Katie Beverley
Senior Consultant
7th Floor, Phoenix House, 3 South Parade, Leeds, LS1 5QX
- Specialism: Legal
- Sector: Private Practice
- Roles: Locum
- Location: North West
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Insight in Legal
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A guide to being a legal locum in the public sector
Are you a legal candidate considering a locum job but unsure of what it entails or how to make the move? Do not worry, you are not alone! Legal candidates often tell us they might consider becoming a locum but are confused about pay rates, length of contracts and how they can move between roles easily. In this guide, Consultant Sara Robinson explains how to be a successful locum, gives examples of what locum job opportunities are available and answers questions we commonly get asked by legal candidates at all levels. For many legal candidates, the prospect of becoming a locum is a daunting one. This is because candidates often think it is a confusing and complicated path to take, however this could not be further from the truth. Many of my candidates regularly take my advice and never look back after securing a legal locum job quickly and without complication. I speak to legal candidates everyday about the pros and cons of locum work so I have created this guide to relieve concerns and help more legal candidates that may be considering the move I have created this guide to provide an overall view of what to expect as a locum and to help you decide if it is the right career path for you! What will I get paid as a legal locum and what are the benefits? Without a doubt, one of the biggest benefits of moving into the legal locum market is the pay. Legal locum candidates can enjoy healthy salaries than can often be higher than that of permanent employees, making locum assignments very attracting for candidates with the right skills. There are three main reasons why locums are paid so well. Firstly, roles come up at short notice and candidates are urgently needed meaning that legal locums can charge a premium for their services. Secondly, as a legal locum you are expected to be more flexible than a permanent member of staff, whether that is picking up project work or helping with ad-hoc tasks around business needs. A lot of our roles arise due to an increase in workload and as a locum you are expected to support the team in whatever way you can! Thirdly, you will sometimes have to work unsupervised, positions often arise to backfill a permanent member of staff that has moved on. The public sector is a busy environment and you will not always have supervised support. How will I be paid as a legal locum? There are a number of different ways that you can be paid when you are a legal locum within the public sector. The most popular form of payment is through an umbrella company. It is incredibly simple to sign up to and choose an umbrella company. At Sellick Partnership there are a number of umbrella companies we currently work with, if you give one of them a call they will be more than happy to run through the process with you and answer any questions! Once you have signed up to an umbrella provider the process is a simple one. You put a timesheet in each week for the hours you have worked, once this has been approved by your line manager we pay the umbrella company and they pay you directly. Whatever goes into your bank account each week is entirely yours, all of your taxes and national insurance deductions are sorted out by the umbrella company. Your second option is to be paid on a PAYE basis through our payroll, meaning you are technically an employee of Sellick Partnership. This means that you will be paid through Sellick Partnership rather than the company you work for or an umbrella company. With this option you can have your holiday pay accruing into a separate pot for when you want to take some time off, or you can have it rolled up into your basic hourly rate. Due to recent changes in legislation, many public sector roles now fall inside of IR35. This means you can no longer work through your own limited company anymore and one of the benefits of doing so would be to offset your expenses against your tax, meaning more money in your pocket. This is something you cannot do when working PAYE or through an umbrella company, however we have definitely seen an increase in the sort of rates on offer to account for this. Typical hourly rates and salaries of legal locums Locum solicitor rates vary depending on the type of role and organisation, where it is based and the flexibility they can offer. However, to give you an idea of the types of rates you can expect: A qualified and experienced Solicitor with previous local authority experience can expect to earn approximately £35-£45 per hour, which equates to around £68-£88k annual salary. A newly qualified Solicitor can expect to earn around £20-£25 per hour which is approximately £39-£49k annually. An experienced Paralegal with previous local authority experience should achieve approximately £15-20 per hour which equates roughly to an annual salary of £29-£39K. Graduates or Legal Assistants entering the locum market can expect to earn £10-£14 per hour, or an annual salary of £20-£29K. How much flexibility or freedom will I have as a legal locum? Legal candidates that want more flexibility should consider becoming a legal locum. One of the most common reasons my candidates want to move into the legal locum market is to try and obtain a better work/life balance. Locum candidates that have the desired skillsets will often be offered a degree of flexibility that is not routinely offered to permanent members of staff. Examples include part-time hours, home working, and flexible working hours. This is of considerable benefit to people with school age children or other caring responsibilities, and something my candidates love about locum work. We also find that candidates move into the locum market as they want to take more time to travel or spend with their family. For example, a number of my candidates work as a locum as it gives you the opportunity to work for a period of time and then take a few months off to travel, whilst not hugely impacting on your take home pay. Locum work allows you to earn more money in a shorter space of time! Will being a legal locum help me develop my legal skills? As a legal locum you will be able to constantly develop your skills and progress professionally. This can be anything from new IT or case management systems or supporting your colleagues in new areas of law. Each public sector organisation, such as local authorities, universities, housing associations and charities, are all run in very different ways, allowing you to build up a bank of experience often unparalleled to permanent legal professionals on the market. This is also a fantastic way of expanding on your skills, and trying out new areas of law that you may not have previously considered. What will my job opportunities be as a legal locum? The possibilities are endless as a legal locum, especially if you continuously develop your skills and experience within a niche sector or area. You could use locum work as a stop gap between permanent positions, or like many of my current candidates, decide locum work is the best career choice for you. We have some locums who want to stay in the market for a prolonged period and become what we call ‘career locums.’ However, some of our candidates also use it is an opportunity to work at the same time as they look for a permanent job, meaning that they can continue to earn and develop their skills. Being a legal locum can also give you the opportunity to try out a new organisation and location until you find a position that suits you for the long-term. We have an impressive record of candidates working for us moving into permanent employment from locum roles. It is also worth stressing that being a locum does not stop you from moving up the career ladder, in fact it can open up its own opportunities for the right candidate. There are chances to take on more responsibility and move into a more senior role or to start picking up matters in different areas of law to broaden your experience. Common misconceptions or apprehensions legal candidates have about becoming a legal locum One of the biggest worries I hear from legal candidates is about the length of assignments. Many of the candidates I speak to think that as a locum they will only work for a couple of weeks or a month at a time. That is not the case. Within the public sector we find that the roles tend to be for three months as a minimum, however we have candidates that have been in the same assignment for years! This means that you can still get job security as a legal locum whilst enjoying the benefits as well. Also, if you can be flexible with how far you will travel, there is nothing stopping you from working for most of the year. That is also not to say you have to work at the same organisation for a long period of time. It is important to regularly stay in touch with your recruitment consultant, and when you feel it is time to move on they will be more than happy to help you secure another legal locum assignment. It is also important for legal locums to remember that they still do have employment rights; we find that many candidates registering with us are surprised to hear that they are entitled to holiday pay, sick pay, or pension contributions. Our locum candidates regularly contact us to say how much they enjoy their assignments. If you are interested, or want to discuss what legal locum jobs we currently have available, feel free to contact me directly or visit our legal locum jobs page to view our current vacancies. Alternatively, you can keep up to date with all of our latest news and resources for legal locums on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or the Insights section of our website.
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My journey as an apprentice at Sellick Partnership - Eleanor Malaney
Apprentices are a key component of our business and we are extremely proud of the success of our apprenticeship scheme. Eleanor Malaney joined us just over a year ago and has already progressed into an Administrator role with our legal recruitment team. Here, Eleanor recalls her experience as an apprentice at Sellick Partnership and why it was the best decision for her. Why did you decide to take a role as Apprentice Administrator at Sellick Partnership? At first it was the awards and accreditations that Sellick Partnership have achieved that really caught my attention. To have so many awards that demonstrate commitment to their staff was great to see. I was also struck by their successful apprenticeship scheme from hearing about it throughout the interview process. There are already a number of people in the business that have successfully completed their qualification and now working full time as permanent employees. That is exactly what I wanted to find. A company that would assist me in my learning, but somewhere I could also grow and develop professionally. Why did you decide to take the apprenticeship route? I have never really been that academic so I knew university was not going to be for me. I do not learn well that way. I much prefer learning whilst I am doing things, so learning whilst working was an obvious step for me to take. I was lucky enough to find an apprenticeship studying business administration through college which I thoroughly enjoyed. I then looked for a way I could take my qualification further and found Sellick Partnership. What was your first few weeks as an apprentice like? My first few weeks were incredibly busy but so enjoyable. The team at Sellick Partnership really helped me get to grips with all the basics that are essential in recruitment – for example reviewing CVs, updating the CRM system and taking candidate calls. By learning the basics so early on I was able to get a great grounding, and now I feel like I am able to add value, and assist the teams in their day-to-day activities. What was your favourite part about being an apprentice? The best and most interesting aspect of my journey so far has been learning from such knowledgeable people. Each and every employee at Sellick Partnership has something different to offer in terms of sharing their knowledge which is invaluable to my learning. I am learning so much about the legal sector and the recruitment industry, whilst developing my business admin skills at the same time, which I don’t feel I personally could have done if I had decided to go to university. Why do you think apprenticeships are important? Apprenticeships give young people more opportunities to succeed. If it wasn’t for the apprenticeship route I am not sure what I would be doing. I know I did not want to go to university, but at the same time I know I want a successful career. This apprenticeship is giving me that opportunity. Not only am I able to learn from highly knowledgeable experts, but I am also working in a company that I can see myself growing and developing with. What is your advice to anyone thinking about apprenticeships? My biggest piece of advice would be to never be scared of asking too many questions. Being an apprentice is all about learning, and you should never feel scared, and think asking questions is wrong. This will help you expand your knowledge and grow with any business you are in and will grasping as much knowledge as possible will greatly improve your chances of being offered a permanent position at the end of your apprenticeship. Our apprentices love the opportunities they get to succeed here at Sellick Partnership. To find an apprenticeship role at Sellick Partnership and find out how you could start a career in recruitment, get in touch and speak with our Internal Talent Manager, Simon Briffa. Or, if you are still unsure if an apprenticeship is right for you, read more stories here from Sarah Childs and Sufia Yazdjerd.
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10 Twitter accounts legal professionals need to follow
Are you a commercially minded legal professional who is short on time but needs to stay on top of current trends, challenges and competitor activity for the good of your business? Twitter is a great way for you to stay ahead of the game, and get the insights and industry know-how you need to succeed. Give these Twitter accounts a follow today, and start engaging with some of the best of your legal profession. As the number of solicitors qualified to work in England and Wales continue to rocket (up a massive 36% from ten years ago) and the demand for commercially minded lawyers outstrips supply, the need to save time becomes an essential trait for lawyers. Plus, increasingly, our clients are seeking legal candidates who are aware of current affairs, trends, challenges and competitor activity and who can apply this knowledge to make strategic decisions and contribute to the growth of their organisation. However, with 270 million Twitter users as of January 2019, and the average lawyer we work with having a large workload and very little time, it can often be difficult to sift through the thousands of accounts relevant to you. To give you a helping hand, we have listed the top Twitter accounts most useful to legal professionals who need to be commercially focussed. 1. @Lawsocgazette – Law Society Gazette’s official Twitter page offers a concise feed featuring top daily legal headlines along with links to a range of topics such as opinion pieces on Brexit’s impact on the legal sector, reports on work/life balance for solicitors and even careers advice for practising solicitors. 2. @LocGovLawyer – Local Government Lawyer provides news, analysis, events and jobs covering legal practice in both local government and the wider public sector. 3. @LegalWeek – Legal Week’s feed is regularly updated with key news and insight for business lawyers, offering advice for both novice and seasoned legal professionals. 4. @Legal500 – Legal 500 is a leading guide to law firms and solicitors in the UK. More than four million users visit The Legal 500 website and their Twitter account is a great spot for all the latest news, industry rankings and resources. A must for any legal professional! 5. @TheLawyermag – The Lawyer Magazine's official feed is full of news, events and insights within the legal sector across the glove. A highly respected publications, and one almost every legal professional will find interesting. A great resource if you want to keep up-to-date! 6. @JoshuaRozenberg –Joshua is Britain's best-known commentator on the law. He previously trained as a Lawyer and transitioned to a BBC journalist and regularly comments on breaking legal stories. Top tip, check out Joshua’s followers if you want to expand your reach and network with legal professionals across the globe! 7. @GdnLaw – Arguably the best of the national press, The Guardian Law’s Twitter feed features breaking legal news from both the UK and international markets, highlighting prominent legal professionals and offers careers advice. 8. @Lawyerist – The Lawyerist gives legal porfesisonals of all levels light-hearted insight into the legal world, with news, events, opinions and memes on current affairs. 9. @Legalcheek – Legal Cheek’s Twitter feed provides comic relief for those in the legal sector, often highlighting the latest news with a humorous perspective. We love their weekly roundup of legal news every Monday! 10. @GlobalLegalPost – Global Legal Post provides an excellent rundown of the globes legal news, analysis and events. 11. @fdelond – Prof Fiona de Londras is a human rights lawyer with a great reputation and following. She is a practicing lawyer, self-proclaimed feminist and immigrant and is the current Professor if Global Legal Studies Birmingham University. Tweeting about everything from Brexit to abortion law, her feed is sure worth a follow. 12. @SellickGroup – no legal Twitter list would be complete without our own Twitter page! Our legal community follows us to stay-up-to-date with the legal jobs market, get the latest insights from our expert legal recruitment consultants and news related to the legal sector. Be sure to follow us for the latest news , events , press coverage and legal jobs. If you found this blog useful and are looking for a new legal opportunity we would love to hear from you. Check out our latest legal jobs today, or contact me directly by calling 0161 834 1642 or email me on michael.bailey@sellickpartnership.co.uk. Or, for further information on how to use social media in your job search or tips on developing your online brand as a lawyer, check out our candidate resources page.
