Legal Executive Interview Question

MilkTheGroup

Hi I'd really appreciate some help with a tricky interview question. I have an interview for a Legal Executive position next week. I have a BCL degree and a Masters in Law which I finished in the summer of 2010. I havent sat the FE1s since then as I saw little hope of securing a traineeship in this current economic climate. I've been working in admin jobs since.

What I'm wondering is in my interview, I will probably be asked-why havent you sat the FE1s?

I'm afraid if I'm blatantly honest with them they'll regard me as unambitious and not focused on a legal career in the long-term.

Any ideas of what I could say??

Farcear

Discussing this very topic with a legal exec friend a few days ago, I was told that admitting to your employer that you are aiming for the FE-1's / Inns is a bad thing -- employer doesn't want to hire someone who is already planning to leave.

Not sure how much truth there is in that, but maybe something to bear in mind.


I would say the fact you have actually been able to get yourself work in the "current economic climate" shows that you are anything but lazy, while aiming to make a step up from routine admin work to legal exec work shows ambition.

MilkTheGroup

thanks for that. Hopefully they'll see it like that. Yes I know what you mean they don't want legal execs doing fe1s because it means they'd need time off and would be looking elsewhere for traineeships. I'll still have to give them a reason why I didnt or wont be doing them though...

ComfyKnickers

Considering the amount of jobs gone in the legal sector since the downturn, I don't think you could be considered unambitious by not, at the moment, continuing on to qualify. It's a huge step to take, time wise and financially and I think they will admire the fact that while you are not willing to take this step (and rightly so!) at the moment, you are moving yourself up the legal ladder as much as possible by looking for a legal executive position when you were previously only in admin. I agree with the previous poster that if a job is being offered, they will want you to stay in it!

Best of luck with the interview, let us know how it turns out

MilkTheGroup

ComfyKnickers wrote: »

Considering the amount of jobs gone in the legal sector since the downturn, I don't think you could be considered unambitious by not, at the moment, continuing on to qualify. It's a huge step to take, time wise and financially and I think they will admire the fact that while you are not willing to take this step (and rightly so!) at the moment, you are moving yourself up the legal ladder as much as possible by looking for a legal executive position when you were previously only in admin. I agree with the previous poster that if a job is being offered, they will want you to stay in it!

Best of luck with the interview, let us know how it turns out

Thats great advice thanks for that! much less nervous now, cheers!

MissM89

Hi there Milkthegroup

Im sorry to be posting this about a year after your initial query but I am in pretty much the exact same situation as you were at that stage and I would so appreciate some advice on how things have gone for you over the past year. I am currently working as a legal secretary, and just do not have the desire to be a solicitor but i do enjoy working in the legal field. I feel I would make a really good executive (I have my degree and an LLM). Just wondering how your got on with the tricky question re FE1's in your interview and if your career as a legal execis working out for you?

Thanks