What are we looking for?
Apply nowWe aim to employ those with the brightest minds, regardless of what or where they have studied.
You will be supporting lawyers who are amongst the most exceptional in their legal disciplines, so the highest standards of delivery and attention to detail will be expected. Candidates should be confident and willing to challenge, able to think ahead and provide solutions to whatever problems they face, and open to learning and thinking differently. They should also be able to work well with others who have a wide range of different backgrounds and perspectives.
You will have demonstrated these values in everything that you have achieved to date and have a track record of outstanding success within whatever situations you have found yourself in.
As well as being proactive and self-motivated, successful candidates will also have the following general skills:
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities
- Ability to work well within a team and build strong working relationships
- Comfortable handling, analysing, and presenting data
- General commercial awareness and ability to focus on achieving valuable outcomes
In terms of academic qualifications, we understand that candidates come from diverse backgrounds and will have faced unique challenges. Indeed, we value the resilience shown in overcoming obstacles. However, we seek candidates who have a strong record of academic achievement. As a result, unless there are exceptional circumstances, we are looking for candidates who:
- Have achieved BBB or higher at A-Level
- Are a final year university student or a graduate
- Are an undergraduate and are on track for a 2:1 degree. If a graduate, have a minimum of a 2:1 degree.
We will consider all qualifying applicants and each will be considered on their own merits, irrespective of their chosen degree discipline. We are open to more experienced graduates as well as those who have completed their course of study more recently, and we are particularly interested in candidates who have achieved academic and other success despite challenging situations. We therefore encourage you to include details of any mitigating circumstances which may have impacted your academic results. We will also use the Rare Contextual Recruitment System as part of the application process. The system helps us identify high-potential candidates by putting applicants’ grades and achievements in the context of their social and educational background.
Meet the previous graduates
Slaughter and May has previously run a number of academies for graduates in different areas. Hear more about their experience of working in Slaughter and May and their hints and tips to those who are considering applying.
When I left university, by chance I fell into working in the B2C marketing and events. 18 months after leaving university, I was considering the next step in my career. I knew I wanted to work for a bigger professional services firm and I also wanted the opportunity to try out different areas. When I discovered the Academy programme it brought together everything I was looking for in my next role.
I thoroughly enjoyed the scheme, the rotational element gave me the opportunity to experience roles I hadn’t considered before such as working in PR & Communications. Working with such a wide range of individuals across the firm was a particular highlight - from partners, to the responsible business team to technology. The tasks and projects you work on are vast, and as a result the network you can create as a graduate is fantastic.
I learnt to be open to working on a range of projects. From doing that, I learnt that I have a real interest in data. Prior to the scheme, I would’ve said maths isn’t my strong point and therefore neither is data. The programme taught me that firstly data doesn’t have to be numerical, but also that you don’t know what interests you may discover - and it’s led me to my role today.
A huge positive of the scheme was the ability to take learnings from one team to another. You’re in a unique position as a graduate to embed yourself in each team, which helps you to understand how one team operates and you can take those learning to another team. This can help improve processes and create links that might have otherwise not been spotted.
Get involved with as much as you can! When you’re new it can seem daunting to volunteer yourself for certain projects or work, but everyone is so supportive. I would encourage graduates to get involved with a range of work and outside of the day-to-day role, there’s plenty of volunteering opportunities and networks you can join to meet lots of people across the firm!
Having studied Law with a module in ‘The Future of Legal Services’ at university, the Legal Operations scheme combined my interest in the legal industry with the business services functions within a law firm. I was interested in the rotational aspect of the graduate scheme, so that I could develop a broader skillset and find the right role for me.
I rotated through three teams whilst on the scheme; Knowledge and Innovation, Pricing and Analytics and Legal Project Management. The scheme gave me a well-rounded understanding of legal operations as a discipline and equipped me with the analytical, technological, and collaborative skills needed to support a more efficient, client-focused legal function.
The scheme helped me to identify the type of work I find most engaging. It gave me early responsibility, exposure to real client matters, and the opportunity to develop the professional judgement needed to support large, multi-phase projects.
The most important thing is to remain open-minded; you may end up loving a rotation that you have no prior experience in! Get involved with as much as you can, whether that’s in your day-to-day work or as part of the firm’s networks and broader initiatives.