paralegal Review

by Irwin Mitchell

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

5.4/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

I have my own case load of around 200 clients and deal with my own clients on a day to day basis

4/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

I have developed a lot of new skills working in the job including time management and dealing with stress

6/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

I thoroughly enjoyed the programme at the start, however I feel like I have too many deadlines and stresses at work by taking over people's cases who are not organised which lowers my morale. I do not enjoy fixing other people's failures. I do not feel as though my learning support teacher at CILEx was very supportive either, although my webinar teacher was.

5/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The firm is very accommodating for my study as they provide me with 1 day a week at home to study, however the studying programme was not thought out well which resulted in me having to do a lot of coursework on very short deadlines.

4/10

5. How much support do you receive from your employer?

I receive a lot of support from my supervisor and I am able to take my study time. My company has encouraged me to take study days during a break in learning and has given me 5 additional days to book off for study. I very rarely get contact from HR or the apprenticeship team in my firm.

6/10

6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

I do not feel like my learning support teacher was very helpful and I felt like the programme was poorly thought out which resulted in very short deadlines and I got stressed on many occasions due to this.

4/10

7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

I do not feel as though the qualification has assisted as the modules that would help, such as client care, was the last module that I was taught meaning it was almost a year and a half after I started that I was learning the important topics for my day to day job.

6/10

8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

I do occasionally get involved in professional networking events and have been attending school events to help promote the company.

8/10

9a. Would you recommend Irwin Mitchell to a friend?

9b. Why?

I feel as though I have always been given other people's cases that have not been looked after well and have been neglected by the previous case handler. My personal supervisor is very supportive and amazing but I have found that previous supervisors and other members of staff I have worked closely with are not as supportive or helping.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Irwin Mitchell?

Be prepared to work under very stressful conditions and take on others work that is not up to the standard it should be.