Kaye Thumpston has recently joined the locum team at eNL from a major competitor in the legal recruitment market. Kaye entered a career in legal recruitment after gaining a first class honours degree in Criminal Justice, followed by post-graduate legal studies at University. Her previous experience included working within the public sector and working within a sales based environment. Kaye has joined eNL with a UK-wide remit and
will be continuing her success in the public sector and In-house locum market.
Why go into recruitment?
I was nearing the completion of my post-graduate degree in legal studies and whilst I had really enjoyed the course I had decided a career in the law probably wasn’t for me. I started to research other careers where I could use my qualifications and still be involved in the industry in some way - legal recruitment was the result!
What do you enjoy about working with the public sector?
Whether on a day-to-day basis, such as the childcare locums who are tasked with ensuring our children are protected, or on more of a project basis such as handling the legalities of building new roads or even controversial airport projects, the candidates I place into the public sector make a real difference to local communities. I find that exciting and rewarding, especially when they invite you along to see the successful results of a project they have been involved in!
What do you see are the main challenges facing the public sector?
There has been a lot of press coverage lately regarding the budget shortfalls and redundancies within local government in particular and this is going to have an obvious impact on the level of recruitment in this area. Many of my clients seem cautiously optimistic, as many have undertaken value for money reviews recently and have prepared for this in advance to avoid redundancies. However, I do think it is important to remember that the public sector is not just local government and ther are opportunities to be had within central government, housing associations, charities, regulatory bodies and the education sector to name a few.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a Locum Lawyer?
If you have already made the decision to be a locum, then the key to being successful is always flexibility. By being open minded on location, sector and type of work, you will be in a great position to take advantage of many more opportunities in the market. This also makes locum work more profitable, as the best paid jobs are often not on your doorstep.
Can you tell us 2 fascinating facts and one fib about yourself?
1. I am a qualified PADI scuba diver
2. My fiancé is related to a former Formula 1 world champion
3. I auditioned for the X Factor in 2007 and narrowly missed out on a place in the live shows
To find out if you’ve guessed the fib please call Kaye on
0121 454 1004!