Insights Afternoon Review

I enjoyed the insight event significantly because it gave me a direct insight into the people who made up Baker McKenzie and the people I would be working with if I were to begin working in the firm in the future. I believe culture to be the most important aspect for law students when considering which law firm to work at, and the insight event not only gave a coherent explanation of the application process and the technical aspects such as commercial awareness, it provided an honest viewpoint into what values the firm's employees exhibited.

I felt valued during the insight and felt like I was genuinely welcome to participate in the events tailored to our needs. The Graduate Recruitment staff were extremely helpful and extended to the students a warm welcome and it was in the inclusive environment we were able to implement our full potential in the group workshop activities and networking sessions.

I received significant guidance and support and I believe that there could not have been more individual attention at most, if not all, other events. The fact that the insight event was organised as of small capacity was at first intimidating, but later turned out to be the best way in which to get to interact with each participant of the event.

I believe that the skills we learnt were more pragmatic in that they would help us significantly in preparing for a career. Nevertheless, commercial awareness and analysis of market trends would be relevant to company law and commercial law modules among other courses. Nevertheless, considering the theoretical nature of the degree studies, the skills developed in the event only moderately assisted in my degree studies.

The insight was extremely well structured and well followed. The insight event covered coherently the information required for applications, and further covered the necessary knowledge about the firm and its people to persuade the applicants of the suitability of the firm, specifically regarding inclusiveness, diversity, and international outreach. The firm directly allocated an hour or more each to the networking lunch, commercial awareness session, the trainee panel, CV and Application Workshop and presentations by Graduate Recruitment.

The general atmosphere was welcoming, and because the insight event proceeded with a select number of people who were made to constantly interact with each other, the atmosphere allowed for the effective cooperation between students, staff, and lawyers at the event to successfully network, learn, and communicate. The Graduate Recruitment team helped foster an environment that valued individual contribution from the participants by encouraging everyone to pitch in through group exercises.

The company and firm invested the whole approximate 6 hours into my development and personal training, as well as for other students. The session was focused on informing us about the firm as well as to prepare us for the applications that we would need to devise to secure work placements within Baker McKenzie and so the the firm invested significantly in our personal training and development.

The firm did have allocated trainee panels and a networking lunch where participants were able to enquire the nature of full time work at the firm. I learned significantly insight about pursuing full time work at the firm, however, I believe this is one that can only be experienced and understood fully through experience, which an open day is not intended to give. Nevertheless, I was able to pick up accurately the culture and atmosphere at the firm as an inclusive and diverse work environment that valued initiative and cooperation.

The event, especially the presentations and networking sessions, helped me understand the company culture. I learned that the company valued community participation and initiatives that attempt to bring about positive change for the workplace. Moreover, while networking with the employees of the firm, I picked up that trainees were made to feel welcome and were supported throughout each of their seats, where each employer made an effort to be inclusive to the newcoming employees.

The content of the day was extremely helpful in me deciding my future career path because I was inspired to learn and research more about the firm to apply for future positions. I really appreciated the value put on diversity and inclusiveness and felt that I would be appreciated as a member of the team at Baker McKenzie. Furthermore, the emphasis on client demands and on international outreach, I learned, fit my outset on the type of lawyer I would like to become. Therefore, I felt more motivated to seek work at such firms of such spirits and culture.

I am to be reimbursed expenses and the law firm contacted regarding the reimbursement. However, it is difficult for students in further regions to receive full reimbursement for expenses considering that the expenses fall outside the maximum amount. Not being paid is not a problem because the event is intended to shed insight into what working at the firm is like. It is not work experience strictly speaking.

Yes, we had multiple opportunities to network with trainees, associate, and partner solicitors of the London and Brussels office at the networking lunch and further on throughout the day in the number of breaks in between. We also had extensive time with the Graduate Recruitment team throughout the entirety of the event, which I saw as extremely helpful.