What can paralegals learn from the England Football team?

We couldn’t think of any lessons to learn from the cabinet meltdown, so here are a few (shoe horned) tips for our paralegals from England’s performance in the World Cup:

1. You will only be penalised (pun intended) for your mistakes if you fail to learn from them

It is important to improve and learn lessons from past failures. Jordan Pickford spoke intelligently (even by our high standards) about learning from adversity and players showing the mental strength not to buckle but bolster their resolve when setbacks occur. The same can be said for training contract applications. If you have received an application rejection, try to ascertain why and ensure that you resolve the issue for your next one. Success rarely occurs on your first attempt, and every rejection should improve your next application and set your (cross) bar high.

2. There is no “I” in TEAM - we checked

Whatever happens this evening, the England team have shown impressive levels of teamwork, both on and off the pitch. FA Technical Director, Dan Ashworth stated that "when you look in a team sport, it's not always the ones with the best players on paper that win." As paralegals, you will almost always be working as part of a team. The best feedback we can hope to receive from clients is that our paralegals have worked hard to support each other throughout difficult projects. Be a Harry Kane and not a Zayn!

3. “Keep calm and carry on”, as the Queen would say if she was allowed into the changing room at half time

England ‘keeper Jordan Pickford, tells how England are using their relative inexperience to deal with the pressure of the big stage: "I don’t show any pressure on the pitch, I show I can play out from the back, I don’t feel nervous. I’m embracing the environment of it all."

Whether you are facing legal exams, embarking on law firm applications or about to start your training contract, the life of a paralegal and law student can be stressful. Keep calm and keep perspective. The start of your career is for learning, and mistakes are expected and tolerated as long as you can show you are able to learn from them.

GO ON ENGLAND - from everyone at F-LEX!