Just to provide a little bit of context, I began working for the firm I work for now in August 2020. I started work as a legal secretary, working for a niche family law firm. I primarily worked for a director within the divorce and finance team. Now, 7 months in, I have been promoted to paralegal which I am super excited about. This opportunity is also going to provide me with exposure to a new area of family law, primarily TOLATA/unmarried couples & finance. Prior to working where I am now, I worked as a legal secretary at another local law firm for approximately 1 year. I was naturally going to outgrow the role of legal secretary, although I didn’t expect to be promoted to paralegal quite so quickly as, in reality, 7 months isn’t all that long! Nevertheless, I am so grateful that the firm views me as capable of taking on this new role!
So, what are my tips for internal progression?
- The Firm Itself
Ultimately, the firm itself is going to play a massive part in your progression. Some firms are naturally more career-focused than others. I think it’s fair to say that not every firm is going to be wanting all of their employees to progress and naturally, not all employees can progress i.e. they need employees at all levels in order to meet the needs of the business. I think it is therefore vital to establish your intention from the outset. For example, when I went for my interview for the position of legal secretary, I explained that my long-term career goal is to become a solicitor and that I wanted to find a firm that would support this and allow me to work my way up. Instantly I could tell from the interviewer’s reaction that progression at this firm is something that they were really passionate about. She explained the process of progression, the number of trainees they currently have etc. In contrast, when I had asked about progression opportunities at a previous firm I was told that ‘there isn’t really a procedure in place’ and they didn’t really have any trainees. This firm’s lack of procedure instantly made me think that progression may not be something they naturally encourage. This isn’t to say that progression wasn’t going to be an option at all but just that it may take a longggggggg time. Ensure that you do enough research about a firm, or if there isn’t really much information available then just ask about progression opportunities!
2. Make Your Intentions Known
Following on from what I said previously, it is important that your employer knows of your long term career aspirations so that they can support you. Ultimately, if your employer knows that you would like to progress then they are more likely to give you work that may be more of a challenge/further your abilities. If your employer knows that you would like to progress, you have demonstrated that you are more than capable/worthy and progression still isn’t something that seems to be a possibility, then I think it is appropriate to use a common-sense approach; listen to your gut instinct/reaction as to whether you think a firm will truly want you to progress. I think it is also important to consider the fact that sometimes it may be a case of you having to ask. For example, it may be a case of saying something along the lines of ‘Now that I’ve been here for 6 months (or however long) I feel that I have found my footing and am comfortable in what I am doing. Would it be possible, at some point, to be given some more responsibility/a new challenge?’ Now hopefully at this point your employer will say ‘yes, of course’. Some form of progression may happen right then, or some sort of career progression plan may be put in place. Some employers just may not want to feel like they are burdening you with responsibility that you may not want at a particular time. My advice would always be that if you are in any doubt then ask! The worst that could happen is that your employer says no. If you have asked your employer and they have said that progression will be an option, but then say a few months later nothing has changed, then follow it up. Again, if nothing comes about then it may be time to move on. When discussing progression with my employer, their approach was that they would like me to progress because if they weren’t to let me progress then they would end up losing me as I would have to seek an opportunity elsewhere to further my legal career. I knew therefore that my employer really did want me to progress within the firm and it was lovely of them to recognise this.
3. Go that Extra Mile
In order to progress you need to be worthy of the opportunity. A massive part of progression is having the opportunity to learn and exposure to new opportunities. As a result, you are going to be taught how to do things & be asking a lot of questions. Therefore, your employer will essentially be investing a lot of their time in you and it is ultimately important that you demonstrate you are worthy of their time and opportunity. Ever since I began working at the firm I am at now, I’ve done all that I can to go the extra mile, do whatever I can to make my employer’s life easier, come in early or stay a bit later when necessary etc. For example, if I know that I have a lot on my list then I will go into work a bit earlier so that I can get jobs finished ahead of new work that will arise for that particular day. I also use my initiative wherever possible so that I am one step ahead and so when my employer says ‘can you do this’ I can say that it is already done which makes their lives easier. Being a team player is also, I believe, a massive element; if you would like to progress and have others help you to do so, then I feel that it is important to reciprocate this and help others when you can. These small acts of kindness do add up! I feel that because I do as much as I can to help others and put in the extra time, I do give back to my employer and feel that I am worthy of them investing their time in me too. I believe that my attitude to work, attention to detail, desire to help others and being extremely hard-working were the main factors which have enabled me to progress so far in my legal career.
4. Demonstrate your Interest
Finally, you need to show that you have a genuine interest in the field you wish to progress in because otherwise…why would you want to progress? I’m constantly asking questions about certain tasks/cases, discussing things with lawyers, following things up i.e. outcomes of hearings. I feel that, personally, when I am truly interested in something then I do try my best at it because, naturally, I want to do well. I also find that when I show an interest in something, then I am given more challenging tasks/opportunities. So I do truly believe that showing you have a genuine interest is vital.
Hope that this helps 🙂
legallifeofabby.law.blog 