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Is the Pen Mightier than the Sponsored Walk?

3 words and an image

Can create a personalised poem for you

Can create a Moroccan dream for him

But absolutely no chance of making a  poet out of me!

For the curious and/or generous:

We all face different challenges. I’m really proud that Tadhg had the courage to go for it and sing on stage with Bruce Springsteen at Wembley (story). That was certainly out of his comfort zone but two years on he has a new challenge. He has recently been given a fantastic opportunity to go to Morocco with scouts, which will be a big challenge for him and hopefully a great adventure. But his immediate challenge is to raise £1800!

He watches and listens and has decided to challenge himself to write personalised poems (not inspired by my recent number plate Staple Story!) for anyone who’d like to support him.

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Interview Success – My Top Tips

It’s all about your ability to tell your story.

Golden Rule: BE HONEST BE YOURSELF

“Have found both sessions extremely helpful. Many thanks.” “It is so helpful to me!”

  Circuit Judge interview candidate feedback

When I worked in advertising a top colleague always stressed: “Real communication is not about what you intend to communicate but more importantly what people are willing, able and likely to pick up”

If you can it is fantastic experience to be an interviewer – so if you get the chance grab that opportunity. Talk to successful candidates and ask them about their experience and for their tips.

Practice, have mock interviews with colleagues, friends, family or anyone who you trust will give you some straight feedback. The best preparation is to have an actual interview –  nothing beats that experience. 

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Blog, Staple Stories

A Truly Liberating 5 Letter Word

I had a painful divorce 19 years ago after my wife left me and subsequently I moved away from Sheffield. Sadly I’ve seen her at a few funerals since and it has smarted. I could see we had both been invited to a mutual friend’s 50^th weekend party and mini-festival. I wanted to see my other friends but not her nor the guy she left me for.

My wife has been encouraging me to let go and forgive my ex for years but I couldn’t, as I believed I needed her to say sorry.

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Interviews: The Answer Lies Within

“You are hugely resourceful and inspiring and I do believe you add value. Also I love that you are personable and grounded and tell it “just as it is”. –  Client May 2014

Sometimes you learn things from unexpected places. Last summer I was in New York and, having been persuaded by my son, I reluctantly ended up going to a Lego exhibition! But it was no ordinary Lego exhibition it was brilliant, challenging and thought provoking art by a former corporate lawyer Nathan Sawaya.

I’ve been running a number of workshops recently and one to one interview coaching sessions.

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Memories of Justice

A couple of years ago I organised “A Wake for Justice”  and gathered some anecdotes from the legal professions in Yorkshire to show what legal aid lawyers really do.  Please add your own and share or gather your local stories and publish them where they may be more widely read:

Memory #16

We had a client who was charged with death by dangerous driving. He was a refuse collector and in poor weather he had reversed his lorry into a telegraph pole causing it to break and fall.  His co-worker and best friend had been on the street supposedly guiding the lorry.  He had gone out of sight and the telegraph pole fell on him and sadly killed him.  The client denied that he was driving dangerously and after a great deal of preparation, numerous experts reports and a trial (all publicly funded) he was acquitted.  An unfortunate case but justice prevailed!

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Becoming A Judge – Judicial Workshops

 I will be donating 10% of the proceeds from my workshop to the CLSA/LCCSA Fund for the Judicial Review of the Ministry of Justice.

However, please also contribute: http://www.lccsa.org.uk/donate-towards-the-cost-of-judicial-review/

Where, when & why should you attend?

Leeds Wednesday 30 April 2014 – please do come and join us and you will:

– gain insights and advice about competency based recruitment;

– learn how to make your application forms standout;

– discover how you can prepare to succeed at interviews.

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The Sound of Silence – Learning to Enjoy Interviews

Good interviewers will use a pause or silence to see how candidates respond. In my experience it is one of the most powerful interview techniques. In some situations silence is golden yet in others it can make you feel very uncomfortable. Interviews can be highly stressful situations and time either seems to fly, or grinds towards a halt at the worst possible moment.

So how do you manage silences in interviews?

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The Next Tango in Halifax – Luxury Skimming Stones

Artist, inventor and designer Dominic Wilcox came to Creative Calderdale and presented some of his unique work. He gave us an insight into how he develops his ideas and his creative work. He opened with the classic truism from Leonard Cohen “If I knew where ideas came from I’d go there more often”.

At the bottom I’ll share a link to his website as it is simply brilliant.

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