Salma Yousef - Senior Crown Prosecutor and former CPS Legal Trainee

I started working at the CPS through an agency on a three month temporary contract whilst studying for my Masters in Law (LLM) at Kings College, London. My contract kept on getting renewed and a year later I found I was still here. During that time I benefited from some excellent opportunities to develop my skills and find out what prosecution work was really about.

I then completed the Bar full time whilst working at the CPS part time, real evidence that the CPS takes flexible working seriously. Straight after I completed the BVC, I applied for an Associate Prosecutor role. This provided a year of invaluable advocacy experience in the magistrates' court; a steep learning curve but also a very exciting one and also a great way to apply what I learnt on the BVC.

Exactly a year later I secured pupillage via the CPS Legal Trainee Scheme, part of which was spent at Doughty Street Chambers, providing exposure to a range of defence work as well as other areas of law. I qualified in June 2010, as I received a three month reduction in pupillage. In the past 18 months, I have progressed from Crown Prosecutor to Senior Crown Prosecutor

Before joining the CPS I never thought I would prosecute. I felt so strongly about representing vulnerable defendants, but in the time I have been here, I have realised that being a fair prosecutor is just as important, if not more so, in terms of the impact our work has on the community and representing the interests of victims and witnesses.

The highs of my role are the advocacy; the opportunity to undertake a range of trials working with a large degree of autonomy, and of course securing a favourable outcome.

The lows - well the decisions can be tough and they are not always in our control. Overall however it is an extremely rewarding job; when you get a conviction on a case where you can really see the impact; it is times like these that I am really glad I gave prosecution a chance.

I am just about to start a new role as a Grade 7 lawyer in the Welfare Rural and Health Prosecution Division which will take over the prosecution work which was previously conducted by departments including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

I am excited about building on my existing experience and developing an expertise in this new division; managing my own Crown Court caseload which will be cumulatively worth in excess of £5 million, and getting involved in confiscation work.

Having worked for the CPS for over five years, I have seen how well the CPS invests in their staff. Not just in terms of standard training, but also instilling a really positive ethos from the outset. I can't forget the first meeting I had with my line manager when I became an Associate Prosecutor; all my objectives were set on the basis of 'when you become a Crown Prosecutor'. That support was very important in terms of building engagement with the Area I worked in and also with the CPS as a whole.