About Me
My name is Joseph, I am 17 years old and I am a student at Our Ladies Catholic College 6th form. I am studying Sociology, History and Religious Studies at A-Level with the hopes of transferring into a Law Degree at University. Our Ladies insists, correctly, that we must attempt to get work experience to prepare us for a real working environment.
I reached out to Morecambe Bay Wills to attempt to get My Work Experience placement. They quickly affirmed. I was set to be in the office to help them with a plethora of projects between the 17th – 21st of June.
The Team
I went to the office to observe and finalise things with Nicola (The Director and Founder of Morecambe Bay Wills) about My Work Experience. I also met some of the wonderful team, being Paula (Admin) and Sue (Office Manager). The team greeted me in a very friendly way that made me feel very comfortable quite fast.
I was told that Sue would help me on Wednesday to fact-check signings and other documents. This is done before they are put onto their sophisticated system, ‘Sure Will Writer’. I also learned about their dedicated work and donations to Charity such as; Cancer Care, Positive Futures. They donate 5% of every will/power of attorney invoice going towards one of these charities. This caused them raise over £20,000 for Cancer Care in just 2024 alone.
I spent most of My Work Experience inside of the Administration office. I felt very welcomed by Sue, Paula and Georgia (another Admin). Although that meant me showing them my favourite music artists!
The Main Events in My Work Experience
The Storage Project
During my work experience, the aspect that took the most time and consideration was certainly the storage project.
Morecambe Bay Wills, who recently acquired Kendal Wills, wanted to review where they stored their client documents. This would all entail a change of costs and logistical issues to get around or get a grasp of. That would help them to understand if a total switch was worth it.
- I wonder who got stuck with that?
I wasn’t complaining though. I had to really think about this as it had actual impact, so it kept my mind occupied. Nicola was available to help guide me through Project management of this level. It also involved multiple other people and considering all their roles.
I had originally started on the Cost-Benefit analysis. This took the most time by far. I had to calculate and then evaluate storage costs per annum for 4 configurations of storing their wills and files. If that confused you, that is how I felt. Happily, Nicola helped me whenever I was stuck on something and completed the Cost-Benefit analysis within a few hours.
Secondly, I had to evaluate how each option would impact on the operations inside of Morecambe Bay Wills. I had to include Time Taken to double check files that may be checked by one facility but not by another. Also, increase in workload on admins, sending out letters telling clients that their wills have been moved. The logistical issues of changing entirely seemed to outweigh the monetary value that they would gain from it.
However, it was not entirely a bust! They have now decided, using my analysis and information, that they are going to make a change. All new files and wills are now going to the cheaper storing option. All current files stay where they are.
Learning the Administration Systems
The administration systems that I used were easy to understand yet sophisticated. They used an interesting combination of Microsoft Word, and a software called Sure Will Writer. I learned that the team are going to try and switch to a new System called LEAP. This is a platform where everything can be done in one place instead of over multiple programs.
Sure Will Writer was reliable and created time scales of what needed to be done and what had been done. It also facilitates the ability to create will documents from imported templates that makes it more reliable then trying to recreate files manually.
I used Excel more in one week then in my entire life during my work experience. It was interesting to see how integral a Filing system with stats and numbers was so necessary to a business and how it operates daily. Thankfully, any time I got stuck, the team was always ready to help me!
Checking File Errors
On my first days in my work experience, I was tasked with checking and importing client information into Excel that may have been previously missed for the executors. Executors are those who are elected to sort out the inheritance and will’s wishes after someone has died. This included information about assets and more that I had to organise. This required a lot of attention, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Similarly on one of my last days of my work experience, I was tasked with checking files with enquiries about letters prepared as a result of my storage project. This was something quite simple. It just required double checking all the enquiries and sending them off in the post (Which I had to learn how to use properly).
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed my work experience a lot and I believe I learned very valuable lessons and experiences such as, project management and the experience inside of an office environment. I couldn’t be happier with my work experience as it also gave me a lot of insight about Law and other courses to see what fits me best.
So… Do I want to be a Will Writer? Possibly, I think it could be great for me and I would enjoy it a lot. Although I am probably a bit too talkative for it.
It was a great environment to be in and I can confidently say they are hardworking and intelligent people. I recommend Morecambe Bay Wills for anyone considering a Will or possibly a place to work.
I thank them for allowing me to complete my work experience in such a way.