Alumni In The Limelight: Evie

At Vandyke, we are incredibly proud of the outstanding achievements of our students. Students who leave Vandyke go on to secure places on a range of university courses including Russell Group and Oxbridge institutions. In addition, students have secured higher level degree apprenticeships with top employers such as Santander, Ernst and Young, UBS, VW, Vauxhall, BE Aerospace and many more.

Once a month, we will hear from a former student, who will share their career pathway since leaving Vandyke. Here, we meet Evie. Evie studied Law, Psychology and Business at Vandyke’s Sixth Form, before taking on a solicitor apprenticeship with Taylor Walton LLP, a regional law firm…

“My apprenticeship is within the legal sector, working as a solicitor apprentice for a local firm. Within my route, I will have the benefit of receiving training in various departments; the initial two years in Commercial Property, followed by two years in Commercial Litigation, and a final two years divided into four six-month seats in our various other departments (these include: Family, Private Client, Employment, and Corporate and Commercial). Throughout my apprenticeship journey, my on-the-job experience is supplemented with one university day a week (which I undertake online), which gives me the benefit of having both practical and theoretical law experience.

The advice I believe is key is to be prepared for applications. If you are looking for an apprenticeship within the legal sector, most firms tend to open applications in November, and close applications in March (ready for the applicants, if chosen, to join in September). It is vital to know when applications for the firms you wish to apply for are open, as you do not want to miss out.

Another key point is to ensure quality over quantity; an easy way for firms to rule out applicants is by rejecting any applications with grammatical and spelling errors. Furthermore, it is extremely important to ensure you are, where possible, having your applications reviewed by others – they could help you cut out any nonsense that is not material to the application. Constructive criticism isn’t a bad thing, it helps perfect the submissions you are sending out!

Finally, don’t be afraid to sell yourself. Make sure to highlight your attributes whatever they may be. It is crucial to make your qualities known to employers. These don’t always have to be legal-related, although it is advantageous to get real legal experience where possible.  You can use your hobbies, part-time jobs and interests to accentuate good attributes (e.g. playing football = teamwork, communication and resilience – all important qualities law firms look for in a candidate). Just make sure you can relate these to the job you are applying for.”