Professional Development

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.

The New Year has arrived again, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Students and Members for being part of ILSPA. 2020 may have been an unusual year, but it was also very productive here at the Institute. Along with many other achievements, we launched our Live Online Classes, which enabled more Students to have access to our classes from the comfort of their own homes. Our Legal Secretary Jobs Board has continued to be busy, and our CV team have been working closely with Graduates and Members to help them find their next roles. We have continued to strengthen the relationships with our Partners, which has enabled us to provide excellent resources, discounts and opportunities for the ILSPA community. 

If you are not sure where to start your learning journey, then I suggest you ask yourself what role you want to be in three to five years’ time. What industry do you see yourself in? What new responsibilities would you like? What does your future role look like?  It could be that you are in the same role, but you want to be more confident and be operating at a higher level.  Having an idea of what you want your career to look like in the future will help shape a career plan and focus your learning to achieve these objectives. 

There are two main areas where you may want to focus your learning and development:

Legal mental health charity LawCare has announced a new groundbreaking research study “Life in the Law”.  

With the paralegal profession emerging as the fastest growing in the legal sector, it’s so important to choose the right course – one that is bespoke, fit for purpose and robust.

There are many providers who see a potential market for offering courses, and it is becoming a bit of a minefield, so here are a few tips about what you should be aware of before you take the step to pay for any paralegal course:

Are the paralegal courses expressed to be specifically paralegal, or are they general legal courses?

You’ve unpacked the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, descaled the kettle, updated your Facebook status to say how shocked you are at the amount of limescale in the kettle, made a frothy coffee, posted a photo of the coffee on Instagram and liked every article in your LinkedIn feed. You tell yourself it’s because cleanliness is next to godliness, you need the caffeine and you should engage with your connections. But the real reason is you don’t want to reformat the tables in the 300-page prospectus. Sound familiar?

Here’s another scenario: I took three days to write this article because I had to allow the ideas to develop in my mind before I put pen to paper. Was I delaying or was I procrastinating?

A Personal Assistant (PA) is tasked with carrying out administrative and organisational duties on behalf of an executive in an organisation that may be private, public or non-profit.

Individuals also hire PAs to manage their busy schedules. PAs are required to be flexible and productive in the duties they are assigned, so they should stay motivated. When PAs self-motivate, they develop a drive from within that pushes them to focus on achieving both personal and organisational goals.

Many office support professionals in the early stages of their careers are actively seeking mentors to help them develop and advance in the world of work. However, these professional relationships are by no means one-sided, often offering a range of benefits to mentors and mentees alike.

Despite the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, many Personal Assistants (PAs), Executive Assistants (EAs) and office support professionals are still working from home, meaning they may have a little more time on their hands than they’re used to. If you’re an experienced PA or EA with knowledge to pass on, advice to give and stories to tell, why not invest a few hours each week in the learning and development of an aspiring professional?

Dealing with change is undoubtedly the most stressful thing for humans to have to endure. No, allow me to rephrase that. Stress isn’t caused by change – change becomes stressful when we don’t adapt or roll with the punches. There are times when life throws you a barrage of many small, new – or even just slightly different – situations, people, rules, restrictions and routines, such as moving house or changing jobs. Then there’s the sucker punch of change that you don’t even see coming, the one that leads to an avalanche of sudden difficult decisions – think divorce or losing a loved one. And sometimes life tries to knock you out entirely with a combination of both: a global pandemic that changes absolutely everything, for everyone.

The role of an Assistant requires the ability to establish close-knit relationships and a level of trust that only comes from years of close and consistent social interaction with those you support.

Setting boundaries with anyone in life can be difficult. Pushing back and saying no in your career can be tough, especially when you’re fond of the person you’re working with. However, as important as it is to establish a strong connection with your boss, it is equally as important to create and maintain clear boundaries. What if they’re a workaholic, have back-to-back meetings, send emails 24/7 and expect you to be on the same wavelength as them, all on less than a third of their salary?