Klein Hamilton

It might sound like the dream but having two job offers on the table can make for a hard decision. Our experts share some crucial things to consider if you’re struggling to decide. Think long-term One of the key reasons people change roles is to develop their career, so when deciding on your next move your long-term career ambitions should be a vital consideration. Every career decision a candidate makes will ultimately impact on their long-term career ambitions, which means it’s all the more important to make the right choices. Long-term ambitions should act as an end goal, and whichever job choice you make now, it should move you further down the road towards that end goal. Be careful of ‘push’ factors When considering each role, ask yourself whether it would fulfil the reasons you decided to look for a new job in the first place. Any candidate will likely experience ‘push factors’ driving them away from their current role, but if the new job on offer doesn’t address thes...

The option of becoming a freelance solicitor makes it cheaper and easier to set up and practise alone than ever before. The option of becoming a freelance solicitor makes it cheaper and easier to set up and practise alone than ever before. Unlike the process of establishing as a sole practitioner – it can take months to get a new firm authorised – if you have a practising certificate and want to become a freelance solicitor, you could be up and running in less than a week. To get going, you simply need to notify the Solicitors Regulation Authority and ensure that you have a letter of engagement and terms of business which meet the notification requirements set out by the regulator. If you want to offer reserved legal services, you will also need three years’ post-qualification experience and ‘adequate and appropriate’ professional indemnity insurance. It really is that simple. Except, of course, nothing is quite that simple. The low upfront costs and promise of reduced bureaucra...

Although coming to the decision that you’re ready to change jobs is a big step, translating that decision into the reality of finding a new role with a new employer can still seem a frustratingly long way off. But to give you the reassurance that things are moving in the right direction, there are actually lots of things you can be doing – starting from now... Write your ideal job description You know you want to move on… but move on to what? Have a go at drafting a job description for your ideal role. Factor in your strengths and areas of interest, and think about the areas you like or dislike about your current role. Use this ideal description to inform your job search. Draw up a timetable Break down your job search into a series of manageable phases – such as Research, Selection, Applications, Interview Preparation – with a realistic timeframe against each phase. Work out what you need to do at each phase – e.g. for the Application phase, you’ll need your CV ready, for the ...