Week 3 Post 2

During the past two years, I have learned a lot of new information and developed new skills. Through my courses at Conestoga College, I have learned how to properly format documents and have become very detail oriented. I improved my verbal and written communication skills during my English courses. I have learned how to use various software applications including Teraview, Conveyancer, Fast Company, ACL, PC Law, Estate-a-Base and Willbuilder. Along with all the new information and skills that I gained from this program, I also grew as a person. I have become a lot more responsible and organized. Coming from a University program to a College program was a real shock. I was used to being in a lecture hall with 300 other students. It was weird that there was only 30 people in a class. All the teachers knew who I was and noticed when I was absent. This made me much more accountable and responsible and forced me to attend classes more often. In addition, in university there was normally two big projects and two exams throughout the whole semester. In college, there were many small assignments.  My time management skills were developed because of this program. I had so many assignments that I had to use all of my time very wisely. I also had to learn to keep a to-do-list and agenda in order to keep track of all of the dates. Overall, I think I have gained a lot of new skills and abilities throughout this time. I have grown as a person and have become more responsible and professional.

Surprisingly, I did like the blogging aspect of this course. I did not think that I would enjoy blogging at all. I liked that I was able to read about other experiences and how everyone was doing and I liked that other people could hear about mine. I liked that I also got to document my experience and one day I will be able to look back and see how far I have come. The only thing I did not like about the blogs is that other people could technically read it. I wish that only the people who were in my program could see and comment on it. I think a good alternative would have been to use the discussion board on econestoga.

I was very nervous about my work placement when I first started. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised that everything I was doing was familiar. Although it is very different in the classroom, I still felt confident in my abilities and knowledge in real estate. This last week I also got the chance to work on some small claims court defences. I am surprised how much I remembered from our litigation course. Overall, I feel that I was very prepared to deal with all that came my way during the past three weeks.

I feel that I have chosen that right career path for me. I have been very happy at work the last three weeks. I am enjoying what I am doing and the days fly by. I am confident in my skills and am excited to continue to build on them. I am genuinely interested in what I am doing and am eager to learn all I can.  

I never want to hand in a document with errors or improper formatting. At the beginning of the program, I did not realize how important these things were. I remember being annoyed when I would get marks taken off for small errors. Now I realize how unprofessional these errors look and how much my attention to detail has improved over the past two years. I am sure that if I were to look at my old work from first year I would be embarrassed. I always proofread my documents multiple times before handing anything in. I do this to ensure and I am always handing in my best work.

Week 3 Post 1

Communication was one of the most important skills that I used every day during my placement. I used oral communication to speak with clients on the telephone to gather information or to answer their questions. I also used verbal communication to speak with the other staff members. I had to deal with the lawyer and the other law clerks in order to complete the tasks given to me. In addition, I used written communication in emails and letters to speak with clients, lawyers and other businesses that I needed to contact. I drafted my own emails and some letters using clean formatting but I also used conveyancer to produce communications as well. I have only used the email feature on Outlook. 

I have a notebook that I use to keep track of things I need to do and important dates and deadlines. I also use sticky notes that I can put in the files in order to remember important information.

I would say that one of my weaknesses going into my placement was my communication skills. I was very intimidated by the phone. I was very nervous to answer calls and talk to clients. For me, the best way to overcome this was to push through it and force myself out of my comfort zone. Once I got more comfortable and confident talking, it became a lot easier and now I am no longer nervous.

The current curriculum is good but it could benefit from a few changes. I think it would be better to break up the current legal courses into two sections. I would rather have a better knowledge of in litigation, family law or real estate than in Microsoft and electives. It would have been better if our Word and Excel classes were combine into one class each instead of having Advanced Word and Advanced Excel. I preferred our legal classes because I feel that is the information that was most useful during my placement. I did not prefer our Microsoft classes, Business Ethics, and Interpersonal Communications. Although I did find some of these courses interesting, I did not find that they were important during my placement.

I will continue to learn and develop by gaining more experience in the workplace. I have accepted a temporary position at Morris & Shannon LLP and I am very excited to continue to develop my office administration skills. I am also thinking about taking some of the Law Clerk courses in the future.

Week 2 Post 2

Week 2 Post 2

School-related reflection

1. What resources are you using at your placement? 

I have only used a few references during my placement so far. I have mainly been using a book that they have provided to look up municipalities and contact information for them. I have also used the Ontario Municipalities website to find this information as well.

2. Have you discovered resources on the Internet that were/are useful to you, other than those introduced in class?  If so, please share the URLs.

I have not found any other alternative resources on the internet that I have used.

3. Review the list of responsibilities submitted by you before your placement.  Indicate whether the list was accurate or whether you were exposed to different responsibilities or did fewer than were listed. 

Before I started they said that I would be working on sales, purchases, mortgages and typing correspondence. I have done all of these things so far. The lawyer will give me hand written notes that I then have to type up and format into a letter. I have also been working on all different types of files including sales, purchases, and mortgages just like they said I would be. The list was fairly accurate.

4. What do you consider two of your strengths?  How are you using them to your advantage at this placement?

Two of my strengths are my memory and my ability to learn things quickly. In this role, I find that I use these abilities daily. For example, I have done a lot of reporting letters to clients. I have to remember which documents need to be enclosed in each one. In addition, I have quickly learned how to do new things on Teraview that I have not done during class. These strengths are ones that will help me to succeed in this career.