Notarial offices publish few internship offers. They recruit their interns mainly through speculative applications, word of mouth and the links between law faculties, chambers of notaries and offices. For a student aiming for the notarial profession, this changes everything: waiting for an advert is not enough, you have to go and find the internship.
This article explains why an internship in a notarial office matters so much along the way, which types of offices take interns and what they offer, where to look and how to apply speculatively, then the CV a notary expects from a student and how the interview works.
Why the notarial office internship matters
On the path to the notarial profession, the internship is not just a bonus.
It is often required by the master’s. Master’s programmes in notarial law usually include a compulsory internship in a notarial office. The master’s track in notarial law at Université Côte d’Azur 🔗, for example, requires, outside work-study, an internship of at least two months exclusively in a notarial office, under the aegis of the departmental chamber, followed by a professional dissertation.
It prepares for professional training. The higher diploma in notarial studies is prepared over twenty-four months of work-study, as a trainee notary in an office. The INFN 🔗 points out that this traineeship must start at the same time as the training, so you need to look for your office very early. A student who has already done an internship in an office has a head start: they know the job, and sometimes the office that will host them next.
It tests your plans. Notarial work involves long files, client meetings and formal rigour. An internship lets you check that this daily life suits you before committing to a highly specialised track.
The article becoming a notary describes the whole path.
Types of offices and what they offer
Not all offices offer an intern the same experience.
Rural or small-town offices
A few notaries and a small team, with clients who are individuals, farmers and small businesses. The intern deals with everything: sales of houses and land, estates, gifts, marriage contracts, agricultural leases. They often attend meetings and see the job as a whole.
Medium-sized city offices
Organisation by department begins to appear (family, real estate, business). The intern is attached to a department, with a notary or a clerk as mentor, and follows a larger number of files.
Large urban offices
Several dozen staff, highly structured departments, clients including developers, investors, companies and large estates. The intern discovers technical files (property development, company law, international estates), but within a narrower scope.
| Type of office | What the intern mainly learns | |---|---| | Rural or small town | versatility, direct relationship with clients | | Medium-sized | working in a department, handling many files | | Large urban office | technical files, organisation by specialism |
There is no universally right choice: a versatile first internship is very formative, and a second internship in a more structured office lets you go deeper into an area.
Where to find offers and how to apply speculatively
Sources of offers
- Departmental chambers and regional councils of notaries, which sometimes pass on offers and know which offices take interns.
- INFN sites, which organise information days and help students find an office for the DESN.
- Law faculties, whose notarial law master’s programmes have links with offices in their region, and notarial student associations.
- The profession’s fairs and open days.
- The directory of notaries, which lets you identify the offices in a given area for a speculative application.
The speculative application
This is the main route. A few rules make it effective:
- Target a geographical area consistent with where you study or your plans, rather than sending dozens of emails at random.
- Write to a named notary, after looking at the office and its activity, rather than to a generic address.
- State the period, the length and the framework (an internship under agreement as part of your master’s, a summer internship).
- Attach a one-page CV and a few targeted lines of motivation about the office.
- Follow up once, by email or phone, about ten days later.
The calendar
For a summer internship, start applying in winter. For the master’s internship or the DESN office, several months before the start date. Offices organise themselves early, and the best placements go fast.
Do not forget the rule on internship stipends 🔗: beyond two months in the same office, a minimum stipend is due. For the DESN, the trainee notary is an employee of the office, under a professionalisation contract or an employment contract.
The CV of a student aiming for the notarial profession
A notary reads a student’s CV with three questions in mind: does this candidate really want to be a notary, do they have the basics in estate and property law, will they be reliable with clients?
Header and objective
“Master 1 student in private law, notarial law track, seeking a two-month internship in a notarial office (June-July)”.
Education
The master’s and bachelor’s, with the subjects that matter to a notary: matrimonial property regimes, successions and gifts, property law, real estate law, estate taxation, company law. Grade and ranking if they are good.
Experience
A first internship in an office, even a short one, is described by what you did:
- Before: “Internship at a notary’s office.”
- After: “One-month internship in a rural notarial office: preparing sale files (requests for documents, mortgage searches, planning checks), attending signing appointments, research in succession law.”
Student jobs also count if they show a useful aptitude: dealing with the public, rigorous administrative work, an estate agency, a bank.
Skills and tools
Subjects, legal databases and, if you have used them, deed-drafting software and calculation tools. Languages, useful in border areas or areas with many foreign clients.
The pre-filled notarial clerk CV shows how to present deed preparation tasks, the pre-filled notary CV the full path, and the pre-filled real estate lawyer CV the skills close to those of an office’s real estate department. The article landing an internship in the first year of a master’s in law gives further advice on an M1 student’s CV.
To prepare this CV quickly, the AvocatCV builder offers a sober layout suited to notarial offices, and a clean PDF you can attach as it is to each speculative application.
The interview with the notary
In an office, the interview is often conducted by the notary personally, sometimes with a clerk or head of department. It is generally short and direct.
What is assessed: your motivation for the notarial profession, your basic knowledge of estate and property law, your presentation and your ability to speak to clients, your rigour.
Frequent questions: why the notarial profession, why this office, what you know about the job, a simple question about an estate or a sale, your plans after the master’s.
What to prepare: a two-minute presentation, knowledge of the office (size, activity, location), the basics of matrimonial regimes, successions and property sales, and one or two questions about how the internship is organised.
If the internship goes well, it can open the door to the DESN in the same office, then to a salaried notary position. The article salaried notary, partner or office holder describes these developments.
Frequently asked questions
Can you do an internship in a notarial office during your bachelor’s?
Yes, some offices take bachelor’s students, often for short observation internships. An internship agreement with the university is still required.
Do you need to be in a notarial law master’s to get an internship in an office?
No, but it helps. A student in another private law master’s can obtain an internship if they show genuine interest in the notarial profession and the basics of estate and property law.
Is a notarial office internship paid?
It gives rise to a minimum stipend if it exceeds two months in the same office. During the DESN, the trainee notary is an employee of the office.
Does an internship in a notarial office help for a career outside the notarial profession?
Yes, particularly for careers in real estate law, family law, wealth management and in the legal departments of real estate groups.