Small Steps Law Firms Can Take to Make Recruitment Processes More Inclusive for International Students

Many of us are already aware that a Training Contract (TC) is extremely difficult to secure. You could have the highest grades, extensive experience and you may have even spent dozens of hours doing research on a firm yet you may still not receive an offer.?

Moreover, there are additional social barriers for minorities trying to get their foot in the door. This is evidenced by the fact that many minority groups continue to remain underrepresented in the legal sector even as firms amend their application processes to make it more accommodating for applicants from different backgrounds.?

In the midst of all of this, there still appears to be one -of many- groups of applicants that seems to be overlooked during these discussions on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I): international students. Having already shouldered the burden of additional university fees, visa application costs, flight ticket costs and more, international students are already in a difficult enough situation when thinking about simply graduating from university.?

Now let’s add TCs to the mix. International students generally offer a plethora of opportunities to employers in the UK looking to recruit from diverse backgrounds. In many cases, some students may be bilingual or trilingual, allowing them to connect with clients from different parts of the world. Others may bring along with them unique international experiences that will add to the quality of the work the firm does. Some may also give the firm access to their international contacts who could even become business partners or clients in the future. From this alone, it is easy to see the benefits of recruiting international students.?

Despite this, international students continue to face unique challenges that are often not catered for during TC or Vacation Scheme (VS) application processes. Below I’ve listed some of these challenges as well as some of my suggestions on how graduate recruitment (GR) teams can make the process easier for us.?

Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship:

It is extremely likely that international students looking to qualify in the UK will require a firm to sponsor their Skilled Worker visa. Understandably, this can be expensive for smaller sized firms and many will automatically reject your application if they become aware of your visa status. The effect of this is that international students will often have to apply to larger and more competitive firms because they are more likely to sponsor their visa. Undoubtedly, this will add a considerable layer of difficulty to the application process for international students.?

For the purposes of clarity, I would therefore recommend that all firms openly and clearly state whether or not they will be able to sponsor a Skilled Worker visa. Although I acknowledge that some firms do indeed provide such information, in many cases it is extremely difficult to find, even on FAQ pages. Thus, international students either have to reach out to GR teams -who could be busy- or they may have to check the UK government’s website to find out which firms have a licence to sponsor a Skilled Worker visa. In the latter case, however, the page will only tell you which firms can sponsor a visa as opposed to which firms are willing to sponsor a visa now.? Hence, to save time and give international students more visibility, firms should openly declare their position on sponsoring visas and put that information on pages where it can easily be found by international applicants.

Openly stating VS dates:

Many firms will recruit most of their trainees from their VSs and some recruit their entire trainee cohort from their VSs. Therefore, it goes without saying that the way these schemes are structured will greatly affect the makeup of trainee cohorts. Based on this, I would argue that some firms are likely to see a lower representation of international students in their cohorts simply because of VS logistics. Although this may seem pedantic, many VS arrangements make it difficult, if not impossible for international students to apply to certain firms. The main problem? Once again… visa restrictions.?

Many international students staying in the UK are on a Tier 4 visa. This visa allows students to work (in many cases) up to 20 hours per week during term time. When VSs come into the picture, we soon start to realise that if a VS overlaps with university term dates (including summer breaks for postgraduate students writing a dissertation), international students cannot attend such schemes without breaching the conditions of their visa.?

The only alternatives in such a case are to look for VSs set to begin outside of term time or to look for firms willing to host you either on a part time basis or at a different time altogether. It is safe to say the second and last options are rarely going to be available and you may not even know if the first option is available if firms don’t announce the start dates of their VSs early.?

In light of this, I would advise GR teams to let applicants know when they expect the VSs to take place ahead of time so that international students can decide whether or not to apply to a certain firm. It would also be extremely helpful to state whether or not the firm in question is willing to accommodate successful international applicants who have their VS running through term time.?

General lack of information:

Above, I have stated only a few of the many challenges faced by international students when applying for TCs and places on VSs. Albeit that there are some sources that give answers to general questions asked by international students on these matters and more, it is incredibly difficult to verify or update such information if it isn’t coming from firms themselves. I would therefore suggest that GR teams liaise with universities and organisations, such as International Aspiring Leaders, to organise information sessions that are geared towards answering specific queries that relate to international students. Not only will this show that these firms are genuinely interested in making their application processes more inclusive, but it will also allow international students to make informed decisions when submitting their applications given their unique circumstances.

To conclude:

In sum, there is a wealth of talent that can be sourced from international students. As the world becomes more globalised and borders become blurred, it is difficult to see why holding a certain passport should inhibit me or other international students from chasing our dreams. It is great to see firms taking more initiative when it comes to D&I, although I feel that there is always room to improve. In this sense, I encourage firms to spend more time thinking about how they can level the playing field for international students and give us an equal fighting chance when looking to break into our legal careers.?