CHANGING CAREER? / GUEST POST

It isn’t really a typical ‘Once upon a time’ type of tale although, in a lot of ways it bears similarities to the famous old tales that teach us about life, and it’s many possibilities. It also teaches us that change is worth making a little effort for. And it teaches us that, with a little expert advice, planning and hard work; real change is something that anyone can accomplish. Changing careers can be daunting, who wants the upheaval when you're comfortable and quite content, but I think in order to push ourselves to what we know we are capable of, sometimes we just have to go out of our comfort zone. Today, I'm going to be telling you exactly how I did just that.
So...Where to begin? My life was very busy, after all being a working mum, I was having to juggle my work-life balance very carefully. I was working in an office job that paid reasonably well, but not brilliantly when I considering the pressures and the commute into London.

A Career with work-life balance and good pay
I decided that I wanted little better for myself and my little ones, and why not? At the end of the day we all want a stable career and perhaps even a job with a better pay packet. However, I wanted a career that offers the option of working a little closer to home, making it easier for me to spend more time with family and still earn, I've always been a bit of a home bird so it felt like a natural move. I also wanted a stable career that I could depend on. Nobody wants to run the risks of redundancies or reduced hours when you're trying to provide for your family and in my current job that was definitely a possibility. Ever since I watched crime dramas, I always found legal very interesting and desired to be involved in the industry. Thus stumbling upon legal secretary's and what the job role entails, I began to research legal secretary jobs around London, learning what they earn, what it was like to do the job and, most importantly; the skills and qualifications I needed to realise my dream. Legal Secretary Jobs were a good fit for me, as I already had an office background. However I had to build on this and get a new range of skills to start being seriously considered for legal secretary jobs, as basic office experience wasn't going to completely cut it.

I sought an accredited certificate or qualification. I found a few options in London, but focused on CPD Accredited Legal Secretary Training Courses. This was helped massively when I spoke to a friend who works as a Legal Executive and they mentioned their managers were on CPD training. I dug into this and realised that Solicitors and other legal professionals must take CPD training to keep up to date. At this point I realised that a CPD course would carry weight in the Legal Industry.
On my way to becoming a fully accredited legal secretary, I learnt everything about the different aspects of the role and became fully competent in all of them; the course gave me skills that I don't think I would have learnt elsewhere:

• How to manage and effectively work with, and handle legal documents
• A sound knowledge of legal procedures
• A good understanding of the UK legal structure
• Excellent experience in typing
• The skills needed to perform first class audio transcription
• The best letter writing skills
• Client care skills
• How to handle and perform diary management

It wasn't easy, training and working at the same time but I knew that some small term pain would pay off in long term gains for both me and my family. My new career was turning into a very real possibility. It felt like forever searching for legal secretary jobs, some were close but not the right hours and others that seemed perfect just felt too far away. Before long I found one close to home, the pay was excellent, the commute far less than before, and that dream of a good work-life balance; that happened too! It's so easy to settle in a job rather than push for your career, I was guilty of it for so long myself. People often think that making big decisions is easier after a lottery win, or some other incredible, life changing experience, but no. The truth is, anyone at all can make a similar choice; to change career or improve their existing skills, it doesn’t just relate to me and my legal secretary job, it is universal The career ladder isn’t exclusively for other people; it’s for you and me, for everyone, we can all live happily ever after. Find out about Legal Secretary Courses - here

*This is a sponsored guest post.