Child number two has just started second year of six form – and all of you with children that age know what that means? Looking around universities. So, having made a shortlist of destinations and subject, off we trek to a well renowned university on Saturday.
I find such visits fascinating. I wish I could go into the Law department and listen to what is said about being a solicitor. The anticipation of seventeen/eighteen years old with a career ahead of them and not really knowing where it will take them.
I didn’t get to go to the Law Department, but did sit in the Accounts and Finance talk. And I have to report back as to what was said as I think that it does impact conveyancing.
After all the hype about why child number two should spend more on three years at university than the cost of my first house, the head of department got into the nitty gritty as to why it would be a good idea to study Accounts and Finance. There is an element of overlap between that subject and what conveyancers do on a daily basis. But what I found particularly interesting was what was noted as the major changes to come in the future for those in the accounting and finance profession. These were stated to be:
- Sustainability
- Digital currency
- AI and data
- Government policy
All things that are discussed regularly on LinkedIn, and subjects which are debated among conveyancers. I often get the impression that many older conveyancers do not want to engage with such matters as AI and data and perhaps not even digital currency, but it is out there and those teaching the accountants of tomorrow see it as important and worthy of discussion. And so should we.
It is important that at whatever stage of our conveyancing career we may be, we need to be aware of the threats and challenges in the wider market but also embrace the opportunity that they can bring. I agree that there is a lot of tech out there, hoping to make our days easier but we should utilise that which does make the job less time consuming.
Remember before we had the Land Registry Portal and you had to telephone for the result of an OS1 search, giving all of the information to the Land Registry worker at the end of the phone for her to give you a result with a certificate sent in the post. And even before that, those of you as old as me will remember when you had to send a 94A request to the Land Registry for them to process and return the result in the post.
No last minute official searches could be done! We can now do OS1 searches with an instant result. That is progress and there is more progress out there which needs to be enhanced – and importantly, those are likely to be the areas being taught. Think about the conveyancers of tomorrow and how, even though this is a difficult job, it is still the most rewarding job I have ever done and the tech makes it a little easier.
Encourage those coming through to be the conveyancers of the future. They are likely to be the ones who will know how AI can be used to better the client experience with a view on sustainability and changes in the way that monies move around.
Support each other but encourage those who want to do this work in the future.
