It’s been an action-packed first month in my Traineeship at The McKinstry Company. I was quite anxious about starting work, especially with also having moved away from home for the first time, but the support from my colleagues has helped me settle into the company and the area well. They have been very patient in answering the many, many questions I have had about everything so far, which I really do appreciate. 

From week one, I have enjoyed getting to attend client meetings and seeing first-hand the effort that goes into building client relationships which TMC values so highly. An unexpected bonus on the first day was getting to attend the local Conveyancers’ quarterly lunch which allowed me to meet some solicitors from other firms and to hear about what kind of issues are present across different firms in the area. At the end of the first week TMC also organised an informal welcome drinks for myself and fellow trainee Emma which was a nice way to get to know some of my colleagues better in an out of office setting.

I was surprised to be given responsibility over some client files within the first couple of weeks with various types of matters ongoing and at various stages of progression, but also pleased because I was keen to get stuck in to work and to get to grips with the responsibilities of my role in the Conveyancing department. I find I learn best through practice, and it helps that my supervisor, Kirsty, has been great at going over the work I have done and showing me how I can improve.

Already I have been involved in drafting and reviewing documents, letters, email correspondence, registering titles and even settling transactions, covering a variety of residential, commercial and rural property. I have also undertaken some research tasks which have brought me into contact with the Litigation department on matters related to property. It’s been nice to have this cross-department interaction, with a lot of our work also relating to the Private Client department.

I have had some training on our systems and processes which by the end of the month I feel I am (hopefully) getting to grips with, and have also had some cash room training which has been useful for me to understand the overall progression of a transaction. I have also been involved in weekly team meetings to go over any departmental issues and to improve our team’s overall efficiency and effectiveness.

One thing that has become very clear to me as the month has gone by is that it is critical to be organised when you have responsibility for a number of different files, all with different tasks to complete, to help you keep track of what needs to be done and of any looming deadlines. I also learned that you need to be able to take good notes from phone calls and to make sure they are actioned and added to files appropriately. 

While there have undoubtedly been some challenging days so far, I finish the first month overall feeling positive about the progress I have made and optimistic about continuing to improve over the coming months. I look forward to getting to know the Conveyancing team and the whole organisation better, with more opportunities for socialising in that respect coming up soon.