The bottom line is that without relevant work experience, you are not going to get a training contract or pupillage. An ideal start is to get a place on a formal work placement scheme/mini-pupillage, but thankfully that’s not the only way, especially as places are hotly contested. The “Work experience” section looks at formal and informal ways of gaining work experience, some of the best organisations to approach (eg, FRU and LawWorks), and includes around 30 first-hand accounts from vacation scheme students.