Career Advice

If you have been a legal secretary for some time, and you are wondering where to take your career next, setting up your own paralegal practice may be a journey worth making. As with most journeys, planning helps things go smoothly, and before you start delivering paralegal services direct to businesses and consumers, there are several issues to consider. These include (vitally) whether you have sufficient qualifications and/or experience, the demand for your new business, and awareness of the dos and don’ts.

Competency

If you are thinking about advancing your legal career, you have choices. It’s a good idea to review the different roles and which route you might take.

There are two traditional legal professionals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: solicitors and barristers. Both are statutorily regulated professions, meaning both have membership bodies and regulatory bodies and the only people who can refer to themselves as ‘solicitors’ or ‘barristers’ are those who have been through the prescribed training process for either profession. Indeed, it is illegal to refer to oneself as a solicitor or barrister without formally being on the solicitors’ or barristers’ register.

Although resigning from a position can be a daunting prospect for most people, it’s actually very common, especially at the start of the year.

In fact, data from website ‘Statista’ found that ‘in the first quarter of 2022 approximately 354,000 job-to-job resignations took place in the United Kingdom, which was one of the highest number of resignations taking place in a single quarter during this provided time period.’

But even if the prospect is a welcome one, it’s important to follow the best practice when handing in your notice to ensure leave your position with appropriate courtesy and respect. Part of doing this correctly is by handing in a formal resignation letter that includes all the necessary information regarding your departure from the company.

After the pandemic reshaped the universal approach to working arrangements, many more of us have been reaping the benefits that remote work can offer. Between the 24 million people who were believed to be working from home during the pandemic, they saved an estimated £1 billion every week on costs related to going into the office. As such, it’s understandable that when moving jobs, you may want to hold on to the freedom and flexibility that comes with this more modern set up.

Whilst you could want these reassurances during the interview, it can be a potentially tricky subject to broach.

There are many employees who are fooled by their job titles. An estimated 200,000 plus paralegals work in a variety of fields and for diverse employers, who are unaware that they are paralegals and can apply for membership of a professional body, giving them status.

Identifying a paralegal

This is simple: does the work they do involve any sort of legality? For example, are they involved in drafting or reviewing commercial contracts or employment contracts? Do they do any legal research to assist someone in their department? Are they involved in compliance or regulation ensuring that statutory criteria are adhered to? Are they involved in reviewing documents in relation to childcare proceedings?

Zoom interviews are becoming more commonplace in today's digital age. Conducting video interviews has numerous advantages:

Since the employee does not have to travel, video interviews save time and money.

It is not unexpected that many people find it difficult to request higher pay. Especially once their job hunt is over and they have an offer. They do not want to risk the opportunity now that they've made it this far.

However, as the UK HR experts point out, hiring in many sectors has surpassed or even reached pre-pandemic levels. On top of that, there is a shortage of skilled professionals, increasing competition for top talent and driving up salaries.

If you do not negotiate a salary offer while having specialised skills and a strong CV, you may lose a huge amount of well-deserved money.

Most recruiting managers will give you time to consider the offer and will not demand a response right away. Here are some pay negotiation techniques to help you politely and confidently request what you want.

You’ve probably heard it before: your self-esteem impacts every part of your life. The truth is, if you want to be successful at work, you need to feel confident in yourself and the value that you bring. Building self-esteem isn’t easy, but it is possible!

Ask for feedback

One of the best ways to build your self-esteem at work is to ask for feedback. Whether it’s from your boss or colleagues, asking for constructive criticism will help you improve yourself and grow as an individual.

Here are some tips on how to do this:

‘Quiet Quitting’ is the new buzz phrase, born from lockdown where people have started to re-evaluate their priorities and work/life balance. Gathering speed on social media, it essentially means ‘just staying within the parameters of your job description’ – doing no more, and no less, than what is required by your contract. For example, no more staying late at work, checking emails outside of your contracted work hours, or volunteering to do the ‘nice to have but not really necessary’ jobs, such as organising social events outside of office hours.

When it comes to job hunting, people get overwhelmed by the number of numerous strategies at their disposal. Some may send hundreds of applications to companies hiring employees, while others may reach out to acquaintances within the industry to help secure a job. Nonetheless, it all comes down to one thing – networking. Networking doesn’t mean pestering people with your problems. With limited time on our hands, it is only possible to network with a few people, especially those within your field.