From mailroom to manager: Jackie’s career progression
Our Client Take On Manager, Jackie Thomline, joined Lindsays over 40 years ago, and has chosen to stay with us ever since. Starting out in the mailroom, she later qualified as a paralegal and has continuously developed her role and responsibilities.
How it began
Lindsays was my first job when I left school. I started in the mailroom at our main office, which at the time was based in a townhouse in Drumsheugh Gardens. We also had a branch office on Forrest Road, so each day I would jump on the bus there to handle their banking and filing before coming back to the main office.
The next steps
After a year or two, I was promoted to junior typist. I then began doing the admin for the liquor licensing team, and after a while, the firm suggested that I study for my paralegal qualifications.
A few years later, I moved into Commercial Property, organising the department and making things more structured. When the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations were introduced and the obligations around onboarding clients stepped up, Lindsays created its Client Take On team, which I now manage.
Career support
The HR and management team at Lindsays, along with my own manager, have always encouraged me to progress. Even when I doubted myself, they would say, “Yes, you can do it, and you’re actually already doing it!”
As well as good support in-house, I’ve also had access to formal training. For example, when I asked for additional training on AML, they readily signed me up for the Law Society of Scotland course.
Support here isn’t limited to lawyers or people in the early stages of their careers: if you're motivated and can show how training benefits both you and the firm, Lindsays will back you.
Life at Lindsays
I've always said that Lindsays is very much a family-orientated place. Often as firms get bigger, they lose that but, in my opinion, Lindsays has never lost it.
Also, the people here care about you as a whole. For example, my son, who’s now in his 20s, has additional support needs, and colleagues have volunteered for and donated to charities and day centres he uses.
In addition, there was never a problem if I needed to change my working hours for his care, and that made it possible for me to continue working when he was growing up.
