Back on track!

Since exams, my blog has been suffering from neglect! With travelling and trying to balance summer jobs I haven't managed to keep up to date with my blogging but I am still making my way up the path towards law.

So here is a quick update;

Over the summer I have been lucky enough to bag a couple of summer jobs. I am even more lucky to be able to take experience from these job roles and use it during my career path towards law.

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I have always had an interest in mental health and hope that I can incorporate this into my future career. Due to this interest I have recently taken on a job role as a Health Care Assistant at St Andrews Mental Health Hospital.

To attain this job role I had to be successful in the written application, expressing my interest and relevant experience. Then to be successful in a selection event and individual interview. Taking what I learnt from similar situations I was successful and now have the following job role.

My Position involves:
1. Aiding in the healthcare of the hospitals patients.
2. Monitoring their behaviour and intercepting to avoid dangerous situations and maintain a calm environment.
3. Entertain patients during the day, to avoid them becoming distressed.
4. Accompany patients on day trips to maintain the patients and the public’s safety.
5. My role is on bank, so the hours are flexible around my other commitments.

Skills Developed:
This role will provide me with excellent experience of the outcome of Criminal and Mental Health Law. I have always had a keen interest in mental health and wanted to take this opportunity to have an active role within the improvements of the mental health community. Many of the patients are convicted criminals or unable to leave the hospital due to risk for public safety. Working in an environment will provide me with first hand experience of the results of convicting criminals and the mentally ill into institutions, which will be extremely valuable to me and eye opening if I take a career path in criminal law. It also provides me with the experience of working in an environment with people, without the safety blanket of customer services. I plan to take the training offered for restraint so that I can expand my role and work on more challenging wards. – It is important to me that I understand all aspects of my future career and believe this role is a step towards achieving that.

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My second job role this summer is with Barclaycard, as a Recruitment Clerk in ROPS. Working at the Northampton complex provides great experience of working in an extremely professional corporate environment. The complex is huge and divided into multiple departments of varying levels. Working within this complex has also provided me with a lot of valuable experience working under confidentiality and security issues.



My Position involved:
It was my role to check merchants who are trading through websites against Barclaycards Card Scheme Trading Policy.
If a merchant was not compliant with the policy I would then have to take further action, to either access the information required to be compliant or terminate their trading through the merchant’s facility.
I needed to know the basics of Contract and Tort Law, as I often had to challenge merchants Terms and Conditions if they were not compliant with Barclaycards Policy.

Skills Developed:
This role has provided me with excellent experience in Contractual and Tort law, which has helped me to understand the basis of many other areas of law. I have learnt to be aware of any responsibility I was taking on and what the result of any of my actions may be. I learnt how to interact with a wide variety of colleague and customers across the entire department and deal with the level of responsibility I held within my position.

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Finally, I have an Internship which I am starting tomorrow!!!!!!!!

I will be working in a Criminal Specialists solicitors law firm for two weeks, attending court and looking at cases. I will of course be updating my blog daily concerning my experience.

I have prepped for the work by;

1. Researching the firm and area of speciality.
2. Contacting the firm to confirm what I will be doing.
3. Prepare how you are going to get there so you are not late in the morning.
4. Make sure you plan what to wear as presentation is one of the most important factors for first impressions.
5. Sleep well the night before to be on best form!

Really looking forward to starting tomorrow morning and can't wait to learn form it! - watch this space!