Making your job opportunities stand out to QWE job seekers

Make your job ad stand out for the right reasons

Given the ease with which employers can post a job advert or create a web page about a career opportunity on their website, one might think all job opportunities were advertised equally thoroughly and clearly. Yet, the team at LawQWE see a wide range of job ads and not all job ads are created equally. While competition for paralegal and trainee solicitor roles is fierce, employers should ensure they stand out to candidates for all the right reasons.

And importantly, with the advent of the SQE route to qualification as a solicitor, job ads for paralegals and aspiring solicitors can stand out more by being explicit about what support is available for those using these roles as qualifying work experience (QWE) to qualify as solicitors.

So as an employer seeking the best talent for your organisation, be that a small high street law firm or a large corporation seeking in-house trainee counsel, what should you think about when creating the ad to recruit your next paralegal or trainee solicitor?

The job advert on a jobs board

Ideally, your job advert should cover, or provide a link to, these elements:

• Accurate and clear job title whatever best describes its function e.g. paralegal, trainee solicitor, SQE training contract or similar
• Contract type e.g. full time, part time (specify the hours), permanent, fixed term (incl duration), office based, hybrid or remote
• Sell the role to a prospective candidate in the first couple of sentences with a short description to suit those browsing on mobile
• Concise list of key areas of responsibility and key tasks usually the key criteria from the job description
• Essential knowledge/qualification, skills and experience, and desirable/nice to have ones if there is room - we like that some organisations use an inclusive statement that, even if candidates do not meet 100% of the essential requirements, they'd still like to hear from candidates that have a passion for the role - remember, these are early career roles and not everyone will fulfil all requirements 100%
• Salary if you are leaving your options open for the right candidate, list a salary range, rather than just saying 'competitive'. If you need to flex your offer, this allows you to reward based on the level of skills and experience your chosen candidate has
• Benefits package this could include support for SQE assessments, life assurance, gym membership, day off on your birthday, wellbeing programme, in addition to the expected annual leave and pension scheme entitlements
• Location if your firm operates across several offices, be clear which office(s) the candidate will be based at as well as whether hybrid and remote working patterns are available
• Your organisation's commitment to diversity and inclusion in its workforce and how your recruitment processes and existing staff demonstrate this e.g. anonymised selection process until interview, reasonable adjustments for interviews and assessment days, links to team profiles demonstrating a diverse workforce  
• Links to company details, culture and team/people, rather than use up key space in the job ad
• How to apply whether via a jobs board, your own application system or emailing a CV/application form and cover letter
• Deadline for applications always include a date and, ideally, a time e.g. 17.00 on 15 May 2025; you can always update it if you need to re-run or extend the ad. Or be clear if this is a rolling recruitment process and applications are reviewed on a continuous basis. Not having a deadline keeps applicants guessing and may just put them off applying if the job advert has been posted for some time
• Pre-set dates for assessment and interview days or if dates are tbc and ideally the approximate response time to initial applications and if a response will be sent to unsuccessful applicants.
• Approximate start date e.g. as soon as possible, within 6 months, within 1 or 2 years (particularly if recruiting well in advance for 2 year trainee solicitor roles
• Contact email address and phone number for informal enquiries or reasonable adjustment discussions

The job advert on your own website

We do not recommend placing a job advert on an online jobs board without replicating, and enhancing, the ad on your own website. It makes candidates question if the role is genuine or a 'ghost' role. A simple 'Work for us' or 'Careers' page on your website can be updated regularly with any vacancies. And if you have none currently open, specify whether you would, or would not, be open to receiving speculative CVs.

Additional elements to consider including in the vacancy advert on your website that may not have been covered in the ad on the jobs board could be:

• A more detailed job description and person specification or link to these as downloadable files
• Quotes or mini biographies from existing staff in the advertised role
• A series of FAQs about working life or trainee life in your organisation
• A short video from a managing partner about how people in the role and organisation are supported and developed
• More detail about the support offered for those roles that will lead to qualification as a solicitor

Examples of the type of support can include:

• financial support to study for and/or sit SQE1 and/or SQE2
• if you can't offer financial support, promote study leave and flexible working policies, mentoring from more senior staff, networking opportunities
• explicitly advertise roles as QWE-eligible - but ensure roles genuinely will meet the requirements for QWE before advertising them as such e.g. the responsibilities of the role need to focus on providing real legal services as per the Legal Services Act 2007 (s. 12) and developing at least two competencies within the SRA's Statement of Solicitor Competence)
• outline how and by whom the QWE gained will be confirmed in your organisation
• be explicit about the option, or not, of a NQ role if the role holder qualifies as a solicitor while working for you as a paralegal or trainee solicitor.

If you prefer to use an external jobs board's online application tracking system for all applications, rather than one via your own website, include a link from your website back to their application portal, don't just list the job on your site with no link back to the portal.

Want to better understand what 'good' QWE looks like? The SRA has published guidance for employers on QWE with links to further resources and FAQs. Take a look at how straightforward the process is.

The job description & person specification

Not everyone writes a detailed job description and person specification for a role, but the effort you put in reaps rewards by the quality of applications you receive and how straightforward it then is to sift candidates based on how they meet the requirements. 

Be clear about what kind of work the successful candidate will be doing. Bullet point key areas responsibilities and key tasks of the role. Outline the areas of law they'll be working in and options to work in other areas of law if you specialise in several areas.

Be clear what skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience the successful candidate will have. Carefully consider the essential and desirable elements of the role and mark them as such.  In the era of the SQE, be flexible with your qualification requirements e.g. list LLB or GDL or CILEX level 6 or non-law degree + SQE1 rather than just LLB.  Does your candidate really need to have completed the LPC, or would a degree in any subject + completion of SQE1 & working towards SQE2 be acceptable in your organisation instead of the LPC? Would you consider those with less than a 2.1 in their degree if mitigating circumstances were outlined? And do you really need them to have perfect GCSEs and A levels if their degree level qualification and SQE results are good? We've seen this request on job ads and it doesn't allow for those who may have dealt with challenging situations which affected their school studies or who came to law later in life. 

Include any information about training and development and career progression opportunities available once in post, so candidates understand how their career can progress with you. Candidates know they won't be in a job for life, but they'll be keen to know how this role will help them progress to the next stage in their career, in your company or beyond.

Further resources

Are you a SME legal employer and not sure the SQE and QWE route is right for your organisation? Read our article on how SME firms can embrace QWE to meet both their recruitment and retention needs and support SQE route aspiring solicitors. 

Still have questions? The team at LawQWE are available to discuss all things QWE, including how to create the best job advert to suit your needs. Email us on employers@lawqwe.com or call us on 0203 478 1154.