Turning a summer job into a long-term career

From part time Receptionist to Residential Property Solicitor, Rachel Hunt celebrates ten years at Wilkinson Woodward.

Rachel has very firm local roots, she has always lived in Brighouse. She went to Brighouse High School, Brighouse Sixth Form and attended Huddersfield University, which is where her Wilkinson Woodward journey started.

All her family lives locally, apart from one brother who lives in Wimbledon, and she loves attending local activities like the Huddersfield Park Run, interspersed with the odd holiday abroad, mostly in America. In 2025 however, she is trying somewhere new, and is heading off to Japan.

At university, in her third year, Rachel’s tutors told her she should get some work experience for her CV, a smart suggestion in a competitive job market. She didn’t have any close connections that worked in law but reached out to family and found a link to Wilkinson Woodward through a friend of an aunt.

While there were no suitable long-term openings at the time, it was suggested she join as a Receptionist, to provide cover for staff holidays during the summer of 2014. Initially the job was just meant to cover for one person, as holidays often do, but Rachel ended up staying for the entire summer, to cover for a number of people.

When Rachel went back to university in the autumn of 2014, Wilkinson Woodward reached out to her, to ask if she would like to continue working one day a week. Rachel accepted and remained as a Secretary, working in the family department until she finished university a year later. Since graduating, Rachel has worked in every department at the firm.

Rachel’s journey has included a range of roles, such as working as a Paralegal, a Trainee Solicitor, across several departments, and more recently as a Residential Property Solicitor.

Based in the Huddersfield office, Rachel’s journey has also taken her across all three Wilkinson Woodward offices – Brighouse, Halifax and Huddersfield. No matter where she works, Rachel loves the friendly team atmosphere and working environment. However, it was the training opportunities in the Property department which really affirmed her place within the practice and accelerated her career journey.

“I’ve worked with many people at Wilkinson Woodward and they’ve all helped me so much, but Laura [Kurowski] in particular, inspired me in the Property department and that’s where I decided I wanted to work,” said Rachel.

Rachel qualified in November 2019 and has remained in the Property team ever since. In time, she would of course love to make the transition to Director.

To talk to Rachel or another member of our Property team, call us today. You can reach our offices in Halifax at 01422 339600, Huddersfield on 01484 483800 or Brighouse at 01484 510571.