Becoming An Apprentice Within A Law Firm

Leaving school and stepping into the real world was a massive change. I began looking for apprenticeships as I was very drawn to doing an apprenticeship and learning practically rather than just in a classroom environment. I knew I wanted to do something in Law so I began searching on the GOV website where I came across Nayyars Solicitors.

I applied for the role and I was given the opportunity to go for an interview in Manchester city centre. Following from this I was contacted by Nayyars to go into the offices for an interview. This was very nerve racking for me as this is my first full time job. As soon as I arrived at Nayyars I knew that this was the kind of place I would like to work if I was lucky enough to get my foot in the door. I was interviewed by Carolyn who is our Financial Controller and she put me at ease. On the day I was offered the job and asked to start the next week.

I started work at Nayyars in July 2017 at the age of sixteen. This was a massive opportunity for myself to work within a law firm after just leaving school. All of my colleagues were so welcoming and helped me out a lot when I first joined the firm. Sometimes people think being an apprentice just involves filing, doing jobs no one else wants to do and making coffees for everyone, but working at Nayyars has proven to me this is not correct.

I am studying with Chesterfield College to get my qualifications. Adele from Chesterfield College continuously sets me coursework to complete within deadlines. Sometimes the coursework can be challenging but with the help of colleagues and my experience I am able to complete these for the deadline. Adele also comes into the office each month and spends an hour with me to see where I am up to and to look at my improvements.

Before I worked at Nayyars I knew very little regarding law, personal injury, immigration etc. I have found it interesting to learn the process of each of these things whilst working here. I learn something new every day in my job and each day I am faced with another challenging task which helps me improve in my job role.

In the future I would like to progress on my knowledge of the Law and I know this is something Nayyars will be able to help me with. I would recommend a legal apprenticeship as it is a great way of stepping on to the legal ladder.

Mackenzie Leahy

Legal Apprentice