Zanub Najmi

Getting back into legal work after a long career break? – a Q&A with Louis Sebastian, Legal Service Manager at North West Leicestershire District Council

We recently spoke to one of our legal candidates about her experience getting back into work after a period off. This can often be a challenging and stressful time for candidates, many of whom may be looking for a role that can work around their home life. In this follow up blog Senior Consultant Sara Robinson spoke to Louis Sebastian, Legal Services Manager at North West Leicestershire District Council, to get his thoughts on how we can support more legal candidates back into work, and what benefits he thinks some time off from work can have. What do you think some reservations hiring managers may have when looking at taking on someone who has had a long career break? I imagine the biggest reservation candidates have will be around their knowledge being up-to-date and what the training implications are because of this. They may also have reservations around their soft skills – things like time management. Taking a career break can impact your confidence, so candidates need to be given the assurance that they still have what it takes to be successful. Candidates coming back into work after a long break will also be facing a big shift in their routine, so some may also worry about how they are going to cope with getting back into the routine of work, something that can be challenging for the best of us. Do you think it’s particularly difficult to get back into work after a career break in sectors like legal? The legal sector moves very quickly. Not just with regards to changes in law and its underlying processes but also in the regulatory environment. It takes time and dedication to stay on top of everything which can be very difficult for practicing legal professionals, never mind those that have had a period of time off work. What sort of things do you think candidates can do to re-fresh their CV/experience to make it easier to get back into work? There are a lot of training courses out there that retuning candidates can take advantage of. For example, we have the LLG courses that would be relevant to people looking to get back in to local government legal work. These are important to build up knowledge and show hiring managers that you are committed to getting back into work. Just having some evidence on your CV that you have made some efforts to re-fresh your experience can go a long way to calming any reservations a hiring manager may have. Many places can see a career break as a negative thing, what do you think some of the benefits of having one can be? A lot of people have a long career break for family reasons and there are various skills that candidates can pick up as a result. I know first-hand that it can give you a real appreciation for time management. Candidates can also build up skills in co-ordinating and managing people that are transferrable as well. I often see the lines blurring between the skills I pick up in work and the ones I have picked up at home. When looking at CVs of candidates I am receptive to examples from outside of a work environment to demonstrate the attributes I am looking for. Candidates just need to ensure they detail whatever skills they have learnt on their CV as there are always ways to show career breaks in a positive light. What do you think organisations can do to try and support/encourage people to come back into work? Keeping on an open mind when you are going out to recruit and considering applications from all candidates is a good start. Hiring managers also need to ensure their adverts are accessible and do not put some people off. I have seen some firms state specifically that they are open to applications from people that have had a career break on the advert which I think is a great step forward. I imagine that a lot of people count themselves out of a lot of roles as soon as they read an advert, so it is important to make the role look attainable to as many candidates as possible. When employers know that someone is leaving for a maternity or career break they could add them into an alumni association or a group that enables them to keep in touch with the business and, in this sector, law. This is something that we had at my old firm and whilst it is more of a social thing, it is a way for people to keep in touch. It could be expanded to include details of training course, which would be helpful to someone who is looking to re-fresh their skills. Do you have any other advice for candidates that may have had a career break but are getting back into the legal sector? Locum roles are great as they allow candidates to gain hands on experience without the employer having to commit to a permanent contract in the first instance. Recruiters can play a vital role here, especially in helping legal candidates gain the experience needed to get back into work. Recruiters work with hiring managers daily and will be able to look for suitable vacancies and support candidates in finding a role. Locum roles often come up with very little notice, so being in touch with a recruiter can be helpful in learning about new opportunities first. Starting off on a locum contract can help and this is also where recruiters can be a real asset. They can work with candidates to build up experience through locum contracts and then use this to help them gain permanent employment, if that is what the candidate is looking for. There are lots of vacancies in the legal sector, particularly in local government and hiring managers are struggling to find suitable candidates. Doing more to support candidates that are looking to get back into work could help. If hiring managers were more open, they could widen their talent pool and fill more posts whilst assisting legal candidates back into work. Can we help you? If you are currently off work and looking to secure a new opportunity or are thinking about taking a career break and would like some advice, get in touch. A member of our legal recruitment team would be more than happy to help. Alternatively, you can check out our latest legal jobs here.

A day in the life of locum childcare lawyer Danielle Hammond

Recently we sat down with Danielle Hammond, a qualified lawyer from New Zealand who has recently moved to the UK to pursue a career in childcare law. Danielle is a Locum Childcare Lawyer working within a London Borough via Sellick Partnership since arriving from New Zealand 6 months ago. There is currently a huge demand in local authorities across the UK for Childcare Lawyers of all levels of experience. There has been a large increase in childcare lawyer job vacancies across the legal locum sector and we have noticed there is a shortage of experienced qualified lawyers to fulfil these positions. As a result New Zealand/Australian qualified lawyers have been enormously popular and tend to do remarkably well due to their transferable skills and knowledge within the childcare legal sector. In this Q&A, Consultant Zanub Najmi gains some inside information from Danielle Hammond, a qualified lawyer who has recently moved from New Zealand to get an insight into her experience on transitioning from a government department in New Zealand to a local authority in London. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and experience? I studied law, psychology and social policy at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. Going into university I always wanted to work in child protection law. During university I did an internship at the Police Prosecutions in Wellington. After University I was lucky enough to get to work as a solicitor at Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children. This role involved doing some benefit prosecutions but was mainly child care/protection law. After working for two years, I was ready to explore the rest of the world. What made you want to move over to the UK? My life plan was always to come over to the UK, experience British life and travel all over Europe. England is so close to Europe and getting anywhere from New Zealand takes forever! What made you want to work in local authority childcare? I have always been really passionate about human rights – especially children’s rights. They are so vulnerable and you don’t get to choose the world you come into, it’s honestly luck if you get a great set of parents. Being involved with childcare law, it is an area where you actually make a significant life altering change to better someone’s life. What was the transition like moving from The Ministry of Children in New Zealand to a local authority in London? The transition itself hasn’t been too difficult. The law is essentially the same, just different numbers and abbreviations. The people you work with are really kind and helpful too. The main difference I have found would be the role we play. In New Zealand we were both the advocate and the solicitor, and although I know that is an option here I haven’t really had the opportunity. The other difference would be the tight timeframes in each case. 26 weeks for a case to be completed can go so fast, whereas at home in New Zealand the case is generally in court for their whole childhood. Has the move to United Kingdom been worthwhile in regards to your work? And if so, why? Coming over here I have been exposed to so many different scenarios. The population of London is so much greater than New Zealand, so there is more exposure to unusual cases. The cases involve more diverse cultures and tend to have more of an international element than I would be exposed to in New Zealand. The Courts and the Local Authorities have a more varied and vast range of resources available to them and I feel I am learning about different solutions and how they can benefit the client and the child. What is it you enjoy about the role? Which aspects do you find challenging? I like that every day can be a different challenge and that I am constantly being exposed to different situations. The people that are involved in childcare law I have found are always welcoming and friendly - you easily fall into being a part of a team. Working in London is flexible in a way, as most Local Authorities offer a work from home day each week. The challenging part would be the roll-over of cases, each case is only meant to be before the court for 26 weeks, which can make timeframes very tight, but it’s still exhilarating when a case comes together at the last moment. You have now been working within the public sector as a Childcare Lawyer for over 4 months. How are you finding it? I feel like I am really starting to settle in and I’m becoming more confident day by day. I’ve been to two separate Local Authorities and have been lucky as they both use the same Central Court, which has helped with consolidating the court processes. The workload in general tends to vary depending on how smooth the cases are. From time to time there can be issues that arise which can be very time consuming. Overall I’m really enjoying this experience. How was your recruitment process with Sellick Partnership? The process was seamless, I started the process about a month prior to arriving in the UK. I sent my CV through to Sellick Partnership and had a chat over the phone about what job areas they thought I would be suitable for. They helped me alter my CV so that it would relate to the UK local authorities and that my New Zealand experience was easily understood and translated well. Sellick Partnership then managed to set me up with interviews within a week. They set them up so that I would have the interviews clustered together for time efficiency and even sorted out what tube I needed to take. The team at Sellick Partnership are really lovely and after every interview they would call so I could have a debrief about how the interview went. They were really lovely and ensured that I received a good rate and could go on holidays that I had already organised. Do you have any words of advice for a New Zealand/Australian qualified solicitor moving to London/UK? Definitely have a chat to the team at Sellick Partnership before you arrive, just for ease of mind as they give you a realistic understanding of the job opportunities in the UK. Have the recruiters look over your CV, to ensure your skills and qualifications translate to the UK market. Also get a criminal record check completed in your home country before you leave, as you don’t want to be waiting for over a month when you arrive in the UK for your home country check to come through. About Sellick Partnership Sellick Partnership is a market leading recruitment firm within the legal sector with over 600 locums currently working for across the UK. We specialise in a range of sectors and areas within Legal such as public sector local authorities, central government, in-house and the private sector. Sellick Partnership will provide you consistent support throughout your job search process from the initial screening, feedback on CV to being placed in your role and thereafter thus making the procedure as smooth and efficient as possible. Myself and the public sector team worked with Danielle prior to her moving to the UK to understand and establish her experience and requirements. Utilising this information and helping to tailor CV to the area of law she required. We were also able to set up multiple interviews for Danielle. Due to the great relations we have with the London Boroughs it was easier to manage her interviews, feedback and multiple job offers she received. What next If you would like some additional information or are interested in working as a lawyer within a local authority in the UK, please feel free to get in touch. We regularly work with lawyers with very little local authority experience and we would be more than happy to help you. Alternatively, you can visit our legal locum jobs page and view our latest vacancies.