This is a guest blog by our client Rachael Williams. Rachael is currently Senior Legal Counsel (secondment) at The Financial Ombudsman Service. Her career has included private practice with magic circle firm Eversheds, regional law firms, the Bar, adjudication and lecturer/tutor. I met Rachael who attended The Law Society Returners course in 2014 when I did a session on career tips and trends in the legal profession.
Seeking a successful career breakthrough?
The learning curve I have experienced since October 2014 has been remarkable and I wish to share it with you. In fact, it has been less like a curve, and rather more like a bumpy line with a general overall direction and feel of ‘going up’, combined with the inevitable slump associated with the downs. I signed up to the Law Society Returner to Work course at Eynsham Hall in 2014. This was the start of the brave new world of venturing out, and confidence building – of CV redesigning and contact making – of interviews and new jobs, experimentation, disappointment and success.
I continue to remark to others that the sheer wealth of talent over that 2014 weekend was stunning, and if all present simply had combined their talents and made one large organisation then it would have been unstoppable. For those reading and thinking of unlocking your potential I highly recommend a few things:
5 tips for a successful return
1) Take that step – what do you have to lose?
2) Listen to the recommended courses of action and do them even if you are not sure that they suit you – they probably will
3) Unlock your potential with your personal talent liberator – the investment in Eynsham Hall is a start – going on to engage a career coach is a great additional step as the return on your investment can be many thousand fold
4) Once you have decided to do one or all of the above, then decisively carve out time for yourself – create that space to push back the endless jobs or other commitments that have stopped you up to now
5) In that newly carved space, write, read, research, experiment
I did get a job and yet I had undersold myself. It was a good job which was busy, but not what I had been trained to do. However, I could see the positives. I was mixing with younger people from whom we can learn a great deal; I was re-learning PC know-how; I was focusing on time-management & life with targets; I was engaged in team building and making contacts; I was re-educating myself on how to achieve the life-work balance. I made space to plan the next career step and literally earned while I learned.
Then, with my career coach, Rachel Brushfield, founder of Energise LLClub, I had a new CV prepared so that when the opportunity came along I was ready. I made myself visible and ensured that people in my workplace knew that I was better qualified than my job-title suggested. I applied for internal promotions and volunteered for additional duties on purpose just to get my face, name and CV around the building and in front of the people who made decisions.
It worked. The opportunity I had hoped for arose – maternity cover in the legal department. Recently I started in a senior role doing what I was trained to do with a salary to match.
In summary; make time to think about your career, seek the input of a career transition expert, prepare, prepare, prepare and believe in yourself. Good luck.
Thanks to Rachael Williams for making the time to write a guest blog for us.
Rachael’s testimonial following her career coaching with us:
“Rachel Brushfield is a calm and perceptive person who introduces you to your own talent and abilities and then helps you to utilise them to an effective end. And then, when success arrives, Rachel continues to guide and promote you in her own distinct way. She is marvellous and has been a return on my investment a thousand fold.”
Rachael Williams.
What next?
Why not book your no-obligation 20 minute telephone consultation with Rachel Brushfield to explore how she can help support you in your career? Click on this link now:
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