Working as a temp is a brilliant way to explore different industry sectors and positions, and to gain valuable skills and experience. Many of our candidates end up securing a permanent position through their temporary placements, rather than going through the normal interview process, so a temp position can be a great introduction. Temping offers flexibility to fit around other commitments or to fill a gap in between permanent employment while you are job hunting. Read on to explore how temping works and what the opportunities are for turning a temp job into a permanent position.

What is a temp role?

We would like to highlight five key skills you can develop to ensure success in your career. Some of these skills are not exclusive to law, and you may already possess strengths in these areas. If you identify a skill that you need to work on, consider following some of the tips as a starting point for creating your own personal development plan.

Working in a team

Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Assistant Company Secretary – Thomas Thor Associates

Location: Harwell

Salary: £40,000 - £55,000

Are you an experienced and qualified Company Secretary with experience of working with busy and demanding Boards and their Committees?

Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) is looking to appoint a dedicated Assistant Company Secretary, reporting to the Head of Legal and Company Secretary, to be responsible for providing corporate governance advice and company secretarial support to the Board of Directors and each of its four Committees.

View the full job description here:           

We want you to tell us how the legal profession has changed in the past year. Take part in TotallyLegal’s annual audience survey to have your say.

Last year was more chaotic and tumultuous than most others in recent history, with individuals and organisations across the world feeling unique and largely negative impacts from 2020’s many twists and turns.

TotallyLegal – the UK’s leading legal jobs board and a trusted partner of ILSPA – wants to learn and in turn share more with you about how the legal profession changed in 2020.

How has the job market shifted? What has been the impact on salaries and bonuses? How many legal professionals were put on furlough?

One way to shift your character – and your life – in a new direction is to set a goal that’s incompatible with the limitations of your current character.

In other words, set a goal that you would never set. Then work diligently to pursue and achieve that goal.

Thinking you can’t do something because it’s out of character for you is still just a thought. You can change your thoughts, but sometimes it’s easier to change your actions and behaviours and let your thoughts play catch-up. Sometimes thoughts of who you are just get in your way and slow you down.

When you try to change yourself at the level of thought first, sometimes that works, but other times it will just lead you into a circular trap of thinking, thinking and more thinking – and never actually doing, exploring and experiencing.

With a third national lockdown in force, many legal professionals are feeling increasingly distant from their colleagues. Our recent Working From Home Survey found that 22% of legal professionals think the biggest challenge of remote working is not seeing their colleagues every day. Additionally, 21% of our audience feel less productive when working from home, and 36% of these blame their reduced output on infrequent opportunities to collaborate with colleagues.

So, what steps can we take to ensure we’re staying connected to our colleagues and remaining productive while working remotely?

The COVID-19 pandemic has created some difficult times for people around the world, but those who have lost their jobs due to the resulting economic downturn are among those who have been most seriously impacted. If this relates to you, these developments can feel devastating – but there are steps that you can take to accelerate your journey back to employment.

In most cases, those who have been made redundant as a result of COVID-19 will not have lost their jobs due to any problems with their job performance or capabilities. As such, even though the current jobs market may seem demanding, it is important to remember that your credentials are just as impressive as they ever were.

If you are currently studying a Legal Secretary course with ILSPA, there is a high chance you will be required to submit at least one achievement test as part of your course. Achievement tests are designed to assess your legal knowledge and for you to show how well you have understood the course material. For this reason, they are a very important part of your course. Your achievement test result is a reflection of your grasp of a particular area of law and goes towards your final grade.

Here is some advice on how best to complete the achievement tests.

1. Study the course material thoroughly

Here we are in the first month of a brand new year. What lies ahead of us is a clean slate of 12 months in which to seize opportunities, accomplish goals and reach new heights in our professional and personal development.  

If your goal is to have a calm, productive and joyous 2021, you may have been looking into ways to manage stress more effectively. In that case, we have excellent news for you: it is possible to find calm in a stressful situation. We may not be able to completely get rid of all the stressors in our lives, but with a few clever tricks, stress can be managed.

On the evening of Thursday 12 November, 20 of the UK’s most talented Personal Assistants, Executive Assistants and Office Managers celebrated their successes at the ninth annual PA of the Year Awards.

Hosted by niche business support job board SecsintheCity, the awards were held virtually for the first time. Logging on to Zoom for the awards ceremony, all the hopeful finalists and their supportive bosses fully embraced the event’s traditional black-tie dress code.

Tanya Jennings, PA to a partner at global law firm Freshfields, took the time to answer a few questions about her career so far and what it’s like to be named the 2020 Legal PA of the Year.