Career Advice

I once worked as a secretary for a large law firm which had offices in many countries, and on six of the seven continents. There were quite a few secretaries in the London office who were working their way around the world – just for this one firm! It was a great way to finance their adventures and must have been a massive boost to their CVs when they got home. They illustrated the point that one of the best aspects of secretarial skills is that they are “transferable” – valid in any industry and anywhere in the world.

Planning to get involved

Work experience is one of the best opportunities for you to learn more about Legal Secretary work, employment opportunities and to support your studies of ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course.  You may have completed a legal work experience placement in the past or have significant previous experience in a non-legal environment.

Before you commenced your studies through The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs, it is likely you had a good idea of the area of law in which you would like to work.  However, if this is not the case and you are still pondering exactly what you should do after your course, hopefully this article will provide you with some inspiration and show you that the legal industry is indeed a very diverse one.

The diversity of this industry derives mainly from the multifaceted nature of our legal system itself. When people first consider studying towards any legal qualification, their minds are usually drawn to criminal law. Due to myriad television programmes and films constantly portraying and even glamourizing this pillar of the law, it goes without saying that this seems a very exciting and appealing area to work in.

Moving from Secretary to PA is challenging – but rewarding

More and more these days, law firms are depending on the efforts of their highly skilled support staff to get the job done. Gone are the days when the business revolved entirely around the fee earners. This represents a great opportunity for those Legal Secretaries who are thinking about becoming PAs.

PAs form part of the new “super-support” staff in law firms large and small. Positioned between support staff and fee earners, these staff members bring crucial skills to the mix, which enable the firm to work efficiently and profitably. They often take on management and organisation responsibilities so that fee earners can concentrate on practising law. This makes them valuable to law firms: a good PA’s services will be well rewarded with salary and benefits, because they are extremely difficult for a law firm to replace. 

Do you consider yourself to be a bit of a social media whizz? Loads of Twitter followers, constantly posting on Instagram, reaching out on Facebook? Have you considered that this skill might be something that can advance your career?

Last month we looked at the learning opportunities that are out there which can help you extend your CV and get promotion. One of these is developing a talent for social media, which is increasingly important for law firms, but which not all law firms are confident about. 

If you have been at all concerned about the number of job vacancies that are potentially available to you upon successful completion of your Legal Secretaries Diploma course with us, or are just leaving school or have been considering a change of career, you should certainly find more than a soupçon of inspiration in this article. Whatever your reason for seeking out job information, if you like the idea of a career in law, then you might be interested to know that a record number of law firms have been opening in the United Kingdom lately. 

Increased demand for legal professionals

SecsintheCity, the UK’s #1 job site for PAs and EAs, hosted their first Summer Networking Event last Thursday 9th June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, London - The City. 

The Summer Networking Event provided 70 PAs with an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking over wine and canapés, as well as the chance to sample an array of food, beauty, health and lifestyle products from some of the best brands in the corporate sector.

Sponsored by secretarial recruitment specialists KMK Recruitment, the evening was host to a variety of pop-up boutiques, including:

•    Hemingway Tailors
•    The Headshot Guy
•    Return to Glory
•    Moores of London
•    Little Ondine
•    Chococo

We’ve come a long way, baby

Just over 100 years ago, in December 1912, a woman named Gwyneth Bebb applied to the Law Society to become a solicitor. There was no doubt that she was more than able to be one.

SecsintheCity, the UK’s #1 job site for PAs and EAs, has announced a new event for PAs and EAs – the Summer Networking Event – which will take place on 9 June 2016 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel London - The City.

The event offers PAs and EAs an opportunity to speed-network with high-profile PAs and EAs, including:
-          Jules Clark, PA to the CEO at Eversheds LLP
-          Alison Boler, PA to the SVP of Legal at Sony Music

Mark Doyle, a training expert from The Method will present a workshop on ‘Handling Difficult Situations in the Workplace’.

In addition, the event offers one-to-one CV and career advice and will include pop-up boutiques such as:
-          Jo Malone
-          Chococo
-          Moores of London
-          Little Ondine
-          Return to Glory
-          The Headshot Guy

If you’ve just choked on your coffee after reading the headline to this article, scoffing at the very idea of pursuing a legal career away from the big smoke of the capital, set a little time aside to consider the bigger picture here. 

Okay, so whilst an estimated one-third of the country’s solicitors are said to be working in London, this still means there are another 67% of these legal professionals in other parts of the United Kingdom. In turn, this means plenty of Legal Secretary and PA jobs for you to consider in all parts of the nation.