At EP, we have recently taken on a new Office Administrative Assistant, Kaelan Richards who is currently completing her LLB Law Degree at Newcastle University. She provides support to all aspects of our business, managers, and employees, assisting in daily office needs and managing our company’s general administrative activities. We asked Kaelan how she has found her first few months working here.
So far, I have loved working at EP. It’s a company that puts its staff first, and I feel well looked after. Being able to choose the days I work has made juggling a part time job and studying for a degree seamless.
As a law student, the most interesting part of my role as an office administrative assistant at EP has been learning about urban planning. The subject was completely new to me when I first joined so I have enjoyed learning about something other than law!
Currently I am supporting Becky on upcoming public engagement plans for a major railway station remodel to create a more attractive, new gateway to the city centre that it serves. It’s quite a large project and I will be learning as I go along. It’s great that as well as building on my existing skills, I am acquiring new ones that are applicable in the practical world of work – something you can’t be taught in a degree.
I have a myriad of experience in the hospitality industry, so I have been able to transfer skills such as communication to EP when I am required to liaise with clients and businesses. Some challenges I have faced so far have included getting my head around financial forecasting, being new to planning I was introduced to a whole new world of jargon such as letters of engagement and fee proposals, from which I’d gather financial information and import that data into excel. Whilst I possessed many of the skills required for this role, I have also acquired some invaluable skills along the way, and I expect to gain many more as I learn from my peers.
With regards to my degree, I really enjoy the research aspect of it and analysing the law. EP have given me a few opportunities to undertake my own legal research on live projects such as a rail route upgrade designed to bring passengers more frequent, faster, and greener trains. These opportunities have been invaluable to my development as a law student and I’m grateful that I can work for a company which also facilitates my studies.
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