Career move to becoming an employment lawyer

[Elthamjohn]

Please talk to me about the work of an employment lawyer.

I am 40 and looking for a career change (from teaching). A few people have suggested that I would make a good employment lawyer.

So far, I have discounted it as an option - I don’t know how I would qualify and whether I could manage the workload with youngish children. I don’t even know what the work would involve or how well paid it is.

Would anyone on here be prepared to tell me something about it? Thank you!

good grief Op

have you looked in to the studying and training required? what’s your background and existing qualifications?

I have a degree, a Masters, an MBA and 17 years of teaching experience with management/ leadership roles within that. I am just looking for a change and a second career@escapethemaze

I don’t underestimate the studying / training that would be involved, but I am still hoping that MN can tell me something about it…!

You could go into Hr and gain CIPD qualifications in Employment Law and /or Employee relations

would you be able to do a conversation ie degree fairly recent and in a subject where possible?

conversion

I would suggest starting by reading this:

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/career-advice/becoming-a-solicitor

what did you decide in the end @Elthamjohn

@Elthamjohn Don't you have google?

Don’t do it. The profession is way oversubscribed and training contracts hard to find with no guarantee of a job in employment law at the end of the 2 years. Money is generally quite poor outside the city.

Thank you. That is really useful information about training contracts.

Do you find it interesting work, though?

I have talked to quite a few people over Christmas who work in law, who have been quite supportive of the idea.

I would be curious about whether there are training contracts for older trainees, or opportunities to train on the job.

It is absolutely possible to do it as an older person but unusual.

Yes, everyone does training on the job, whether it's a designated TC or otherwise- the new SQE system requires two years' QWE. You might find this helpful; https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/admission/pathways-qualification/ Remember you need to qualify as a solicitor, not just an employment solicitor, so your exams will cover contract, tort, crime, land etc etc.

The hard bit is finding a TC or other opportunity for QWE. In all, it is a long and expensive process so I'd research how hard this is likely to be before you start it all. As PP says, the professional is oversubscribed and law schools will basically take on anyone who meets the bare minimum qualification, including lots of people with no realistic prospect of ever qualifying.

Depending on where you are in the country, one possibility is training with the GLP- in my experience they are particularly mindful of avoiding age discrimination, certainly compared to your average city firm.

Thank you @JacketAndJumpet

Yes I enjoy it (sort of) but I’m in-house now and the money is nothing like I used to get in private practice. My DH (a doctor - they’re striking for more money!) earns over twice as much. My paralegal is someone who can’t get a TC and is now looking at SQE. She has a first class honours degree, a Masters, distinction in LPC, etc. Part of the problem (I suspect) is that she’s a mother who needs to work 9 to 5. It’s not a particularly family friendly profession, especially in the early years.