The Importance of Eye Contact in a Job Interview


The saying "the eyes are the window to the soul" is a popular one. According to hiring experts, an interviewer can tell whether you are telling the truth or lying through eye contact, or lack of. Interviewers can often pay a lot of attention to your eyes and body language during an interview. This means that the importance of eye contact in non-verbal communication holds a great deal of importance.  

Eye contact in non-verbal communication.

Eye contact is a form of non-verbal communication that is particularly significant because most individuals rely on their vision more than any other sense. Your gaze might convey a variety of meanings to the person you are looking at, including attention, affection, hatred, or attraction.

An Admin’s Guide to Effective Checklists


Checklists help you stay organised, better prioritise your time and see the “big picture.” They reduce the number of things you must remember, freeing up valuable headspace for the things that really matter. And if someone else needs to fill in for you, they have a step-by-step guide to tell them exactly what they need to do.

A checklist can be as simple or as complicated as it needs to be. Some will only have a handful of tasks on them; others might be pages long. All that matters is that they serve their purpose: making sure everything gets done.

Finding Joy in Your Role


Some people choose a certain career path in life, as they feel that it is their calling. They are naturally gifted in their field and have a passion for what they do. In psychology, this is referred to as self-actualisation. Self-actualised people strive to achieve their highest potential and find meaning in their work. They love what they do and experience great joy in performing their roles. In respect of ILSPA’s Members, they can find their work interesting and rewarding and recognise that they make a significant contribution to their legal departments.

What if you don’t feel like this though? What if your heart is not in it and you don’t know what to do? One solution is to find a new job, of course, but there are ways in which you can change your mindset to feel more positive about your role.

Civil Litigation – Review of Reforms 2022


In a previous article on reforms to civil litigation, we looked at the expanding use of fixed costs. This month, we will consider the Civil Justice Council (CJC) review of pre-action protocols.

If you have studied one of our courses covering this area, you may recall that a protocol sets out what must be done in a claim before any legal proceedings commence. There are currently 17 specific protocols in force that apply to a wide range of claims, including:

  • Personal injury
  • Professional negligence
  • Construction disputes
  • Housing disrepair
  • Defamation
  • Package travel and debt claims

Even when there is no specific protocol for a particular type of claim, you are still expected to follow the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

How to Answer “Tell me About Yourself”


Simple queries can occasionally lead to embarrassing situations if one is not adequately prepared for them. The interview question “Tell me about yourself”, for example, should be a no-brainer. However, this typical interview question continues to baffle candidates of all levels of expertise. It may be claimed that this is partly due to the open-ended nature of the question, as it is not immediately clear if the interviewer is seeking a brief biography, a full CV or a combination of the two. These concerns, like those associated with any difficult interview topic, can be addressed with appropriate preparation and understanding of the interviewer’s rationale for asking the question.

What does the interviewer want to know?

How to Include Bullet Points in Your CV


What is a CV? CV is short for curriculum vitae, which is a Latin term meaning course of (one’s) life; it is a summary of a person’s career, education and qualifications in written form. A CV is also referred to as a résumé (French word) at times, but there is a difference. Résumés are usually single-page summaries of your work experience and background information, whereas a CV is usually longer and more comprehensive.

CVs include all the past experiences of a professional worker along with information about the educational background of the person. A CV is what anyone presents when showing up for a job interview; however, résumés are also accepted. Now we return to the question at hand, and that is whether bullet points in a CV can help it look better and more presentable.

What is Temping & How do Temp Agencies Work?


Temping is short-term work done by a candidate who is employed through a recruitment agency, is on their payroll and is paid hourly for the work they provide. As a temp candidate, you are not committed to provide notice, and a client can also end the assignment at any time, so there is a huge amount of flexibility for both parties. A temporary candidate is often sourced at the last minute to cover a period of absence, sickness or leave and can be used to assist in a wide variety roles and levels.

In this article we explore what temping is, how temp agencies work and what the benefits of temping are for both a candidate and a client.

What is a temp job?

Legal Secretary Vacancies September 2022


Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Legal Secretary – Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Location: Worcester

Salary: £20,000-£25,000

We are currently looking for a proactive, highly organised, service focused individual to fulfil a crucial role in our support staff within our Private Client Team. The Private Client team is a key part of the business and acts for many clients

Based in Worcester and reporting to the Legal Support Manager you will provide in-depth business support to the Partners and fee earners within the team.

View the full job description here:           

Legal Secretary Vacancies August 2022


Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Legal Secretary – LF Legal Limited

Location: Central London

Salary: from £25,000

This dynamic, forward-thinking firm based in Central London firm is looking to recruit a Legal Secretary with a good level of legal secretarial experience who is able to assist in file opening and closing, admin, drafting documents, billing, client and third party contact, and general secretarial work.

View the full job description here:           

https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/206777/

Secretary – De Pinna Notaries

Location: London

How to Answer “What is your greatest strength?”


You have to be smart and on top of your game when you're about to answer interview questions. When asked a tricky question, you need to be able to answer confidently with something that not only appeals to the interviewers but stays relevant to you and your professional skills.

One of the most common job interview questions is “What is your greatest strength?”.

This question can be difficult to answer because you want to make sure that you are highlighting your strengths in a way that is relevant to the job you are interviewing for. In this blog post, we will discuss how to answer this question and provide some tips on how to stand out from the competition.