We’re all very (painfully!) aware that the job market in general has become incredibly competitive, but graduates and junior candidates are facing additional challenges when it comes to securing their first role due to record numbers of jobseekers and students enrolling into universities. As the legal sector becomes more competitive, innovative and digitally focused, the expectations for junior Marketing & Business Development professionals have never been higher.
According to UCAS, in 2024 a record number of UK 18-year-olds accepted a place at university or college. In 2025, UCAS data shows another record, 328,390 UK 18-year-olds applied by their June deadline. So, as an aspiring M&BD professional, how do you set yourself aside from others in a busy market to give you the best chance of securing your dream role?
Upskilling and Research
If your degree is in an unrelated M&BD field, but you would like to pivot (i.e. law graduates who decide not to pursue fee-earning roles are often better suited to Business Support roles) – then you can take free courses to add to your skills and help show potential employers that you have a genuine passion and interest. These courses will go a fair way to show employers that you’re upskilling yourself beyond university and taking imitative to learn new skills – which they LOVE to see!
Google have an excellent course called ‘Fundamentals of Digital Marketing’, which is free, certified and gives you an incredible insight into related fields, such as SEO, PPC, social media and email marketing. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) offer courses - but there is a cost involved in this option. Not all firms ask for CIM qualifications (especially if your degree is in a M&BD related field) – but it may be worth considering if you are keen to expand your knowledge and set your skills aside from the crowded market. A CIM qualification is not essential, but something you may consider for personal growth.
Listening to podcasts will help give insight into how law firms operate and what topics they are discussing. Many firms now have dedicated podcasts relating to specific sectors or practice areas (or even HR and D&I), which provide insight and helps build your industry knowledge. You never know when you can pull out a reference during an interview and blow the interviewers away with your knowledge on specific topics! Watching webinars from firms’ recent online events or roundtables is similarly a great way of absorbing knowledge and showing a real interest in specific areas. Monitoring their social media channels (LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter are the most common used) is another great way to keep track of a firms’ recent news and updates.
Following legal news and checking online articles daily will help you to immerse yourself into the legal field and help keep abreast of what are ‘Hot Topics’ – something you can discuss in an interview. There are many different sources you can look to, but some personal favourites are: The Lawyer, Legal Cheek, Chambers and RollOnFriday.
Gaining Hands-On Experience
If you’re still at university, joining student societies (marketing, comms, events, sponsorships) can be hugely beneficial. You will be able to gain hands-on experience and exposure to relevant areas and have some great skills to add to your CV. Outside of university, you could volunteer for local societies, clubs or small businesses to help gain experience to add to your CV. Desirable experience can include;
- Running social media for a club, charity or small business
- Internship or part-time work in marketing, comms, events or sales
- Shadowing a BD or marketing team
- Freelancing (graphics, socials, email newsletters)
Those who often stand out are those who have awareness (not necessarily hands-on experience) of specific software (i.e. Canva and Photoshop) or elements of what a M&BD professional will be tasked with (directories & awards submissions, pitch support, campaign development, content and social media management, analytics, etc…). Even basic awareness of these makes you appear ‘industry ready’ and you can explain your transferrable skills to help interviewers see the value in your experience.
Building Your Personal and Professional Brand
A Marketing and Business Development professional must know how to market themselves. How can you represent a firm if you can’t show that you can market yourself? Most employers will reach for your LinkedIn profile as a starting point, so use this as a strong introduction to show them how capable you are. Firms love proactive candidates who are already engaged with the industry.
Here are some steps to market yourself and build your own brand using LinkedIn:
- Create a LinkedIn profile – make sure to add the link to your CV
- Follow law firms - and me (of course!). interact with their posts – a simple ‘like’ is great, but commenting will further increase your reach.
- Create compelling, interesting posts related to marketing, trends, events or your personal learning journey. Remember to be authentic, humble and fact-check your sources. Pictures on your posts are a great way to grab attention too!
- Attend public virtual events or marketing webinars. Create a post perhaps to highlight what you learned or your takeaways.
AI is a great tool, but it's often very obvious when someone has used it to write posts and articles, which can have the opposite effect to what you're trying to achieve! By all means, use it for inspiration, but make sure anything you write is from your own thoughts and feelings, that's where you'll build authenticity.
The junior candidates who stand out aren’t just those with the most experience. They’re the ones who show initiative, curiosity and a genuine interest in legal marketing. Become immersed in the industry, start taking on knowledge through osmosis and this will make conversations at interview a lot more seamless and genuine.
If you would like any advice on anything I've mentioned above, or would like to chat through your experience, I'm always happy to help! Feel free to get in touch and we can arrange a call together.
