Retraining as a mediator

[Wonderbug81]

I'm currently a Marketing Director. Still in my 40s but ageism is rife and I hate the stress, endless meetings and politcs.

I'm considering retraining as a mediator. I have a law degree in case that's relevant. I recognise there'd be a drop in salary but I'd rather work for longer in a job I like.

Any advice on next steps or where I can research the job further very welcome.

Some charities eg Citizens Advice offer volunteer mediator opportunities, it involves training as well so might be good to look for that in your area before you commit?
I don't know much about it other than it's quite un regulated at the moment so make sure you get the best recognised training from somewhere reputable.

Thank you! I'll take a look. Definitely want to train formally whatever happens.

Think about what area of disputes you're interested in. And where your work would come from. There's always a push in family law for more mediation, but those referrals will often come from family lawyers who, rightly or wrongly, choose practicing lawyers as mediators. Not at all an easy market to break.

Workplace disputes is interesting and might be more accessible as a subject matter because of your corporate career. I wonder if ACAS would have any leads in that area.

You could also get in touch with CEDR - they offer accredited (by them) training and a lot of their mediators have a legal background. However, the mediation model I worked within - where the mediator guides the parties through a process but does not make any decisions for them, is different from CEDR's - their mediators are more involved in weighing up information provided by parties and deciding the outcome. My mediation background is community (neighbour disputes) and workplace, but sadly, the organisation I worked for had to close due to lack of funding. CEDR goes towards commercial disputes.

Interesting re family law. That would have been the areas I was interested in!

Workplace also of interest although there's a part of me that just wants to put as much distance as possible between me and an office. 😁

I'll have a look at the different options.

Thank you. Interesting to hear about the guidance model. I always thought it was specifically about reaching a resolution. Helpful to know.

If you google 'mediation models' you'll get a breakdown of the four main ones.
Mine is facilitative and CEDRs is evaluative. I've done both and prefer the human aspect of facilitative. Both have the goal of resolution. I've used transformative too - a less linear/staged process. Good luck with your search. It's very rewarding work.