module specification

The Work Placement for Professional Experience module provides students with an opportunity to experience working in a legal context, to develop the skills and abilities necessary for a graduate career, to identify their strengths and weaknesses and how they might improve their performance, and to apply theoretical legal knowledge to cases in the real world.

Successful completion of two years of a law degree 

The module aims to:

• Provide experience of seeking employment including drafting applications and identifying and contacting suitable employers
• Provide experience of working in a legal professional environment
• Familiarise students to the basic requirements of employment such as punctuality and good time keeping, appropriate dress and demeanour, following instructions;
• Develop students’ employment skills and abilities, in particular, excellent oral and written communication skills, ability to work independently (under supervision) and as part of a team, ability to manage time efficiently, to prioritise tasks and to complete tasks in a timely way and to time limits;
• Develop the students’ self-evaluation skills;
• Develop the students personal development planning skills to boost their chances of career success

• Develop skills in recruitment processes
• Gain an understanding of health and safety issues in the workplace
• Gain an understanding of business forms and the advantages and disadvantages of the particular form of the placement organisation
• Gain experience of working in a professional (legal) context
• Gain experience of the basic requirements of employment such as punctuality, accurate timekeeping, appropriate dress and demeanour
• Develop skills of working independently (under supervision) and as part of a team, thinking creatively, problem solving, exercising initiative when required
• Develop skills in managing time efficiently, prioritizing tasks, working to time limits, following instructions, planning ahead, managing information,
• Develop a range of communication styles appropriate to contacts with a range of others including the placement supervisor, colleagues, clients, other lawyers etc
• Develop attention to detail to a high level
• Develop awareness of the importance of ethical demands on the legal profession
• Develop skills of self-reflection and personal development planning for career success

• Students will attend sessions at which they will be offered guidance on seeking a placement and the formal requirements for the module, and an explanation of suitable tasks and learning outcomes which are to be agreed with their placement supervisor.
• Students will attend a follow-up session with the module leader to have their work placement, tasks and learning outcomes approved.
• Students will then be required to complete satisfactorily a work placement of minimum 105 hours.
• Students will be expected to undertake independent study of the resources identified in the module VLE to expand their knowledge and understanding of employability skills in the legal professional context, and to develop their skills of self-reflection and personal development planning for career success which are vital to successful completion of the placement and the assessed coursework.
• Towards the end of their placement, students will attend a further session with the module leader to discuss their coursework assessment.  They will be invited to submit a sample learning log and draft plan of their self-evaluation report for feedback at that session.

The learning outcomes are generic to be flexible to a variety of workplace contexts (in accordance with the QAA Chapter B10, 2012).  On successful completion of this module students will have demonstrated that they can:

1. Evaluate their experiences of the legal work-related learning activity particularly where they have demonstrated autonomy and innovation and critically reflect on the significance of the professional skills and competencies developed to their graduate career goals.
2. Identify and debate challenging scenarios experienced in the activity and suggest appropriate resolutions, via application of appropriate legal and wider theory.
3. Evaluate the contribution they have provided to the organisation and critically analyse complex problems encountered, in the role and how they applied appropriate knowledge to provide effective solutions.
4. Assess complex legal work environments and professional codes of conduct and draw conclusions on their effectiveness.
5. Critically reflect upon how their work and study experience relates to their long-term personal, career and academic development and action plan in relation to their graduate career goals.

The module will be assessed by two items of coursework:

1. a learning log recording on a regular basis the tasks undertaken,  skills developed, and experience gained during the placement, and
2. a self-evaluation report in which the student reflects on their experience in the placement, evaluates how well they have performed their various tasks, assesses the development of the skills and abilities required for the placement, identifies their strengths and weaknesses and indicates how they might further improve their performance,

Books

Cottrell, S (2010) Skills for success: the personal development planning handbook  2nd Ed, Palgrave Macmillian, Basingstoke
Durrant A, Rhodes G, Young D, (2011), Getting started with university-level work based learning, 2nd edition, Libri Publishing, London
Fanthome C (2004) Work placements : a survival guide for students Palgrave Macmillian, Basingstoke
Finch E and Fafinski S (2014) Employability Skills for Law Students OUP, Oxford
Herbert I and Rothwell A (2005) Managing your placement, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Kirton B (2012) Brilliant workplace skills for students and graduates Prentice Hall, Harlow
Lumley M and Wilkinson J (2014) Developing employability for business Oxford University Press, Oxford
Moon J (2004) A Handbook of reflective and experiential learning: theory and practice Routledge Falmer, London
Rook S (2015) Work Experience, Placements and Internships  2nd Ed, Palgrave Macmillian, Basingstoke
Scherer A (2012) Brilliant intern Prentice Hall, Harlow
Trought F (2012) Brilliant employability skills Prentice Hall, Harlow

Online careers information

London Metropolitan University http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/jobs-and-employment/career-and-employability-advice/
www.prospects.ac.uk
http://targetjobs.co.uk

Other resources appropriate to the placement and determined by the Employer Supervisor and Subject Tutor.