Black Country solicitor highlights the importance of work experience

A Black Country solicitor is urging more businesses to offer work experience as local students battle for placements.

Rosiey Bangar, owner of Rose Law Solicitors in Bilston, said many stretched businesses are unable to find the time or resources to support young people. However, she warned that a generation of aspiring professionals risk missing out on the opportunities that shaped her own career.

Having grown up in Bilston, and attended the former Parkfield High School, Rosiey credits early work experience with helping her realise her ambition of becoming a solicitor. She completed placements during her school years and again with legal firms while studying Law with Economics at the University of Wolverhampton. She has now run her own firm for 17 years.

"Before you get that experience, you don't know if it's something you can actually do," said Rosiey. "Jobs can look glamorous on TV, but you need to see the reality. To be a solicitor, you have to be a certain type of person - you're dealing with wills and probate, divorces, and people buying or selling their home. It can all be very stressful, so you've got to have a passion for it."

Rosiey's strong work ethic was instilled early. Her father, Jarnail Bangar, a clothing manufacturer who runs the Army and Navy store in Bilston with her mother, Tirath, encouraged her to follow her dream of being a solicitor. As a student, she would return from university to help in his factory.

"I would encourage anyone not to listen to negativity or to people who tell you that you can't do something," she said. "After I finished university, I walked around Wolverhampton with my CV and I didn't give up. If I can inspire and help one individual, then it's worth it."

Now a member of the University of Wolverhampton's law advisory board, the mother-of-two regularly provides work experience to students and several of them have gone on to qualify as solicitors. "It inspires and empowers them, and it's about giving back to their community," she said.

Her career highlights include running the Walsall Conveyancing Club, serving as secretary at the Walsall Law Society, and winning the Young Entrepreneur award from the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. She also trained with Compton Hospice as a bereavement support counsellor.

"As a solicitor, you are taught to talk, but working with Compton Hospice taught me to listen, and that's an important skill," she said. "I deal with a lot of probate and wills, learning to sit and listen to people has made all the difference."

Rosiey is keen to show that a fulfilling career and family life can go hand in hand. "You can balance your life, but you still need discipline, motivation and passion. I hope to pass my love for law onto the next generation of solicitors.”