Alumni outside New Academic Building

Careers in Law

LSE Careers provides support for students at every stage of their university life

Welcome to LSE Careers

Whatever stage you are at, LSE Careers has a wide range of events and resources to help you progress your career ideas. The LSE’s dedicated Careers consultants work closely with the Law School.

For undergraduate students, the dedicated careers consultant is Elizabeth Holden.

For postgraduate students, the dedicated careers consultant is Doreen Thompson-Addo. 

Elizabeth and Doreen run ring-fenced (individual) appointments in the Law School during Autumn and Winter Terms. To see availability and to book please visit CareerHub. In addition, during term time Elizabeth runs drop-in sessions in the Law School that are open to all law students.  She also presents a course on careers for first year law undergraduate students in the Autumn Term.

Doreen Thompson-Addo / Ladan Mirzadeh Hong
 doreen-2  holden-small
 Doreen Thompson-Addo  Elizabeth Holden

Your starting point

Everyone arrives at LSE with different career ideas and motivations. Some students are at the start of their careers, and some have previous experience. Understanding what stage of career planning you are at, can help you identify the next steps. LSE Careers provides support and works with you, whatever stage you are at.

Early career stage

Not knowing what you want to do after graduating is completely normal. Equally, some may think they have a clear idea and then change their minds at a later date. Careers are not set in stone! When thinking about the right career for you, it’s important to first figure out what’s important to you. Working on understanding your own values and skills will enable you to make a decision that’s based on your needs and wants, rather than those that surround you.

You can explore your motivations and values in a one-to-one appointment with a careers consultant. Careers consultants hold regular weekly office hours at the Law School during Autumn and Winter terms. You might find LSE Careers’ resources on career planning useful.

Some ideas

If you have a few career ideas or you’d like to explore your options, there are a wide range of career programmes and events that focus both on law and different sectors. Our Discover Law and Legal Services  programme takes place in October and includes a series of careers events where you can hear from employers and alumni working in the sector. There are also skills development sessions. The Discover Series also includes International Development, Creative Industries, Social Impact and Public Sector and Policy. You can view the careers events programme on CareerHub. You might also find LSE Careers’ sector guides of interest.

Experienced hire or career changer

Do you have several years of work experience or are you using a law degree from LSE to help with a career shift/change? LSE Careers runs seminars on CVs for experienced hires and seminars on how to make career transitions. You can also discuss your career plans with an LSE careers consultant.

Appointments and events can be booked via CareerHub.

Exploring options and gaining experience

Get to know as much as you can about the areas you're interested in and take time to find out what skills and experience will help you succeed. Find suggestions on how to explore options on LSE Careers’ website.

Once you’ve got a few ideas that you’d like to explore, consider how you can build your professional skills and get the experience you need to succeed. Gaining experience can help you test out how you find the work, and also the workplace and sector itself. The following resources might be helpful:

Implementing your plans

When you’ve found an opportunity you’d like to apply for, consider whether you’d like to take up any of the support LSE Careers offers: