Pathfinder Scheme Review

I enjoyed the Pathfinder Scheme greatly. Not only were the workshops engaging and helpful, but the shadowing was also incredibly insightful in giving us exposure to the lives of lawyers in Linklaters, distinguishing such an insight scheme from regular open days. The programme, albeit short, was nicely interspersed with activities that showcased both the serious and social side of the firm. I only wish that it could be longer so that we could see the real work being done!

Very valued. Pains were taken to make us feel at home, including arranging accommodation for us and knowing us personally.

More than adequate support. The graduate recruitment team was always present, both physically and over email, to receive the numerous questions we had. During the shadowing, our principals took great care of us despite their busy schedules and took the time to answer any of our queries, no matter how basic.

I learnt a broad range of skills, all of which will undoubtedly be beneficial to me in future. First, in terms of commercial and technical knowledge, the insight allowed me to be exposed to and better understand the different practice areas in the firm and the job scopes of a trainee and associate. Secondly, the insight also taught me practical application skills which will definitely be useful in future.

The insight was scheduled well and ran on time with few lull periods. That being said, it would have been beneficial if participants were given more details of the programme prior to the insight, rather than on the morning of it. Also, while the 2 half-day shadowing structure of the insight was well-intentioned, more time, for example from the icebreaking activities on the first day, could have been spent in the office so that it would be less jarring and abrupt for both the participants and the principals. Many participants and their principals were caught in a limbo between there being too little time to do anything substantial, and there being too much time for idle observers.

Great. Everyone was friendly, receptive and keen to learn.

A substantial amount. The firm arranged workshops ranging from commercial awareness and technical knowledge, to application advice and even to personal branding and emotional intelligence, allowing us to benefit widely in terms of personal training and development. The insight scheme involved constant learning and development, which was a great experience.

Given the short duration of the scheme, it was difficult for the two half-day shadowing sessions, while well-intentioned, to provide much understanding with regards to a full-time role with the firm. While the shadowing allowed us to get an insightful glimpse of the life of a lawyer, it constituted but a small sample size of one day in the life of one lawyer out of the thousands of lawyers in the firm. That being said, given time and resource constraints, and further given our capabilities, it is unlikely that we could expect to truly understand what it is to be a full-time employee of the firm.

The insight allowed me to experience the company culture more than I could have done as part of an open day, or by merely talking to graduate recruitment. However, given that I was attached to trainees who were on the first day of their seats, it was inevitably difficult to understand the culture of that practice area, let alone the company culture.

Extremely valuable. The insight further spurred my desire to be a commercial lawyer; the exposure to the intricacies and complexities of a deal or transaction involving all the different practice areas is incredibly exciting. However, the insight was not very helpful in terms of deciding on a practice area, given that there was not much information about the real work done by lawyers in each practice area. Perhaps there could be a session on the scope of work and other vital information in each practice area.

I was definitely adequately reimbursed for this scheme. While other firms may provide some remuneration, most do not provide reimbursement or accommodation, and therefore the payment will inadvertently go towards travel and accommodation expenses. The reimbursement for travel expenses and the accommodation provided was very helpful and by all means adequate.

There were opportunities to network and meet several lawyers during social events and meals, but the touchpoints were relatively few. It was quite difficult to network with lawyers beyond our principals during shadowing. Perhaps there could be an event during dinner or post-dinner after the first day whereby lawyers are asked to come down to join the participants. That being said, there is a limit to the efficacy of many of these networking events, and we should also try to avoid a situation where participants ask questions just for the sake of doing so.

The social events were great, showcasing a much lighter side to the firm than would otherwise be expected of a law firm. I thoroughly enjoyed the event and the social opportunities we had as part of the insight. The networking amongst the participants was good as well. As above, the networking with other lawyers was slightly limited.

There were some mentions during the workshops regarding the groups that employees could join outside of work, and this was further illustrated to me by a lawyer I met during dinner on the first day. However, beyond that, there was little emphasis on these activities. That might not necessarily be a bad thing, since time is a limited resource, and the insight prioritised more commercially oriented information, which is fair.

Yes, definitely.