Early Careers
Because aiming high is part of who you are.
Whether you’re finishing school or college, commencing a university degree, or considering changing to a career in law, we have opportunities for you. From workshops, panel discussions and law fairs, to online work experience and open days, there’s so much to discover at Bird & Bird.
There are different pathways to qualification as a solicitor at Bird & Bird. If you’ve not yet attended university, you can become a solicitor apprentice by applying to our Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme. If you’re studying or have studied at university, you can become a trainee solicitor by attending a vacation scheme.
Start your career with us and discover what's possible for you at Bird & Bird.
Solicitor Apprentice
Qualify as a solicitor by undertaking on-the-job training while studying for a law degree and the SQE.
Trainee Solicitor
Qualify as a solicitor with two-years of exceptional training to kick-start your career in law.
Vacation Schemes
Explore your potential with immersive work experience and decide whether we're the right firm for you.
Virtual Experience Programme
Learn what life is like as a solicitor at an international law firm with our online work experience.
Early Bird Scholarship
Early Bird Scholars receive support and mentoring to equip you with the skills you need to achieve your career potential.
Flying Start Programme
Fly ahead with our two-day, online programme to accelerate your legal knowledge and skills as you prepare for a career in law.
Open Days, Office Drop-Ins & Events
Discover our opportunities and meet us to further your understanding of Bird & Bird, our work, and our people.
The Nest (Employability Hub)
Achieve your full potential with our useful resources on getting into law and applying to us.
Training Contract 2025
Commencing September 2025
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
Training Contract 2026
Commencing September 2026
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
Wednesday 23 October 2024
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
Trainee Solicitor Open Day
Wednesday 30 October 2024
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
STEM Solicitor Open Day
Wednesday 13 November 2024
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 31 October 2024
Apply now
Office Drop-In 1
Monday 21 October 2024
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
Office Drop-In 2
Tuesday 29 October 2024
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 17 October 2024
Apply now
Spring Vacation Scheme
Monday 31 March to Friday 11 April 2025
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 19 December 2024
Apply now
Summer Vacation Scheme
Monday 16 June to Friday 27 June 2025
Applications open: 19 September 2024
Deadline: 19 December 2024
Apply now
Solicitor Apprenticeship
Commencing September 2025
Applications open: 24 October 2024
Deadline: 20 February 2025
Apply now
Flying Start Programme
Tuesday 15 July to Wednesday 16 July 2025
Applications open: 10 April 2025
Deadline: 3 July 2025
Apply now
Early Bird Scholarship
Commencing September 2025
Applications open: 10 April 2025
Deadline: 31 July 2025
Apply now
We take your personal data seriously. Our Early Careers candidate privacy policy can be found here.
We’re a disability*, neurodiversity and mental health inclusive employer and want to ensure that you have a barrier-free recruitment experience. If you need adjustments during the recruitment process or require assistance completing an application as the result of disability, you can get confidential advice from our Early Careers team at [email protected].
*disability includes: physical impairments, sensory impairments (for example: visual impairment, hearing impairment), neurodivergence (for example: autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADHD), mental health (for example: anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, panic attacks, bi-polar) and long-term health conditions (such as kidney, heart or other organ conditions, diabetes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV)
The early bird catches the worm – take your first steps towards a career in the legal sector with our Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme, Early Bird Pathway (Early Bird Scholarship), Solicitor Apprentice Open Day, Office Drop-Ins, and Virtual Experience Programme.
Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme
Take flight ahead of the flock with our early career opportunities tailored for undergraduate students not yet eligible to apply for a training contract, including the Flying Start Programme, Office Drop-Ins, and Virtual Experience Programme.
If you've decided to take the leap into a legal career, explore the possibilities with our Vacation Schemes, Trainee Solicitor Open Day, Office Drop-Ins, STEM Solicitors Open Day, and Virtual Experience Programme.
All vacation scheme attendees will be considered for a training contract at the end of the scheme.
Vacation Schemes Training Contract
Spread your wings and bring your previous experience and knowledge to the legal sector with our Vacation Schemes, Trainee Solicitor Open Day, Office Drop-Ins, STEM Solicitors Open Day, and Virtual Experience Programme.
All vacation scheme attendees will be considered for a training contract at the end of the scheme.
Navigate your possible route to qualification and find opportunities for you at Bird & Bird.
Build your knowledge of what a solicitor at Bird & Bird does. Demystify the different routes to becoming a solicitor. Learn about our opportunities tailored to your interests. Discover your possible route to qualification as a solicitor at Bird & Bird. Achieve your full potential.
Click here to download our September 2024 to August 2025 events calendar.
From law fairs, panel discussions and Q&As to workshops, skill sessions and open days, there's so much to learn about a career in law and life at Bird & Bird. You can register, sign-up or apply to our in-person and virtual events via our events calendar.
spotlight
Our podcast
Tune in to The Early Careers Podcast for insights into life as a solicitor apprentice and trainee solicitor at Bird & Bird, as well as navigating your journey into law, exploring our opportunities, and mastering the recruitment process. Listen to 'The Apprentice Series' now.
View
Levelling the playing field
From attraction and marketing, to recruitment and selection; the Bird & Bird Early Careers team is committed to diversity and inclusion, social mobility, and equality. We know an inclusive culture, alongside a diverse workforce, makes us more innovative and agile as a firm. We're keen to create a barrier-free recruitment process where everyone feels supported to succeed, to ensure that we recruit the top candidates onto our programmes, no matter their background or circumstance. It's also the right thing to do.At Bird & Bird, we want to attract and recruit the brightest and best aspiring lawyers from all walks of life. In 2019, we made the active decision to not target individual schools, colleges, or universities as part of our sustainability and diversity initiative. Rather than attending selected campuses, we partner with charities, publications, and organisations to promote our opportunities to aspiring solicitors no matter their background or education. We recruit from all schools, colleges, universities, and degree subjects.
To increase diversity in the legal professional, we partner with a number of platforms, networks and initiatives to educate and equip aspiring lawyers with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. For example, we work with 10,000 Black Interns, Aspiring Solicitors, Bright Network, GROW Mentoring, Target Jobs, Vantage, and Young Professionals.
To level the playing field, we no longer offer ad-hoc work experience to Bird & Bird employee contacts or clients. Instead, we promote our Virtual Experience Programme to all aspiring solicitors. At the application stage of our recruitment process, we no longer ask a candidate to indicate if they have a link to the firm. This is so candidates know that they'll be given a fair chance at being selected whether they know us already or not.
To widen accessibility to law, we use a mostly virtual recruitment process (e.g., online application forms, virtual assessment centers) and online attraction season (e.g., virtual Open Days). Our Flying Start Programme and Virtual Experience Programme are entirely online. We also host skill sessions and workshops with partnerships and publish advice on our employability hub, ‘The Nest’.
From application form to assessment centre, we actively consider how to create a barrier-free recruitment process. We look for the candidate’s potential to achieve, rather than disproportionally focus on what has happened in the past. However, to ensure we understand how a candidate’s background may have impacted their performance we introduced a Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) into our recruitment process in 2018. From that date, we've used contextual data to help us identify candidates with the greatest potential despite significant academic, personal, or socio-economic disadvantage and recognise the achievements of candidates in the context in which they were gained. We also operate blind application form screening, which means that all unnecessary identification information is removed from an application form before being reviewed by the team, in order to minimise bias. Similarly, we don't share a candidate’s application form with interviewers so that all decisions are based solely on what takes place in the interview.
To increase support, we offer confidential advice to candidates with a disability, neurodiversity, mental health, and long-term health problems on adjustments at each stage of the recruitment process. We know that not everyone has previous experience of psychometric testing, so all candidates receive a practice Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Test and video interview prior to the real assessments, alongside useful tips and guidance to help tackle these new experiences. There is no time limit for the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Test, to focus on a candidate’s performance rather than output under time pressure. At the assessment centre stage and prior to our vacation schemes, candidates receive a preparation guide outlining their upcoming assessments and tips on how to be successful, to ensure transparency, fairness, and a level playing field for all candidates.
Awards and recognitions
2024
People in Law Awards
Winner of Best Social Mobility Initiative
targetjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards
Second for Best Diversity & Inclusion Strategy
Shortlisted for Best Social Mobility Strategy
Shortlisted for Sustainability in Early Talent Recruitment
2023
targetjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards
Third for Best Diversity & Inclusion Strategy
Shortlisted for Best Social Mobility Strategy
Shortlisted for Sustainability in Early Talent Recruitment
Legal Cheek Law Firm Awards
Winner of Best Law Firm for Client Secondments
AllAboutLaw Awards
Winner of Most Popular Law Firm
Winner of Best Access to Lawyers
Recognised Excellence for Most Engaging Law Firm
Recognised Excellence for Most Popular Virtual Event
Highly Commended for Most Engaging Virtual Event
Highly Commended for Most Popular Digital Campus
2022
targetjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards
Shortlisted for Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in Law
Legal Cheek Law Firm Awards
Shortlisted for Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in Law
AllAboutLaw Awards
Winner for Best Recruitment Campaign
Highly Commended for Most Sustainable Recruitment Process
Highly Commended for Most Inclusive Assessment Process
Highly Commended for Best First-Year Opportunities
Highly Commended for Best Events
