In February, as some of our Year 11s are interested in taking up a career as a Barrister, we set up a Skype video call with a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast:
Dr Claire Hamilton worked as a Barrister in Dublin for 6 years and now lectures in the Law facility at Queen’s.
Claire discussed with the students postgraduate training and different careers that a law degree can lead to. As Claire studied French with her degree this interested the linguists in Year 11 as she talked about studying abroad.
Students asked questions regarding expectations of students from university lecturers, how to write an impressive UCAS reference and personality traits essential for life as a barrister. Claire also discussed with them life as an academic and writing research papers.
After the talk students said they, “found it really useful to have had the opportunity to talk to both a solicitor and a barrister” as this gave them a broader view of what to expect from this line of work. They said it, “helped them make a more informed decision about their future”.
