Seminars

Seminar 1 – Introduction to Professional Practice

What did I do today?

During this seminar introductory I introduced myself and met everyone else in my seminar group. I was able to demonstrate my presentation skills and team work skills. I learnt the importance of leadership and team work during the group exercise. The role I specifically demonstrated was my oral ability to expand on my ideas and presenting to other members of the seminar group not just the groups we were allocated to. I received my module guide. I was introduced to the Professional Skills Module assessments criteria, necessary resources required and started to discuss issues on Professionalism. There was also discussion on the importance of self-reflection in relation to my own employability and the concept of Action Learning Sets by considering potential problems involved in continued group work. The exercise I took part in as a group was discussing the concept of what professionalism is and the participation in managing your impact exercise

What did I learn from the seminar?

The ability to network with other students and important information in regards to the Professional skills programme in seminars and Action Learning Sets. I also learnt the ability to apply professional skills and reasoning to everyday situations by working in teams to introduce solutions to the problems of different views of what professionalism is. I learnt the importance of essential professional skills required to do well in this module, tutors who will be teaching this module and the module learning outcomes. I also appreciated the importance of team-working and the appreciation of the importance of advocacy

What did I do well preparing for the seminar?

I looked over my professional skills module guide on Moodle which would assist me in understanding skills and reasoning required and expected throughout the participation required on this module. As it was an introductory seminar, all the information about resources, assessments and module guide would be provided in this seminar and no preparation was required. I therefore only brought with me my notepad and pen to this seminar to take down important notes and was the best preparation I could do for this seminar.

Why did I do those things well?

I understood the importance of learning how to introduce new ideas and reading material by elaborating on ideas in a group. My experience in education has taught me the professional skills to bring to seminars note making learning material which will assist in learning the module and understanding key information at the start of the module. I knew even though there was no preparation it was important to take notes down as there would be a lot of important information discussed in this seminar.

What difficulties did I have during preparation and the seminar?

Coming up with more unique ideas and solutions to considering the concept of professionalism which we were required to tackle in teams. The major difficulty I had was trying to understand what the module Professional Skills is about. I had a lot of questions which needed to be answered but was unsure would they be answered in this seminar. During this seminar we were told of the essential learning requirements for the module for instance Professionalism, team-working, employability skills, advocacy skills, interviewing and advising skills, powers of assertiveness/personal effectiveness and negotiating skills.

Why did I have those difficulties?

It was a difficult task however working as part of a team the ideas came together and assisted us with the answers to the concept of what professionalism is. I feel as it is the start of the course and so far my research on the subject of the professional skills module is weak there would be these difficulties. I trust my tutor who advised me and my fellow students that we will eventually know more about the module and essential core requirements in this seminar therefore. There wasn’t much preparation I could do apart from bring pen and paper to assist in taking notes during this introductory seminar.

How will I overcome those difficulties in the future?

Ensure to work as part of the team and not to give up if I have difficulties as others in the team can help bring out ideas and inspire the ideas. As I know more about this module after the introductory seminar, I feel I have more material to research and work around to prepare for the next seminar on professional skill. I also therefore will know what to read up on follow my assessment requirements in my module guide.

What skills did I develop/gain from the seminar?

Team work and leadership skills were developed during this seminar. Majority of the research and activities that will be involved are in team work task in seminars, in Action Learning Sets and outside university in employability situations when dealing with professional skills. Understanding the importance of not only material in the library but also online material from sources such as moodle and government websites. These will assist me with all my assessments and I understand the importance of online research from resources like the websites discussed.

How do I plan to further improve those skills?

Continue to work in my seminars as a team as we all are on a journey to bring out the best potential development and progression of professional skills in each other through networking and sharing ideas and experiences. I will be making the most of exploring online research skills further by accessing them and reading the guides on Moodle provided. I will also reflect to my module guide to understand the assessments further in professional skills and link them to how I could use them in the assessments in employability and work place situations.

How may these skills help future career?

Networking is important as well as team work to help an organisation come forward with ideas and expand their business through remaining professional. Therefore skills of team work and leadership is important. Getting familiar with professional skills will help me to gain expertise in order to use it in everyday life and in the legal recruitment world.

If I had to prepare and participate in this session again, what would I do differently and why?

I would introduce new ideas which were collectively introduced in the seminar as well as look over professional skill techniques in recommended reading books.

Seminar 2 - Employability and Career Planning


I started the process of self-reflection in relation to my own employability. Understand the importance of analysing your own strengths and areas for improvement in a detailed way and start relating these to future career planning. Develop the concept of Action Learning Sets and to consider some of the problems involved in continued group work.


The importance of team-working and appreciating the importance of career planning


I watched and discuss in ALS at least episodes 1,2 and 3 of the Learn Higher website and set roles within your ALS. I also prepared to report back my findings to your seminar tutor and peers in seminar 2 by being the rapporteur. I taken part in the ALS activities in meeting one and read the materials for seminar 2. I printed off the Self-Audit of Employability document from the module Moodle site and completed it, bringing it to the session for discussion.


I read my previous seminar notes on accessing all the key information related to the course in our module guides and Moodle. Therefore I knew what I needed to access and the reading material preparation for the seminar was listed in the reading list on Moodle which helped me to direct where to read and prepare material for the seminar. I also did background reading to get to grips with the topics of employability and career planning in order to discuss this in the seminar therefore I could concentrate and the gist of the my Self-Audit of employability. Legal and social issues that surrounded employability were discussed during the seminar in depth which I felt was useful as I had prepared by reading the required material so I was on track with the topics discussed in the seminar in relation to employability.


During my preparation, I felt it was difficult to draw everything together in terms of my current situation on reflecting on my employability strengths and weaknesses. There was a lot of information which I was required to reflect upon in regards to my employability skils and career planning. However the seminar helped me to view and consolidate my ideas of employability skills via the SWOT [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats] analysis sheet. The ideal job and career planning sheet again helped with consolidating my ideas.


The main reason why I had these difficulties was I tended to have difficulties in memorising everything therefore my notes where muddled in regards to my employability skills strengths and weaknesses. Even though I prepared I didn’t allow myself to think, stop and analysis what I was reading so my notes were muddled with excess information for the seminar. In

particular this difficulty can be seen when I tried to understand the key skills I have in examples and it was only in the seminar I understood the key points to be consolidated through discussion of relevant points in the hand-outs provided (SWOT, Career Planning and the Ideal Job). Therefore this helped in consolidating my knowledge in relation to employability skills.


I understand in order to deal with the difficulty I faced during my preparation, I will ensure I read more consistently and analysis and highlight key points in the reading material.


A key skill I learnt from this seminar is analysis is important to having consistent and relevant reflections and notes. During the seminar I realised what were the key aspects of the understanding the current employability skills I have obtained and required. I developed my understanding of analysis skills for future reading material. This seminar provided me with a good example of reviewing my employability skills and future pans in employment. I had understanding of employability through relevant notes made and raised awareness of my stage of analysis in regards to my employability skill that I will be required to review, develop and complete for future seminar preparation.


I will ensure to make consistent notes with relevant material and then comment in my notes why it is relevant to my employability skills; this will therefore improve my analysis skill. In particularly I will also be attempting practices and mock assessments which will highlight how good my analysis skills are at university undergraduate level and highlight if I need any help or support to improve my analysing skills. I was also introduced to the concept of ‘SMART’ stands for Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; and Timescale. This will help with my consistent development of employability skills.


Analysing skills are important for not only legal careers but problem scenarios. One of the skills required to ensure you do well in guaranteeing a job offer is demonstrating analysing skills in previous experience through either work experience or education. Another time its important is during assessment centres where the test could be group exercise or situation judgmental test which require skills of analysis.


I would take notes more consistently taking into consideration what the employability skill is about, how it relates to the example and key to understanding and developing a better development and reflection of my employability skills. This would have ensured I had clear

notes and a better understanding avoiding confusion and muddled ideas surrounding my employability skills and future career planning.

Seminar 3 – Employability, Self-Confidence and Assertiveness


We were put into teams to discuss the relationship between self-esteem and self- confidence. We then had undertaken some self-reflection in relation to your own self-esteem and self-confidence and exercised strategies to improve your own self-esteem, self-confidence and assertiveness. This was done via the completion of Personal Effectiveness Inventory task.


Increased my awareness of appreciating the importance of self-esteem, self-confidence and assertiveness to employability and further appreciate the importance of self-reflection as a tool for self-improvement.


I read the required materials for seminar 3 and ensured that I reflected on the materials prior to the session keeping notes in my reflective diary. I read my notes which I have made previously in regards to self-confidence and assertiveness links with employability referring to my own examples where I have demonstrated these professional skills required for employability. I also did extra wider reading to prepare my construction of ideas and thoughts for the task in the seminar.


I understood from my previous seminar that it was important to use skills of analysis when reading material for preparation of the upcoming seminar. Therefore I already had my notes in order and elaborated on the notes through in depth interaction through the seminar.


Overall I had no difficulties as I was aware of the task requirements of the Personal Effectiveness Inventory. However unlike previous team work seminar tasks were I had difficulty in reaching unique ideas, this time the team had many more ideas so we had difficulty in selecting which ones would be ideal for key elements of Self-Confidence and Assertiveness for employability skills development and progression.


Selecting ideas and specific points was a difficult I encountered.


I will try to select the least important points as a team and come up with better ideas which will help put the best solutions at a the forefront of discussion of key employability skills for the particular area of self-confidence and assertiveness.


Critical thinking was one of the skills I improved as the team had many ideas but had difficulty deciding the best ideas to put forward to the rest of the seminar group.


Expand on my critical thing through exercises and practices attempts.


Important decision making skills are vital to move forward in employment and the business organisation you will work for without being prompted.


I would make the decision of drawing up an action plan of the necessary employability skills for assertiveness and self-confidence.

Seminar 4 - Introduction to Advocacy


Today I had the opportunity to review my knowledge of advocacy and understanding what I need to do in regards to being competent in the advocacy assessments. I realised the importance of careful preparation, professional presentation and guidance in order to prepare for the formative bail assessment. I taken part in team work tasks during the seminar and I also gave feedback in regards to ALS meeting number 2.


I learnt form the seminar the importance of court room equity and what bad advocacy is and court room equity through a tutor led seminar (common pitfalls of students not performing well in the advocacy). I also understood the importance of advocacy and appreciate the importance of advocacy to my employability. My tutor went through the important theories and practices relating to the skills of non-legal and legal advocacy which was useful in my understanding of advocacy. I then understood the importance of non-verbal communication via body language and how this can affect the effectiveness of one’s advocacy.


I made use of reviewing my additional notes which I made for preparing for my previous advocacy skills used for instance mock moots and internal moots as well as understanding my weaknesses. I also did research on my weaker areas of mooting and had the opportunity to keep an open mind to what would be required for the advocacy assessment. I read the material prepared for seminar 4. I prepared and participated in ALS meeting number 2 and be prepared to feedback as appropriate on your Action Learning Set 2 activities.


I had a practice run in approaching mooting situations therefore I was able to understand what is required of me in the advocacy and how to prepare.


I overall didn’t come across major issues however I did have difficulties in regards of what would be required in a level 5 professional skills advocacy assessment.


I have never attempted a level 5 advocacy assessment of this nature before therefore I wasn’t sure what was expected.


I will prepare similarly like any other standard of moots I have taken part in and not underestimate the requirements of an advocacy assessment in regards to the level the advocacy will be assessed during.


Research skills and understanding what would be required during advocacy assessment


To ensure I continue my research for future assessments as this will prepare me for future assessment enquires and unanswered questions.


Research is important therefore preparing with research will give confidence and ultimately preparing research for a moot assessment would be vital to a career of legal advocacy or similar roles in communication. Research skills are vital for job offers and career progression as commercial awareness is important for careers. Interviewers require evidence that the candidates have researched into companies’ values and the job role in order to be culturally fit for the position applied for. It is also beneficial for career progression as it is important to not telly on one piece of research material for instance the company website as they can be biased about their company progression and therefore newspaper articles like the Times can give key information to showing the company is financially doing bad and criticised for the way it treat their employees. Therefore research is essential for knowing whether company is financially and socially in a position to provide a good career progression in the future. Lexis also identifies news of solicitor’s law firms which would be ideal for the legal field of work for work placements and will be ideal to impress the interviewers either through the application form or face to face interviews


Not underestimate the requirements for the advocacy assessment.

Seminar 5 - Formative assessment in advocacy – bail applications


I made my bail application and been judged formatively by my tutor against the advocacy assessment criteria; and by developing the concept of professionalism in advocacy.


Appreciate the importance of advocacy and the importance of advocacy to your employability


I prepared for the formative assessment by having practised this application in my ALS meeting 3 and given and been given feedback to/by others on the applications.


Its important to see both sides of the argument with facts and evidence.


Deciding the conclusion of if there should or should not be juries in this country as both arguments were strong in my research and reading I carried out.


The reason why I had difficulties were due to both the arguments were valid.


Try to not make definite conclusions and acknowledge both sides of the argument but favouring one of the sides even more.


I developed my debating and advocacy skills.


By working on more arguments and analysing counter arguments in future scenarios.


Forward planning with arguments can help make better decisions and conclusions to scenarios faced in work environment.


I would look at my counter arguments and to approach the question with an open mind as the law is not black and white and contains grey areas

Seminar 6 - Preparation for summative advocacy assessment; and review of e.portfolio progress


I formed an informed view of your progress to date in relation to your Professional Skills and Practice e.portfolio. I reflected on my advocacy practices to date in preparation for my formal assessment in advocacy and prepared for my formal assessment in advocacy. I was allocated a case study (Case Study 3, Betsy Brummel) by my tutor and expected to be placed into groups to attend at half hourly intervals for my second formative pleas in mitigation in seminar 7 in the same style as for my bail applications.


I appreciated the importance of advocacy and understood what further work may be necessary to complete your e.portfolio assessment.


I read the materials for seminar 6 in the module guide and reviewed my performance to date with my portfolio and feedback and reflections on my advocacy skills to date.


I prepared and realised the importance of wider reading from my previous seminar which required exploring legal terms in order to understand how to identify legislation layout. This approach was similarly used for preparing for this lecture.


The difficulties that arose when preparing where limited as I understood this topic more easily due to my extensive research. However, if I was to criticise the length of time it had taken to find the research, it would be one of my difficulties I could outline therefore the speed of finding journals on Westlaw which are relevant to the preparation is a weakness that needs to be looked at.


A reason for the difficulty was my weakness with the familiarity of using Westlaw which extended unnecessary length of time it taken to find the journals for the topics of doctrine of judicial precedent.


I will attend Westlaw workshops to understand and refresh my memory on searching journal articles relevant to the topics the research and wider reading is required for.

What skills did I develop/gain from the lecture?

Increase in speeding research for topics in a set length of time, therefore working under pressure and time management.


Try to identify easier ways to search journal articles and deal with harder parts of research required in order to perform better and improve time management with research online.


Time management and working under pressure to retrieve research material is important for not only the law field of work but other various careers. It is important to select important relevant research material without going over the time limit set.


I would seek assistance from Westlaw workshops and Westlaw representatives in order to understand how I could improve the speed of research online.

Seminar 7 – Second Formative Advocacy Assessment – Pleas in Mitigation


I have made your plea in mitigation as one of my final formative assessment in advocacy.


I appreciated the importance of advocacy and careful preparation and presentation.


Prepared for my formative assessment using the materials in the case study and material provided in seminar 6 and have practised my pleas in mitigation in ALS 4.


I looked over my notes from previous seminar on the mitigation plea. I read the required chapter of the recommended text book and journal articles in regards to skills of negotiation during a pleas and persuasiveness.


I understood in order to refresh my memory I needed to look over my previous notes to greater my knowledge and understanding of what skills are required for the mitigation plea component. Reading the chapters of the relevant book ensured I understood the methods of persuasiveness involved in a mitigation plea.


I was new to the assessment criteria in terms of a mitigation plea and did not understand fully what was required and allowed. Another reason I had difficulties with my lack of familiarity with the subjects and topics discussed in regards to the negotiation when challenged with opposition views from the magistrate.


I will ensure that I read and answer the questions stated in my assessment as it is very easy to drift away during a mitigation plea from what is required of me to persuade and negotiate in the assessment. I will also practice problem questions in regards to public speaking and persuasiveness exercises to greater my knowledge and understanding of the methods.

What skills did I develop/gain from the lecture?

The skills I had developed were to ensure I will be practising and be familiar with problem questions in plea. Ensuring that I stick to the questions, will make sure my assessment answers are consist and not packed with unnecessary information and knowledge of topics that I will not be assessed on.


Consistency skills are important with practise and reading. It is only with practise I can improve the required skills for future assessments and career prospects.


It is important to remain consistent through a job role therefore focusing and attention to detail is important with the skill of consistency.


I would read the question and stick to answering the question in the component; this would have saved unnecessary questions in regards to being competent in the Analysing Legal Texts component for skills. Practising more problem questions in regards to negotiations would help me understand the methods better and greater my knowledge.

Seminar 8 - Interviewing and Advising


I was introduced to the core practice skill of interviewing advising and had the opportunity to practise with their peers and obtained feedback. I also received my formative assessment plea mitigation feedback sheet.


The importance of the skill of interviewing and advising. My current progress on advocacy.


I appreciated the transferability of certain professional and employability skills, principally interviewing and advising. The work required and areas of improvement for my advocacy skills.


I understood the importance of formative assessment from my previous experience in the assessments. I also read the materials for seminar 8 to help me prepare well for aspect of interviewing and advising.


Talking through some of theory and practice around interviewing and advising and then taking part in a practical interviewing exercise.


It was something new I did and I felt slightly nervous.


I will be confident and have more faith in my abilities and take on board positive feedback and areas for improvement and work towards improving my advocacy, interview and advising skills.


I understood the importance of interviewing and advising. I also had the opportunity to receive and give feedback to my peers.


Work on looking at other forms of media and resources to make my feedback interesting and learning progress and develop.


Technology is important in the marketing world and business organisations.


I would have accessed Slide share website and uploaded some forms of reflections for my tutor to review of my own experience during the advocacy and the interview and advising exercise.

Seminar 9 - Professional Practice and Negotiation


I continued my process of self-reflection in relation to my own employability. I also began to understand the importance of negotiation in your future professional life.


The importance of negotiation skills.


Read materials for seminar 9 from Moodle and print off the powerpoint slide for seminar 9 on negotiation.


As it was important to consider some theory around the professional skill of negotiation and will then take part in a practical exercise involving negotiation skills.


Understanding negotiation process; negotiation styles and how to choose the most effective style to adopt; and the different stages/phases of a negotiation. Especially for the case study presented in the seminar which as a group we had to discuss to reach the appropriate conclusion through effective negotiation.


I never thought about negotiation in depth and we were given a task to be completed in a given time to prepare. Therefore entering a negotiation activity and see what you can achieve in a limited amount of time was different to the usual activities I participated in professional skill seminars and was rather challenging.


I will have confidence and continue to list example when I use my skills in educational and employment situations to have self-belief. I will also participate in more negotiation exercises to develop my skills of negotiation.


Negotiation skills via using personal initiative and team working.


I will be continued to take part in and pay more attention to detail when faced similar situation of dealing with negotiation in the work place in order to develop my negotiation skills through employability practically.


Building on negotiation skills through Employability will increase and help with outlining specific situations and making use of identifying my professional skills in real life scenarios with supported evidence of making use of my professional skills.


I would participate and do more research into types of negotiations and look at good and bad examples via the use of negotiation through employability skills and evaluate the situation in the examples. Especially by considering my personal experiences of negotiation.

Seminar 10 – Re-assessing employability; the submission of e.portfolios; and final ALS feedback

I had the opportunity to express any concerns in regards to the submission of my E-Portfolio. I continued process of self-reflection in relation to my own employability. I started to draw some defensible conclusions in relation to my employability. Also attempts were made at understanding a deeper level of importance of analysing my own strengths and areas for improvement in a detailed way and relate these to future career planning and finally feel confident about how to complete and submit your e.portfolio


That my E-Portfolio is up to date and no concerns are raised in regard to improvement. The importance of self-reflection; and appreciate the importance of career planning.


Completed and updated the E-portfolio to date of the seminar workshop. Read the materials for seminar 10. Complete all the activities stipulated for ALS meeting 5 and was prepared to feedback as appropriate on your ALS meeting 5 activities.


I understood the importance of formative assessment from my previous experience in the assessments.


Overall I was up to date with the E-Portfolio and did not encounter any difficulties but I needed to know if the layout was appropriate.


I felt the E-Portfolio may have caused confusion.


I will be uploading slide share views of my reflections to make it easier to the eye.


I understood the importance of IT skills and using technology to improve accessing and reading the E-Portfolio.


Work on looking at other forms of media and resources to make my E-Portfolio interesting.


Technology is important in the marketing world and business organisations.


I would have accessed Slide share website and uploaded some forms of reflections for my tutor to review.

Seminars

Education

module professional

seminar group

seminar introductory

introductory seminar

team work skills

employability skills

understanding skills

professional skills