In celebration of staying put…

‘Surely you want to move to London?’

Last week, I was asked this question twice in the space of a day.
This encapsulates a widespread assumption that most opportunities for young professionals lie in the claustrophobic crush of our capitol city.

As a 25-year-old aspiring solicitor, I acknowledge the allure of the numbers game: In London there are more law firms, so there are more positions open. But there are also a greater number of people competing for these places, higher living costs, and the lack of our beautiful countryside and close Devonian communities.

When I was looking for legal experience after finishing my Masters, I handed in my CV to five law firms with offices in Totnes asking for work experience. Within an hour and a half, I received a phone call asking if I would like to interview for a full-time position at one of them. I have now hit my five-month anniversary of working at this amiable and high-quality law firm.

I want to fist bump the air

Still, people ask me; ‘but don’t you want to work at a firm in London?’.

As one of three Property Paralegals at my law firm, I work at two offices, learn from six bosses, and undertake a wide variety of tasks. I ring clients, draft letters and forms, register documents, order searches, conduct exchanges over the phone, create estimates, witness the execution of documents, and more. In short, I am given more responsibility for a wider variety of tasks than I likely would have if I worked at a larger law firm. For someone who has not yet taken their Solicitors Qualifying Exam, I am gaining an ever-greater appreciation of the law in practice.
But in addition to this valuable experience, I am able to bike to work, and at my lunchtime I saunter onto a high street with a Norman Castle at the top and a river at the bottom.
Since I began my job, I have been coming across an increasing number of people who I recognise from school. They have decided to stay in this area and are working in various fields.

For example, it was only after I had concluded a routine call to an Estate Agents, that I realised the person I had been speaking to was someone I knew from school.
Each time I come across a fellow alumni, I want to fist bump the air to celebrate them staying in this beautiful area we grew up in.

Our younger inhabitants need affordable housing, available apprenticeships, and efficient public transport. Perhaps if these targets are achieved in our area, people will no longer assume that we want to move.