The career break Penalty: Nazia’s Journey

In our articles, we discuss topical issues facing the legal industry and the wider world, all through the lens of equity, diversity and inclusion (E, D & I). This month’s article is written by Nazia Ahmed, where she shares insights into her legal career journey, her career break, and the challenges she faces as she decides to return to her law career.

“Absolutely!” was my response when I was first asked by Naeema to collaborate with her to write this article.

My legal journey began at the tender age of 16, straight from school into university. The usual barriers of being from an ethnic minority, being a woman and a visible Muslim meant it was that much harder to secure a training contract. This was at a time where some firms required passport photos to be submitted with job applications. Thankfully, someone saw the potential in me and I was on my way to becoming a solicitor.

Not only did I qualify but at the time, I was the youngest solicitor on the roll in England & Wales and thought to be the youngest to qualify in 100 years. That title is long gone but it was nice to be recognised in a profession which was never designed for people who looked like me.

I specialised in residential conveyancing for almost 6 years. It’s not the most exciting area of law and certainly not what I would choose if I had the chance to relive my legal journey again. Saying that, the skills that I acquired in that role are very much transferable – people management, time management, business development, and social skills to name a few.

There are career breaks and then there are career breaks!

The next chapter of my life led to me relocating to Glasgow, taking a career break and becoming a single full time mother for 16 years. Yes, you read that correctly, 16 years. It was never intended to be that long but such is life!

To summarise, during my career break, I have single-handedly raised my autistic son, re-qualified as a solicitor in Scotland, been a full-time carer for my late mother and taken on voluntary work. 

It’s been an eventful career break and my time away from the legal profession has made me realise how much I miss it. I miss the legal workplace environment, I miss building professional relationships, I miss the work colleagues who become your work family, and I miss the client interactions. 

The career break has made me stronger and more resilient. I refuse to let my qualifications, training and experience go to waste. Committed, motivated and focussed! I am excited and ready for different opportunities and ready for the challenge. My career break and being a single mother has enabled me to develop skills and excel at them - organising, managing, logistics, HR (every parent receives complaints!), and adaptability, to name a few. Sadly, life experience and the skills acquired through parenting are often overlooked by recruitment agencies and law firms. 

Challenges

Fast forward to April/May 2024 where I made the decision to return to law. 

I reached out to the relevant professional bodies and as it turns out there is not any real support in place to get women back into law. Let’s face it, it is mainly women who take career breaks to raise children. Next, I reached out to a few recruitment agencies and if I’m honest, some of the conversations and then the complete radio silence after providing them with my CV left me feeling quite deflated, insulted and questioning whether I was good enough to be a solicitor. It’s almost as if I was being told I have no skills or experience because I’ve been a full time mother for so long. As a woman, mother and lawyer, I instinctively knew this was wrong. There must be a better way. 

I gave myself a quick reality check and reminded myself that I am already a solicitor -  dual qualified at that. 

Whilst I may not have the current legal knowledge/experience that some firms and recruitment agencies are specifying, I have life experience and a far greater, more refined skill set than I did pre-career break. If anything, I am the updated version of myself. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new or make improvements. 

It seems that recruitment agencies shy away from engaging with career returners as we’re deemed a difficult placement for them. As a result, we’re not put forward for any vacancies on the premise that we don’t have current experience or don’t meet the criteria. Effectively, we’re being excluded from roles. So much for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies. 

However, after speaking to a few partners at leading Scottish law firms, it appears that some partners have no objections to applications from career returners and some were surprised to hear that recruitment agencies don’t put career returners forward for roles. This may be due to a lack of communication between hiring partners, HR/talent acquisition and recruiters.

Source: CareerReturners.com

What can be done to support those returning from a career break?

Awareness

This is something which needs to be addressed by the professional/regulatory bodies and law firms as a whole, not merely by lip service but by actively promoting career returners and the benefits they can bring. Blog posts are a great way to inform, but what would be even better would be some real joint collaboration between professional/regulatory bodies and law firms. I would welcome legal networking events aimed at career returners with a view to finding suitable roles or placements with firms that appreciate everything career returners have to offer.

NQ Roles

It's not unheard of for people to learn on the job. Many firms employ NQs with no experience for particular roles, so why not consider a career returner? Career returners already have a wealth of experience and possess the core skills/competencies required for the job. Yes, there will be re-training required but career returners are highly motivated to succeed upon their return to the profession, armed with a range of skills and a new outlook on life. From my personal situation, retraining does not faze me in the slightest. If anything, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a chance to enhance my knowledge, develop further skills and continue to grow.

Returners programmes

There are a small number of international and national law firms which have rolled out returners programmes, but these are not easily accessible. I’m based in Glasgow and I have yet to come across any being offered in Scotland. Sadly, no Scottish firms offer such programmes. I appreciate small high street firms will not have the resources to offer these but the bigger firms are in a position to do so. It just takes one and the rest will follow.

Refresher courses

As many firms and recruitment agencies are citing lack of current knowledge/experience as a reason not to hire, if there was a refresher course accredited by the professional or regulatory bodies, I would happily oblige. For now, I am signing up to as many CPD courses as I can in various areas of law. I also took part in a virtual work experience programme designed for students. I wanted to refresh my skills and broaden my knowledge. I wanted to highlight to any future employers that I am not afraid of retraining. Knowledge is power!

Recruitment agencies and the recruitment process

Appreciate and acknowledge the qualifications, skills and experience that career returners possess. It’s dismissive to overlook someone’s achievements just because they’ve had a career break. Some career returners may have lost confidence and unhelpful comments will not aid the situation. My favourite was being told to look at small firms as big firms look for candidates of a high calibre. I would never dream of referring to myself as “high calibre” as that is not for me to decide. It’s for my colleagues to decide. However, this particular comment was from someone who had never met me, had no knowledge of my background and had not seen my CV. If anything, that comment just made me even more determined.

Sadly, there are no agencies in Scotland that place focus on career returners. South of the border, I have come across two agencies specifically aimed at career returners. There is a gap in the market in Scotland – untapped talent ready and waiting!

Mentoring schemes

Both the UK Law Societies offer their own mentoring schemes which are open to everyone regardless of where you are in your legal career. I signed up to one of the mentoring schemes and my experience has been really positive. I am privileged and grateful to have found a mentor who not only understands the barriers I am facing but actively provides help and encourages me, from introducing me to other legal professionals and networking groups, to providing feedback on my CV or simply checking in on me.

Whilst mentoring schemes are worthwhile, when it comes to career returners, they would be more beneficial if they could be coupled with an internship or placement, even if it was for a few weeks.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

How equal, diverse and inclusive is it to exclude career returners? The majority of whom will be women, and who will then also most likely be subjected to age discrimination. We may have done away with dates of birth on CVs, but it’s still an issue women career returners will face. If firms are really serious about EDI, they must also actively embrace the career returner talent pool.

By implementing the above suggestions, it will mean that the right candidates are put forward and considered for roles.

What lies ahead for me?

Despite the barriers, I am still excited and looking forward to restarting my career and making a positive impact. Every challenge is an opportunity and every rejection is just redirection.

My faith teaches me that what is written for me will not go by me, even if it is beneath mountains. I live by this and will continue to do so. The right role and the right firm are waiting for me.*

*Since writing this article, I am pleased to share that I have joined Morton Fraser MacRoberts on a 6 month placement in their Real Estate Homebuilding team.

If you are passionate about improving gender equality, addressing the career break penalty, retaining femalte talent, and championing for career returners, you may be interested in our Look Up and Beyond project.