviews. It taught me how to communicate professionally, take responsibility and think carefully about what students actually need from career-focused events. More than anything, it made me appreciate that a strong law school community is not just built by the opportunities available, but by the students who choose to involve themselves in it.
Overall, my time at Kent Law School has helped me build far more than academic knowledge. Through the opportunities I accessed at Kent, I was able to explore different parts of the profession, from court-based experience and advocacy to commercial, in-house and careers-focused opportunities. Each experience added something different, whether that was practical insight, professional exposure, or a stronger understanding of how legal work operates beyond the classroom.
As I approach the end of my degree, I am focused on pursuing a career in commercial law, with a particular interest in disputes, trade and cross-border work. The experiences I have gained at Kent have made that ambition feel much for grounded. I can now draw on practical experience from court-based experience, in-house legal works and student leadership when speaking about the kind of lawyer I hope to become.
My advice to other students would be to take opportunities seriously even when they seem small at first. Attend the event, ask the question, apply for the scheme, go to the careers appointment, and speak to the person you are nervous about approaching. You do not need to have everything figured out before you start getting involved. In many
ways, especially for me, getting involved at Kent is what helps you figure things out.
If I could go back and tell my first-year self anything, it would be that confidence does not arrive before you put yourself forward. More often, it comes afterwards, once you have taken the first step and realised you were more capable than you thought.