Zara Saad

We talk a lot about how to land work experience. But what happens once you actually walk through the door?

Zara, an LLB graduate from Queen Mary University of London, spent time with the immigration appeals team at Primus Solicitors in Manchester. Her piece covers the part nobody warns you about, what immigration work is really like and how she found her placement.

👋 The part nobody warns you about

When we talk about work experience, we usually focus on everything before day one: polishing the CV, tailoring cover letters, sending applications and finally getting that offer email.

What I hadn’t considered until I walked into the office was one simple question: how do you find your place in a team that already exists?

Everyone knows each other. They have their routines, their office banter and their ways of working. Meanwhile, you’re the new intern quietly working out who to direct questions to, whether asking for more tasks looks like “trying too hard”, and how many times a day it’s normal to say hello.

My colleagues were welcoming, but I still overthought how I was coming across. What helped me was shifting my focus from how I was perceived to what I could learn. Once I started absorbing everything like a sponge, I felt more confident speaking to senior colleagues, asking for clarity when I was unsure and asking for tasks that added value.

🛂 What the work actually involved

On my first day, I was handed a detailed training pack explaining each document involved in appealing Home Office refusals of asylum claims, along with tips on improving my legal writing. On previous placements I’d picked things up as I went, so this felt different. For the first time, I wasn’t just being told what to do. I was being taught why each step mattered.

I drafted three or four witness statements responding directly to Home Office refusal letters, which was brilliant hands-on experience. The most challenging task, by far, was assessing clients’ financial eligibility for civil legal aid. My degree focused on statutory interpretation and legal principles, so working through financial assessments felt like GCSE French all over again. Reading and re-reading the government guidance eventually made it much easier to judge whether clients met the scope, merits and means tests. Active recall got me through my exams, and it turns out it works at work too 😊

💡 What university doesn’t teach you

Chatting with colleagues taught me things I’d never come across at university, like Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs). These are reports the Home Office produces on conditions in different countries, which its decision makers rely on when deciding asylum claims, so understanding them is a big part of preparing and challenging a case. It’s the kind of practical knowledge I think deserves more space in academic study.

Immigration law is sometimes seen as dry, or as lacking the “big commercial appeal” of corporate work. My experience was the complete opposite. Many clients had fled religious and political conflict, persecution or the threat of serious harm, and every case felt deeply human. Knowing that what I produced could directly affect a vulnerable person’s life made the work intellectually stimulating and genuinely meaningful.

📧 How I found my placement

There’s no single way to get work experience, and what works for one person won’t work for everyone. For me, after a suggestion from my brother, it was cold emailing.

I won’t sugarcoat it. Emailing firms I’d never had any contact with felt daunting at first. I focused on one or two areas of law I was genuinely interested in and was open to working anywhere in the UK, which is how a London graduate ended up in Manchester. Alongside my CV and a cover letter, I linked to my LinkedIn and my non-profit blog, Spill The Tea.

Plenty of firms said no or didn’t reply, and I tried not to take that personally. Over time, it became as much a confidence exercise as anything else, and it led me to a placement I loved.

Thank you so much to Zara for sharing her experience. If you want to follow her journey, you can connect with her on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in writing a piece for a future Inclusie Club newsletter, you can contact us here.