Late career start in law - how convince firms I'm a good paralegal hire?

Cacilhas

Hi there,

I'm in my mid-30s and looking for work as a paralegal, but have no prior experience in law nor a particularly strong CV, or a proper career for that matter. After university (BSc in business admin) (just about 2:1) I worked for a few years in business admin, then started a business, had to close said business and started taking dead-end jobs, had a few adventures abroad, and worked with a start-up for a year.

The lack of a coherent career path is in part down to lacking motivation and confidence. I've now found these things, and would like to work as a paralegal with a view to qualify as a solicitor. I appreciate I've left it late to have a stellar career in that area, but would be happy to work away at a high street firm, helping ordinary people with ordinary legal problems.

However, to get there I need that paralegal job, and there seems to be a fair bit of competition for those. I do have a number of transferable skills, and could certainly learn and do an entry-level job. But I do have the CV of a planless under-achiever, which I imagine is the main problem here.

I'll be starting an MA in law (conversion) to show dedication, but would love to hear about additional ways to do this. I'm also looking for ways to demonstrate potential and ability. I score highly on aptitude tests but understand the respected ones are only given as part of recruitment processes I'm unlikely to pass the screening stage for. The same applies to interviews, where I've done well in the few ones for non-legal jobs I've had throughout my life.

Anyone has tips on how to get around this catch-22? Or any other ways I can try to break in? Thank you in advance for any help.

Marcon

Cacilhas said:

I'm in my mid-30s and looking for work as a paralegal, but have no prior experience in law nor a particularly strong CV, or a proper career for that matter. After university (BSc in business admin) (just about 2:1) I worked for a few years in business admin, then started a business, had to close said business and started taking dead-end jobs, had a few adventures abroad, and worked with a start-up for a year.

The lack of a coherent career path is in part down to lacking motivation and confidence. I've now found these things, and would like to work as a paralegal with a view to qualify as a solicitor. I appreciate I've left it late to have a stellar career in that area, but would be happy to work away at a high street firm, helping ordinary people with ordinary legal problems.

However, to get there I need that paralegal job, and there seems to be a fair bit of competition for those. I do have a number of transferable skills, and could certainly learn and do an entry-level job. But I do have the CV of a planless under-achiever, which I imagine is the main problem here.

I'll be starting an MA in law (conversion) to show dedication, but would love to hear about additional ways to do this. I'm also looking for ways to demonstrate potential and ability. I score highly on aptitude tests but understand the respected ones are only given as part of recruitment processes I'm unlikely to pass the screening stage for. The same applies to interviews, where I've done well in the few ones for non-legal jobs I've had throughout my life.

Anyone has tips on how to get around this catch-22? Or any other ways I can try to break in? Thank you in advance for any help.

Competition is huge for any sort of legal job, including paralegal. Many of those filling such a role have a law degree and significant (relevant) experience. For all the reasons you've outlined, you aren't a strong candidate and probably wouldn't get past the initial sift - yet.

'Starting' an MA isn't especially impressive; it's completing it that shows dedication and commitment. Even then, competition will be red hot and you'll need to persuade a would-be employer of your suitability. There are far too many qualified solicitors whose next ambition is to get out of the legal world and end up pretty much anywhere else, so ensuring that you have a solid grasp of what a legal role entails, and making certain you don't come over as a starry-eyed watched-too-much-TV applicant (you'd be surprised how many...) would greatly increase your chances of success.

Have you looked at the possibility of an apprenticeship, possibly giving you a route to qualifying as a legal executive? https://www.cilex.org.uk/study/apprenticeships/ Or looking at other roles, especially in the very large firms of solicitors, where you'd have a chance to prove yourself?

njkmr

My daughter has recently qualified as a solicitor and applied for a job with the Co-Op which she got. She trained with another company who paid peanuts but had to do the 2 years live training after 6 years of Uni etc.
They had just taken on a few dozen I think. Of the ones that started with my daughter's intake there were people with no qualifications and one person who had worked at Argos.
I would say don't give up hope of doing this as there will be openings available in sure.
Good luck.
Regards
Rob.

DullGreyGuy

What area of law are you interested in? Where do you live?

Consumer insurers will often cover costs of formal legal qualifications in their more technical third party teams and plenty then leave to be a paralegal in a law firm (so just switching side of the fence) but if you've no relevant experience it may be a long path to get to the technical teams to then establish yourself and get them interested in investing in you.

mebu60

Are there admin or support type roles in legal firms that you could apply for? If successful and once established you could potentially apply for other roles internally when a suitable vacancy arises. 

Emmia

Also, I wouldn't underestimate how tough studying and working at the same time is, I left a part time MA Conversion course for many reasons but one of them was the cost and impact on my life, and my ability to do my job, and the utter shoddiness of the university. 

I'm now doing an LLM with the OU which is a better course for me, and a much better provider.

Why do you want to qualify? 

Your age is not necessarily a barrier, I know several lawyers who qualified in their 30's but there is nothing in your post that explains why you want to do this...

MacPingu1986

Marcon said:

Cacilhas said:

I'm in my mid-30s and looking for work as a paralegal, but have no prior experience in law nor a particularly strong CV, or a proper career for that matter. After university (BSc in business admin) (just about 2:1) I worked for a few years in business admin, then started a business, had to close said business and started taking dead-end jobs, had a few adventures abroad, and worked with a start-up for a year.

The lack of a coherent career path is in part down to lacking motivation and confidence. I've now found these things, and would like to work as a paralegal with a view to qualify as a solicitor. I appreciate I've left it late to have a stellar career in that area, but would be happy to work away at a high street firm, helping ordinary people with ordinary legal problems.

However, to get there I need that paralegal job, and there seems to be a fair bit of competition for those. I do have a number of transferable skills, and could certainly learn and do an entry-level job. But I do have the CV of a planless under-achiever, which I imagine is the main problem here.

I'll be starting an MA in law (conversion) to show dedication, but would love to hear about additional ways to do this. I'm also looking for ways to demonstrate potential and ability. I score highly on aptitude tests but understand the respected ones are only given as part of recruitment processes I'm unlikely to pass the screening stage for. The same applies to interviews, where I've done well in the few ones for non-legal jobs I've had throughout my life.

Anyone has tips on how to get around this catch-22? Or any other ways I can try to break in? Thank you in advance for any help.

Competition is huge for any sort of legal job, including paralegal. Many of those filling such a role have a law degree and significant (relevant) experience. For all the reasons you've outlined, you aren't a strong candidate and probably wouldn't get past the initial sift - yet.

'Starting' an MA isn't especially impressive; it's completing it that shows dedication and commitment. Even then, competition will be red hot and you'll need to persuade a would-be employer of your suitability. There are far too many qualified solicitors whose next ambition is to get out of the legal world and end up pretty much anywhere else, so ensuring that you have a solid grasp of what a legal role entails, and making certain you don't come over as a starry-eyed watched-too-much-TV applicant (you'd be surprised how many...) would greatly increase your chances of success.

Have you looked at the possibility of an apprenticeship, possibly giving you a route to qualifying as a legal executive? https://www.cilex.org.uk/study/apprenticeships/ Or looking at other roles, especially in the very large firms of solicitors, where you'd have a chance to prove yourself?

I'd strongly echo what Marcon's posted above - competition is fierce and many of your rivals will have strong degrees and qualifications, relevant experience, the LPC etc...

Completing your law conversion is a good step, otherwise looking down the legal exec/apprenticeship route is worth researching. Most important is that you search for and apply for *as many paralegalling roles as possible*. If you're not one of the strongest candidates on paper its very much a numbers game, apply, apply, apply.

Cacilhas

Marcon said:

Cacilhas said:

I'm in my mid-30s and looking for work as a paralegal, but have no prior experience in law nor a particularly strong CV, or a proper career for that matter. After university (BSc in business admin) (just about 2:1) I worked for a few years in business admin, then started a business, had to close said business and started taking dead-end jobs, had a few adventures abroad, and worked with a start-up for a year.

The lack of a coherent career path is in part down to lacking motivation and confidence. I've now found these things, and would like to work as a paralegal with a view to qualify as a solicitor. I appreciate I've left it late to have a stellar career in that area, but would be happy to work away at a high street firm, helping ordinary people with ordinary legal problems.

However, to get there I need that paralegal job, and there seems to be a fair bit of competition for those. I do have a number of transferable skills, and could certainly learn and do an entry-level job. But I do have the CV of a planless under-achiever, which I imagine is the main problem here.

I'll be starting an MA in law (conversion) to show dedication, but would love to hear about additional ways to do this. I'm also looking for ways to demonstrate potential and ability. I score highly on aptitude tests but understand the respected ones are only given as part of recruitment processes I'm unlikely to pass the screening stage for. The same applies to interviews, where I've done well in the few ones for non-legal jobs I've had throughout my life.

Anyone has tips on how to get around this catch-22? Or any other ways I can try to break in? Thank you in advance for any help.

Competition is huge for any sort of legal job, including paralegal. Many of those filling such a role have a law degree and significant (relevant) experience. For all the reasons you've outlined, you aren't a strong candidate and probably wouldn't get past the initial sift - yet.

'Starting' an MA isn't especially impressive; it's completing it that shows dedication and commitment. Even then, competition will be red hot and you'll need to persuade a would-be employer of your suitability. There are far too many qualified solicitors whose next ambition is to get out of the legal world and end up pretty much anywhere else, so ensuring that you have a solid grasp of what a legal role entails, and making certain you don't come over as a starry-eyed watched-too-much-TV applicant (you'd be surprised how many...) would greatly increase your chances of success.

Have you looked at the possibility of an apprenticeship, possibly giving you a route to qualifying as a legal executive? [link] Or looking at other roles, especially in the very large firms of solicitors, where you'd have a chance to prove yourself?

Thank you for your answer, it's very informative. I'd love to have a completed MA to show but would like to get going as soon as possible. I've seen some paralegal courses should take a few months to complete, at somewhere called National Paralegal College. Perhaps this is something that could both show a degree of dedication, as well as preparing me for day-to-day work?

Will keep the TV thing in mind - would be gutted to be mistaken for one as someone who's never had any interest in legal drama whatsoever.

I've been looking at CILEX but understand it's an extra year of qualifying work experience, which I am open to but would like to avoid if I can.

Thank you again for your response.

Cacilhas

njkmr said:

My daughter has recently qualified as a solicitor and applied for a job with the Co-Op which she got. She trained with another company who paid peanuts but had to do the 2 years live training after 6 years of Uni etc.
They had just taken on a few dozen I think. Of the ones that started with my daughter's intake there were people with no qualifications and one person who had worked at Argos.
I would say don't give up hope of doing this as there will be openings available in sure.
Good luck.
Regards
Rob.

Thank you Rob, and happy to hear your daughter qualified! Probably unwise to give identifying details here, but would you mind telling me at what sort of practice your daughter qualified? I'm thinking if they take people with no qualifications, which is where I'm at.

Cacilhas

DullGreyGuy said:

What area of law are you interested in? Where do you live?

Consumer insurers will often cover costs of formal legal qualifications in their more technical third party teams and plenty then leave to be a paralegal in a law firm (so just switching side of the fence) but if you've no relevant experience it may be a long path to get to the technical teams to then establish yourself and get them interested in investing in you.

I live in London, and am drawn to any practice area with opportunities to help regular people. Wouldn't rule out starting in insurance, however, and would be happy to start in a junior role and cover qualification costs on my own if that makes the search easier. Thank you for your response!

Cacilhas

Emmia said:

Also, I wouldn't underestimate how tough studying and working at the same time is, I left a part time MA Conversion course for many reasons but one of them was the cost and impact on my life, and my ability to do my job, and the utter shoddiness of the university. 

I'm now doing an LLM with the OU which is a better course for me, and a much better provider.

Why do you want to qualify? 

Your age is not necessarily a barrier, I know several lawyers who qualified in their 30's but there is nothing in your post that explains why you want to do this...

Thank you for your response! May I ask which university this was, so I can stay well clear? Are part-time demands much tougher than other fields of study? My experience of studying business admin full-time and working full-time was okay, but I appreciate this may be very different with legal studies.

I want to qualify to do something that ideally offers both stimulation and the opportunity to help ordinary people. Failing that, it should offer either. I also have an interest in law, which would help with satisfaction at work even if I end up doing something fairly pedestrian and corporate.