“I found the work too emotionally demanding.” 

What work were you doing previously?    

I worked in Children’s Social Care, supporting young adults leaving the care system with all aspects of moving into independence. 

My work included a caseload of care leavers who had entered the UK as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, many of whom were awaiting the outcome of their asylum claim and were in a really precarious situation.

What are you doing now?    

I work for the Civil Service in His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service as a lawyer. 

I'm in training to advise the magistrates in the family court on all aspects of private and public children law. It's a quasi-judicial role, and I also draft court orders and manage the applications coming into the court from members of the public and local authorities. 

Why did you change?

I actually completed a law degree straight after college. 

I didn’t see myself as a corporate person, and if I were to go into law, I only wanted to be a human rights lawyer – nothing else! 

Throughout my career, I explored and applied for a training contract within the legal sphere but it just never materialised. I loved working with children, so instead I pursued nannying, child care, youth work and ultimately my work in social care.

I enjoyed what I did there, but once I had my own children, I couldn’t see myself working there until the end of my career.

The work had also become very personally challenging. I was becoming involved in supporting care leavers in care proceedings with their own children and I found it too emotionally demanding.

Plus, I was curious about whether my potential could be maximised in the private sector. I always had a niggling sense that completing my legal studies would be the peak of me reaching my personal and professional potential.

When was the moment you decided to make the change?    

I never felt I could leave my social work career without the security of a training contract, as at that time you couldn’t qualify as a solicitor without one. 

That opportunity took 13 years to secure. But as soon as I had the training contract offer, I went for it!

How did you choose your new career?

Having studied law at undergrad, the seed was sown that I could complete my legal studies and become a lawyer.

During my law degree, I didn't enjoy studying large swaths of the law - like property and trusts – but I did love the social justice and rights-based areas.

I knew I wanted my professional work to be meaningful and challenging. For me, that means working with people who are vulnerable and facing their own personal challenges.

I became tunnel-visioned on practising in the human rights arena, but it's super competitive and that opportunity never came to fruition. When I cast my net wider, I achieved success.

It’s taken several pivots again to find the right fit. 

Are you happy with the change?  

Ultimately, yes. I am now, but it hasn’t been without its challenges. 

I'd never worked in a law firm before I started the training contract, and it was a total culture shock. The firm’s values weren't a good alignment for me. When I qualified, I took two career breaks to reflect on my career change, as I felt that I'd made a terrible mistake!

I didn’t like the industry side of the legal profession: time recording, billing, targets, being pitched against your peers and an “always on” culture wasn’t a good fit for me. I found some teams I worked in to be hostile to me as a working mother, and so I spent a lot of time considering my options.

I spoke to so many people in the legal profession about their careers, and after much exploration I returned to the public sector to pursue my current role. I've been here 9 months, and so far it feels like a great fit. I'm very happy with the change! 

What do you miss and what don't you miss?

I miss having a caseload of young people that I consistently supported over many years. 

I loved the autonomy of the social work role and also delivering group work projects. I'm still friends with many of my colleagues, so I don’t have to miss them too much! 

I don’t miss the frustration of working in the local authority and the resource constraints. I also don't miss dealing with the challenging behaviours that were part and parcel of working with young people who'd had such a difficult start in life. 

How did you go about making the shift?

I plugged and plugged and plugged for legal opportunities. 

I applied for training at evenings and weekends, and took work experience opportunities on annual leave. Essentially, I knocked on doors until one finally opened! 

How did you develop (or transfer) the skills you needed for your new role?

It's been a non-stop process of development and re-wiring my brain to become and think like a lawyer. 

What has transferred well has been my team work skills, my ability to build rapport with clients and colleagues alike and my ability to stay calm under pressure.

Working in the family court, you are often seeing people on their worst day. I feel that the resilience and compassion that I brought to my social work transfer really well here too. 

What didn’t go well? What wrong turns did you take?

The transfer to private practice (law firms) for my training wasn’t a great experience for me. 

My first training contract started after Covid and was nearly fully remote. When you're trying to learn a new craft, it requires a lot of input from your supervisors to nurture and support you, and I didn’t get that.

I also had a horrendous time trying to negotiate flexible working as a mum of two very young children. Ultimately, I left to pursue another training contract.

I had further challenging experiences there, mainly in terms of the leadership approach. On qualification, I was offered another role at a large firm so I went for that.

That was technically another “wrong turn”, because it was the wrong area of law. I found I really didn’t like the pressure and focus of targets and billing clients when practicing law. A pressured sales environment is not my thing. 

I also knew in my heart that working part time whilst my children are young was really the best fit for me. All that said, I’m not sure if these are actually “wrong turns” as they taught me so much about myself, my values, and what I need in order to thrive in my working life.

These experiences made me laser-focused when I set about pursuing my next steps in my professional journey, and ultimately led me to the role I'm doing today.

How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible?    

My family and husband have been a lifeline and I couldn't have made a career change without them. 

We are blessed to be surrounded by our families locally. They helped immensely with childcare, which was the major financial and logistical issue pursuing the change with such young children.

I had my second daughter in my second year at university, and my husband took care of the kids every other weekend whilst I studied and attended the course.

Tax-free childcare and the government’s free nursery hours also helped a lot at that time. I also couldn't have paid the uni fees without my husband’s support. I wasn’t eligible for student finance for my Legal Practice Course (some £12,500 / US$16,600 for the course) as I already had a higher level qualification, nor was I eligible for a private loan as I worked part time and my earnings were too low.

That said, I'm very good at being frugal, and we made ends meet while our finances were set back for several years It’s a good job we like camping! 

What was the most difficult thing about changing?

What help did you get?

I sought the counsel of friends and family during my studies and training.

At some of the most challenging points, my GP was brilliant, too. I also had help through a charity called LawCare who provided me with an independent mentor. That was absolutely transformative for me and really helped me to contextualise and manage my experiences. 

What have you learnt in the process?    

To trust my gut and heart. 

Do not lose faith, and take learning from every experience, however challenging and painful it may be! It can take several pivots when you change careers and it’s okay if it's not a good fit first (or second or third!) time around.

In a large industry, like law, there are a thousand ways to practice and you just have to find your niche.  

What do you wish you'd done differently?

I don’t actually think I could've done anything differently and I now feel quite philosophical about the whole experience. 

If it hadn’t been so hard in private practice, I wouldn’t have made the incredible connections that I have through platforms like LinkedIn and had all the opportunities and experiences that flowed from that.

I also wouldn’t have built my own fantastic tribe at my online career change community for aspiring mature lawyers – Later On Lawyers (also on LinkedIn).

I'm glad I experienced law in the private sector. That experience confirmed that the public sector was best aligned for me professionally. It has made me so thankful for my work, and being able to be a junior lawyer and a mum in the way that I want to be. 

What would you advise others to do in the same situation? 

Reach out for help and advice. 

Speak to people relentlessly about their life in your sector. Ask for work experience and shadowing. Plug and be relentless in your pursuit of your goals – you'll get there eventually! 

What resources would you recommend to others?

Use platforms like LinkedIn to build your connections and to get a better understanding of your new industry.

Offer a “virtual cuppa”. You’ll be surprised how generous people are with their time and talents. Ultimately be brave, and put yourself out there – no one can do it for you, but you.

What lessons could you take from Melanie's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.