How to Get Hired in This AI Era
If you are applying for in-house roles right now, the noise about AI is hard to ignore. One week the headlines say junior legal work is disappearing, the next they say AI will create a whole new set of roles. It is no wonder so many aspiring in-house lawyers are wondering whether the job they are training for will still exist by the time they are ready for it.
The reassuring part is that you can still get hired. What has changed is how you go about it. In-house roles are going to look very different over the next few years, and the candidates who land them will be the ones who do their research and stop applying the way they always have.
Why the profession is taking this seriously
If you want to understand where AI and the law are heading, Professor Richard Susskind is one of the most trusted voices to listen to. He has been thinking and writing about AI and the law for around 45 years, and has advised the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on technology since 1998.
His view is that, for the next few years, AI will mostly help lawyers do the work they already do, faster and more cheaply. Looking further ahead, he expects much bigger change. Speaking at the IBA this October, he said that by the early 2030s we will have far more capable versions of the AI systems lawyers currently use with caution, and that the profession needs to plan for that now. In the long run, he expects many people and businesses to use AI to handle legal work themselves.
That can sound alarming, and it is meant to make the profession sit up. But two of his points are especially relevant if you are aiming for in-house. First, he has said that some of the most impressive AI projects in law are being driven by in-house legal teams. Second, he believes younger lawyers will be the ones designing the systems that change how legal work is done. If you are early in your career, you are exactly who the profession will need to build what comes next.
Get curious about what the roles look like now
The in-house role you picture in your head may already be out of date. Job requirements and descriptions are starting to change, and the best way to stay ahead is to study them closely.
When you read a job description, look past the title. What problems is the team being asked to solve? Does it mention legal operations or AI governance? Does it talk about improving processes or helping the business use new tools safely? Each of these is a clue about what the team really needs, and what you should be talking about in your application.
Then go and speak to the people doing the job. A short coffee chat or a message on LinkedIn to someone working in-house can teach you more than hours of reading. Good questions to ask include:
How has AI changed the way your team works over the last year?
What do you wish junior lawyers understood about how your team works now?
Keep a simple note of what you hear. After a few conversations, patterns start to appear, and those patterns will shape your applications better than just generic advice.
When you reach the interview stage, ask the same questions of the people interviewing you. Their answer will tell you a lot about the team, and asking it shows you are paying attention to where the profession is going.
Stop applying the old way
An old approach to job hunting was a numbers game: one CV, one cover letter with the company name swapped out, sent to as many roles as possible. It was never a brilliant strategy, and it works even worse now. Hiring teams are seeing more and more applications that sound exactly alike, many of them written with the help of AI.
In this AI era, fewer, better applications will get you much further. For each role, take the time to understand how the business makes money and what might be changing for its legal team. Then form a view and put it in your application.
For example, a fast-growing tech business may already be using AI to speed up routine contract reviews. A line in your cover letter about checking AI-assisted work carefully and spotting what it misses shows you understand their world. That tailored specificity stands out immediately, and most candidates will not have made it.
Use AI, but make sure it sounds like you
Using AI to help with your applications is fair game. It can help you tighten a clunky paragraph or practise answers to likely interview questions. Where candidates go wrong is sending what it produces without looking at it properly.
The people reading your application can spot AI-written text from a mile off, and it undoes all your hard work. Whatever you send still has to sound like it came from you. Before anything goes out, check it for the common tells:
Em dashes. AI tools love them and most people rarely type them.
Lists of three. Phrases like "dedicated, driven and detail-oriented" are a giveaway, especially when every paragraph has one.
American spelling and terms. "Organize" or "behavior" has no place in a UK application, and neither does "attorney".
Overused AI vocabulary. Words such as "delve" or "leverage", and phrases like "in today's fast-paced world".
Neat contrast lines. Sentences built as "it's not just X, it's Y" sound polished and say very little.
Generic enthusiasm. "I am passionate about law" tells a reader nothing. Say what specifically drew you to this team.
Flattery without substance. Praising a company's "innovative approach" without saying what that approach is.
Wrong or invented details. AI can make up facts or carry another company's name over from an earlier draft. Check every, little detail.
Suspiciously even structure. Paragraphs of identical length that each end with a tidy summary line.
Then read it aloud. If it does not sound like something you would say, rewrite it until it does. Better still, ask a friend who knows you well whether it sounds like you.
Double down on these skills
However much AI is in the picture, today's hiring decisions are still made by people. The qualities that get candidates over the line still count, and some of them count more than ever.
Personality. In-house teams hire people they want to work alongside every day. Let yours come through in your applications and in the room. A little warmth and a genuine interest in the people interviewing you go a long way.
Judgement. Legal teams want people who can weigh up risk against what the business is trying to achieve. In an interview, show how you think a problem through as well as what you know. Talking through your reasoning out loud is often more impressive than landing on a perfect answer.
Communication and presence. This is the big one. As AI takes on more of the drafting, the lawyers who stand out are the ones who can explain things clearly and build trust with colleagues across the business. Be a fabulous communicator. Practise answering questions out loud and lead with the answer before the explanation. If you have a video interview coming up, record yourself answering a practice question and watch it back. It feels awkward, but you will learn more from five minutes of that than from an hour of reading.
Over to you…
Start with one thing. Perhaps it is booking a coffee chat with someone working in-house, or rewriting your cover letter so it sounds unmistakably like you. Small, deliberate steps taken consistently will put you well ahead of the candidates still applying the old way, and will help you to prepare for whatever legal roles morph into in the near future.