by Simran Sanghera, LLB Law Student (Final Year)
My name is Simran Sanghera and last year I completed a year-long legal placement at Coventry Citizens Advice. At the Citizens Advice I built the skills required for a career in Law. Although a placement is only a year long, at the Citizens Advice you are treated as a valued member of the company. Therefore, students are thrown into the deep end straight away. I started handling my own clients and caseload in my second month of being at the Citizens Advice.
The Citizens Advice provide a variety of courses to their work placements before they begin to deliver advice. For example, I shadowed various departments at the Citizens Advice such as the debt team, senior advisors, generalist advisors and technology advisors. In addition to this, I attended an interviewing skills training program. I undertook a combination of informational and practical activities, equipping me with the skills that I needed to be able to interview clients. The Citizens Advice also provided in-house training on various areas of practice such as: debt, employment, housing and benefits.
The friendly environment allowed me to excel and find my feet quickly. I have come out of this placement feeling ready to tackle life in the legal sector. Skills I have gained include:
- better time management through handling my own caseload;
- legal drafting through writing my own case reports as well as drafting emails on behalf of clients to organisations;
- advocacy though talking on behalf of clients to organisations over the phone;
- good customer service as I worked on the advice line, providing advice to clients over the phone; and
- professionalism by delivering advice objectively to clients, as well as providing a professional service in regard to my investigation into the individual client’s case.
To those thinking of applying for a placement at the Coventry Citizens Advice I would say – go for it! I have been able to break out of my shell which seems to form when you go from school straight into Higher Education and have never really had exposure to a job with a high level of responsibility. I have also made friends with other students on the same placement and we have become very close.
Good luck! 🙂
Interested in studying law with us? Our Law LLB course offers you the opportunity to gain practical legal skills, develop your global experience, and get career ready, with expert staff and employment support. Current student? You can find out more about placement opportunities by speaking to the Talent Team.
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