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[banana1189]

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[Lisa Lowe]

Hello,

Just my thoughts, but it seems like it would be good if you worked out your timings - e.g. do you want to secure a TC ASAP or are you happy to accept it may take a little longer while you spend time finding a 'good' interim job and relocating.

Staying at home v moving out
Is your home based near London? If so, living close to London would make it easier for you to attend open days and legal events - which would help you to secure a TC. Living at home may also give you more time to start your application process - you wont have the hassle of moving.

Also, it may be worth remembering that when you start working full time, you will be spending at lot more time out of the house than in it - you will be leaving earlier and returning later.

Paralegal v non-legal roles
I think paralegal salaries do vary and you may have to accept that youre not going to start on the higher end of the spectrum. But (especially if you stay living at home) it may be a good opportunity to look for short term contracts so you get to experience different areas of law and different firms. If you want to find a TC sooner rather than later, a lower paid role where you can leave at 5pm may also be a good thing, because you'll get more free time to spend on your applications. In terms of finding a paralegal role, I think Linkedin and speaking to recruiters will help. If your end goal is a TC, your first paralegal role doesnt have to be super impressive - the majority of trainees get their training contracts without paralegalling.

If you would prefer to look at other entry level jobs, it may be worth thinking about what area of law you may want to go into and working from there e.g. if you want to be a finance lawyer, look for jobs in the finance industry.

I would just be conscious of finding yourself in a situation where youre spending too long in relocating and finding an interim role when you could be spending this time attending open days and submitting applications. Remember, once you've secured your TC, you could have a year to kill - enough timing to live a year in another city.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Lisa Lowe has provided some great advice above.

To add to that:

• Some paralegal roles work on an hourly basis or with overtime, which means although your base salary might be less than £26k, you could easily earn over that if you are working a higher number of hours
• You might find it hard to find many entry-level jobs paying more than £28k even in cities in Manchester. £26k is above the average starting salary for a graduate and the legal industry will be one of the better-paid sectors.

If you are looking for non-graduate programme jobs, I recommend starting to look and apply for roles about 6-8 weeks before you can start the job. Typically recruitment processes can easily take this amount of time and if you start much earlier, the organisation could expect you to be available before you actually are.

 

[banana1189]

Hello,

Just my thoughts, but it seems like it would be good if you worked out your timings - e.g. do you want to secure a TC ASAP or are you happy to accept it may take a little longer while you spend time finding a 'good' interim job and relocating.

Staying at home v moving out
Is your home based near London? If so, living close to London would make it easier for you to attend open days and legal events - which would help you to secure a TC. Living at home may also give you more time to start your application process - you wont have the hassle of moving.

Also, it may be worth remembering that when you start working full time, you will be spending at lot more time out of the house than in it - you will be leaving earlier and returning later.

Paralegal v non-legal roles
I think paralegal salaries do vary and you may have to accept that youre not going to start on the higher end of the spectrum. But (especially if you stay living at home) it may be a good opportunity to look for short term contracts so you get to experience different areas of law and different firms. If you want to find a TC sooner rather than later, a lower paid role where you can leave at 5pm may also be a good thing, because you'll get more free time to spend on your applications. In terms of finding a paralegal role, I think Linkedin and speaking to recruiters will help. If your end goal is a TC, your first paralegal role doesnt have to be super impressive - the majority of trainees get their training contracts without paralegalling.

If you would prefer to look at other entry level jobs, it may be worth thinking about what area of law you may want to go into and working from there e.g. if you want to be a finance lawyer, look for jobs in the finance industry.

I would just be conscious of finding yourself in a situation where youre spending too long in relocating and finding an interim role when you could be spending this time attending open days and submitting applications. Remember, once you've secured your TC, you could have a year to kill - enough timing to live a year in another city.

This is fabulous advice thank you so much!! Yes so I do live near London, and completely forgot how much it can help to be near these networking events. That was really helpful about looking for interim roles in say the finance sector, i will definitely take this onboard thank you again!

 

[banana1189]

@Lisa Lowe has provided some great advice above.

To add to that:

• Some paralegal roles work on an hourly basis or with overtime, which means although your base salary might be less than £26k, you could easily earn over that if you are working a higher number of hours
• You might find it hard to find many entry-level jobs paying more than £28k even in cities in Manchester. £26k is above the average starting salary for a graduate and the legal industry will be one of the better-paid sectors.

If you are looking for non-graduate programme jobs, I recommend starting to look and apply for roles about 6-8 weeks before you can start the job. Typically recruitment processes can easily take this amount of time and if you start much earlier, the organisation could expect you to be available before you actually are.

Thank you for this Jessica! This is so eye-opening as i didn't realise paralegals could be paid extra. I am definitely trying to be careful about not appearing to be switching career paths to the the law firm I do my training contract with and the company I could be temporarily working for. Thanks again!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you for this Jessica! This is so eye-opening as i didn't realise paralegals could be paid extra. I am definitely trying to be careful about not appearing to be switching career paths to the the law firm I do my training contract with and the company I could be temporarily working for. Thanks again!

It won’t be all roles. But it’s definitely something to check on job descriptions or during the interview process.

 

[Lisa Lowe]

This is fabulous advice thank you so much!! Yes so I do live near London, and completely forgot how much it can help to be near these networking events. That was really helpful about looking for interim roles in say the finance sector, i will definitely take this onboard thank you again!

Glad it was useful and no problem.

Once you start applying, the application process can feel like a part-time job. I understand you want to move out and start living more independently as soon as you finish your LPC, but it may be more time effective to make the most of being able to live at home, get a paralegal/non-legal role which is interesting enough to keep you engaged but easy enough to let you finish at a nice hour without having the worrying about work on the weekends/evenings.

Then in September, all firms will open up applications for their open days, VSs and TCs. Equally, there are lots of different organisations you could get involved with to strengthen your insights into the legal industry and subsequently applications. So it may be worth focusing more efforts on the long term goal! 🦾