So, for law, they've just changed up the qualification system to become a solicitor so it was a bit different because I did a lot through the old route but essentially, under the new route you'd do a PGDL (a one year course, funded by a law firm and they'd give you a maintenance grant to live on of around £12,500) and then you'd do another one year course called the SQE (also funded by a law firm with a maintenance grant - some of these are as high as £17,000 now).
To make any kind of decent money, you'd probably need to be in London (but potentially in Bristol or Manchester depending on your aspirations). My firm are headquartered in London. There are a few different types of firm. There are Magic Circle firms - the most prestigious but don't pay the most (around £50,000 training and just above £100,000 once qualified). Silver Circle are just "below" Magic Circle but, in reality, the calibre of work and pay are probably on par - but I don't have much experience with them to know for sure. US firms pay more on qualification (I think one just announced they're increasing it to £170,000) but you'll never leave the office. There are smaller, nicher, boutique firms. Have a look at Chambers Student Guide and there's loads more information on there.
Applications happen in annual cycles starting in August and ending in July - every firm has a different process. Some open later or close earlier - some firms don't take applications beyond the autumn so look at the specific dates for the firms you want. I applied for four years running in order to secure my job offer and that's pretty average - a close friend just got an offer on his seventh cycle. There are two application route options: Vacation Scheme or Direct Training Contract. Your odds are better on Vacation Schemes - this is where you apply to do a work experience with a law firm for a couple of weeks and then they hire the people they like the most. Direct Training Contract applications are only offered by some firms - this is where you apply directly for the two year qualification programme. In general, the applications are very similar.
In my experience applications consist of a written application form - these are LONG. You put in all your academics (every GCSE, A Level and degree modules), all your work experience, then they have essay questions too - they generally want to know your motivation for law here. They'll also want to test your commercial awareness and your understanding of how a law firm works as a business. It's very rare to see an application that's just a CV and cover letter. You're not expected to have any knowledge of the law itself but you're definitely expected to show a genuine passion for it. Many firms then do psychometric testing, like a Watson Glaser and many have developed their own bespoke psychometric tests. These vary from firm to firm - some look at personality, some look at logic, some are verbal reasoning, some are situational judgement tests... it just depends what the firm is looking for. Then some firms offer phone or video interviews - some of these are even where a question pops up on your screen and you record an answer video and that gets sent to the firm. After that, firms tend to do an assessment centre day. On that day, you'll often do different kinds of exercises - a written exercise (it could be case study or drafting or any number of other things), a group exercise (perhaps a negotiation etc), a presentation of some kind (in my experience, these vary the most - I've had firms ask me to present on anything from a topic of my own choice through to how Coca Cola need to adapt to the modern market through to how law firms can retain talent). Then there'll be an interview. Interviews, at this stage, tend to focus on motivations, strengths and commercial awareness. So, you'll be asked questions like "why law", "why this firm", "why did you study midwifery", "where do you see yourself in five years time" etc, then "tell me about a time you demonstrated team work/problem solving/working under pressure" or "tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news/work with a difficult colleague/balance priorities" etc, then it'll be testing commercial awareness - different firms test it differently. Some will ask broader questions like "tell me about a recent news story that caught your attention" and others will ask more specific questions like "was Trump justified in imposing trade tariffs on China and why?". If you get through that interview, you tend to be offered a vacation scheme.
Vacation Schemes are very intense. You work for the firm, doing actual work, plus social events and presentations and things. You'll be assessed by the firm on the work you produce but also how you get on with people in the office, how friendly you are, whether you're a good fit etc. Some firms will get you to do assessed presentations, written exercises or group exercises on the vacation scheme too. Almost always, there will be a final interview at the end of the vacation scheme. This may cover any of the things from earlier assessments but also looks at your personality "what do you do at the weekend" or "what annoys you", and your situational ethics "you are working on a project with a client. The client sends an email to your team berating your poor attention to detail. You notice that it was the client who made the mistake. What do you do?" etc. If you perform well on this - you'll get an offer to do a training contract.
Applications are INTENSE. They take a long, long, long time and a lot of work. There's no point putting in a half-arsed application for a firm - they reject stupid numbers of people. There's a roughly 2% success rate - but this varies from firm to firm.
Did they have many questions about the choice in career change?
Loads. Law loses a lot of people early on - I read somewhere recently that almost 60% of female lawyers in the city leave within five years. It costs firms a lot of money to train lawyers so they don't want to lose them. For this reason, there's a lot of emphasis in the process on ensuring you're committed to a career in law. It's not just about telling them that when they ask you on the application form - it's about showing you've engaged with the law, sought work experience, can explain why it interests you etc. This was pretty easy for me to explain because I only became a teacher because I didn't get a job as a lawyer and needed to work whilst doing more application cycles. I had work experience in law firms, had a master's in law already, and had attended a million different events and open days.
Could you tell me more about your job offer to go into law?
My job offer is from a large, London-headquartered, commercial city firm. They have offices across the world. My offer requires me to complete a one year course (the SQE) which is funded by the firm and they pay me a grant for living costs too. Assuming I pass that, I'll join the firm and do four six-month "seats" - which means spending six months in four different departments. One of those seats will be a secondment, which means either going abroad or working for client. Over those two years, that's when the pay is £50,000-£55,000. If that all goes to plan, I'll choose my favourite seat and that's where I'll apply to qualify. As long as the firm has space in that department and they liked me, I'll qualify there and the salary increases to just over £100,000 plus bonus.
My training contract is pretty standard but some firms do vary. Dechert have six four-month seats and Freshfields have eight three-month seats. Some firms allow you to work across departments for the whole two years (I think Fried Frank do this but I never applied to them so can't be sure).
Sorry this was so long - let me know if you have any more questions. There's loads of information available online on places like Chambers Student Guide and Legal Cheek, as well as forums like The Corporate Law Academy.