Unemployment/ Career Change

[SSmith]

Hey all,

Recently joined and I'm so happy to have found such a supportive forum!

I wanted to ask a couple of things, firstly how firms would look at a period of unemployment due to family members needing care and taking time myself to recover after MH issues.

I have been unemployed for almost 6 years now and had gaps while juggling admin temp jobs/ teaching and caring for my mother who had Cancer.

After her passing in 2017 and almost losing another close family member to a violent crime ,I had to take time out to recover . During this time I retrained in Beauty and was self employed part time . This was ruined by covid .

After some soul searching and honestly admitting to myself I am smart and capable enough to go for it, I'm now I'm in the position to go back to work and to pursue my law conversion course I'd been putting off for years and realising I wasn't finding any path I chose challenging enough.

It looks as though I'll be doing the LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) after completing the PGDL conversion course at Ulaw , as I'd have to do a masters programme in order to get gov funding. Which is fine .


My second question is what entry jobs to apply for which could give me some solid work experience within law and encompass my admin / PA experience .
Since I haven't started my course I'm not eligible to get a job as a paralegal.

Happy to volunteer also .

Any ideas ?

Many thanks!

 

[AvniD]

I would be transparent about the reasons why you had to take time out and own them fully as you did what was right for you and your family at that time. Although I doubt most firms would see these periods of unemployment unfavourably, any firm that isn't willing to understand why you needed to take time off during periods of obvious personal stress is not worth your effort or time.

Your story is one of resilience and perseverance and is truly so inspiring and I hope my post gives you encouragement to own it with absolute honesty in your applications.

As for your second question, you could try applying for paralegal positions even without having completed/started your SQE studies. You just need to apply widely and highlight the transferable skills you've gained through your previous experiences.

Wishing you the very best- rooting for you to get your dream job in law!

 

[SSmith]

I would be transparent about the reasons why you had to take time out and own them fully as you did what was right for you and your family at that time. Although I doubt most firms would see these periods of unemployment unfavourably, any firm that isn't willing to understand why you needed to take time off during periods of obvious personal stress is not worth your effort or time.

Your story is one of resilience and perseverance and is truly so inspiring and I hope my post gives you encouragement to own it with absolute honesty in your applications.

As for your second question, you could try applying for paralegal positions even without having completed/started your SQE studies. You just need to apply widely and highlight the transferable skills you've gained through your previous experiences.

Wishing you the very best- rooting for you to get your dream job in law!

Oh thank you so much for your lovely reply .

It really made me reflect on how far I've come . You're absolutely right , and certainly they wouldn't be a firm I'd want to work for as they're likely to be unsupportive if anything happens in the future.

Yes, I'll have my CV updated to reflect this !

Thanks so much ❤

 

[AvniD]

Oh thank you so much for your lovely reply .

It really made me reflect on how far I've come . You're absolutely right , and certainly they wouldn't be a firm I'd want to work for as they're likely to be unsupportive if anything happens in the future.

Yes, I'll have my CV updated to reflect this !

Thanks so much ❤

I'm glad to have been of help to you 😇 Do stay in touch about how your applications are going!

 

[SSmith]

I'm glad to have been of help to you 😇 Do stay in touch about how your applications are going!

Thank you , will do ❤