Simon Broomer Managing Director at CareerBalance Ltd advises how to get back into the workplace after a career break or maternity.

Simon Broomer Managing Director of CareerBalance talks about how lawyers can change career. Simon is a Qualified Lawyer who re-trained as a Career Counsellor and Coach. 

Thinking of starting your own business? The outlook might be brighter than you think.

Simon Broomer, Director of CareerBalance talks about the state of the UK jobs market. Despite the recession, there are lots of jobs out there.
 

The founders of Notting Hill and Islington-based FRAE yoghurt decided there was more to life than a career in the law and instead chose… frozen yoghurt.

Many lawyers in their 40s face a difficult predicament.

As partners, they are typically earning well. But between the demands of meeting fee targets, managing and inspiring people, long hours, taking risks and bringing in new business, their responsibilities are unrelenting. Against a backdrop of fierce competition, firms are being forced to take on more work for less money. For lawyers who are not passionate about what they do, the job can be even more stressful.

Many lawyers love their jobs. But many others want to break free and crave more fulfilment. One 40-something lawyer we recently saw at CareerBalance sat down and said: “If I don’t stop, it will kill me”.

There comes a point in every lawyer’s career when they look around and wonder if partnership is the right path for them.

Law firms are typically eager to know who will progress to partner and who won’t. Established lawyers have built up sound knowledge and technical skills and want to be rewarded appropriately. Still, a lifetime of being on call at the weekend, helping another bank ink yet another corporate finance deal, and being interrupted at dinner by another client who has been served a writ, is hardly an alluring prospect for everyone.

While some forward-thinking corporations offer flexible working hours and career breaks while guaranteeing to hold your job, City law firms are not always amenable to women with a family focus. Perhaps this explains why women represent 50% of trainee lawyers but just 10% of City partners, according to CareerBalance founder Simon Broomer.

Many lawyers feel demoralised once it emerges they don’t want a partnership role, and complain of being sidelined. One fit and healthy woman who visited CareerBalance recently confessed she feels constantly exhausted. Another who regularly brings in new business to her firm, described her City law firm as a gentleman’s club where she felt pushed aside. Some lawyers CareerBalance has seen have been signed off with depression and feel unable to confide in anyone at their firm.

So if you find yourself at a similar crucial crossroads in your career, don’t let it pass you by. If you’re being pushed to your limits, set boundaries and make some changes. Think - what’s best for me given my priorities within my career and outside it? How appreciated do I feel by colleagues and clients?

At CareerBalance we know it’s hard to set aside time to make your next career move a reality. An initial career questionnaire lets us know all about our clients’ job satisfaction levels before we even meet for our first session. We specialise in helping lawyers take the future of their career into their own hands. Maybe we can help you too?

Posted by Simon Broomer, Managing Director and Founder at CareerBalance Ltd

Increasing life expectancy, coupled with a new law axing enforced retirement at 65 from next October, suggest retirement will soon look very different, says Claire Adler.

One Sunday morning earlier this year in a packed church hall in Bloomsbury, innovation expert Charles Leadbeater gave a secular sermon for The School of Life about ageing. He began by pointing out that every day we live, grants us another five hours of life expectancy.

"Ageing invites us to re-think work," he preached. "Instead of seeing articles about hot young things in their 20s, I'd like to see a list of 70- somethings at the top of their game, who've only been in a specific field for 10 years."

Leadbeater has a point, and it's one being addressed at City-based career consultancy CareerBalance.

In 1980, a 65 year old Englishman had a one in 1000 chance of living to be 100 years old. Just 30 years later, this figure has increased to one in 100.

"Many of us cannot afford to retire and even those who do retire in our sixties won't want to spend the next 30 years or more on the golf course," says Simon Broomer, CareerBalance managing director.

Broomer is now pointing his most mature and experienced clients in the direction of trustee, non-executive and advisory roles including lay membership of Health Authority Trusts and regulatory financial bodies.

This baby-booming generation of new retirees is tackling ageist thinking in the workplace, according to Broomer. "Many people believe mobility and employability reduces after 50, but that's untrue. It is down to the individual to deal with these objections, sell the benefit of their experience and the value of their skills and knowledge," he says.

Activists from Age UK recently welcomed the government announcement axing enforced retirement at 65, hailing it as a victory against ageism which would benefit both people over 65 and the economy as a whole – thanks to older workers' precious skills, additional tax revenue and increased buying power.

"From a frustrated senior lawyer now working in employment health and safety, to a partner in a City firm now considering deanship of a law school or becoming a charity CEO, I'm increasingly talking to clients who far from winding down are winding up for retirement," says Broomer.

To get an expert view on your current career options and/ or your job-hunting tactics make an appointment
now to see one of our Career Specialists. E-mail consultants@careerbalance.co.uk, or call us on
020 3051 1054.