Ali S

Profile:

I am from a non-traditional academic background. I relocated to England in 2008 with an unfinished Italian high school diploma which could not be converted into an equivalent English qualification. I therefore completed a BTEC qualification to get into university, as opposed to doing A-Levels. I am part of the first generation to go to university in my wider family and am also from a low-income ethnic minority background. I faced many challenges during my journey towards securing a training contract, including a very late dyslexia diagnosis half-way through my undergraduate degree.

At the beginning of my journey, I had no contacts in the industry, did not know how to access opportunities and lacked the support I needed for preparing a successful application. While I managed to secure places on various vacation schemes, I was not able to turn them into training contract offers. I attribute my success to the amazing support and mentorship I have received from Aspiring Solicitors, in particular, through the AS Aspire Programme and Headstart into Vacation Scheme. Through AS Aspire I visited multiple City firms and met future trainees who gave me valuable advice about applications and interviews. Having personally struggled with securing a training contract, I want to help other aspiring lawyers by ensuring they don’t go through the same challenges I faced.

I am passionate about increasing access to opportunities for ethnic minority students in the legal industry and am involved in a number of initiatives focused on achieving this. Through my role as a professional ambassador, I hope to motivate aspiring lawyers  to achieve their goals despite the challenges they face. If you are an aspiring lawyer with a similar background (or not) and want advice on opportunities available or general application/interview advice, please be sure to reach out!

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