Insight Day Review

This was one of, if not the best insight day I have been to by far. I visited over six City firm this past year and RPC established themselves as a very personable firm. Every employee made us feel welcome and demonstrated that they were happy to give their time to us.

I felt extremely valued. I was spoken to like I was a new member of the team and the day was structured in a way that allowed Partners to impart knowledge to us, while also allowing us to speak to as many employees as possible. The office tour was inviting and everyone knew that we were going to be coming through the office.

There was a large degree of support. The firm conducted a networking seminar that gave me new insight into this very valuable skill. I preferred this to the typical, "We are the best firm in existence" rhetoric that was pushed by many of the Magic Circles firms that I had visited.

The simple answer is immensely. I would argue that networking is the single most crucial skill needed throughout your career to be successful. Whether it be during my search for a training contract or beyond. RPC recognised this and decided to help students improve our ability. I am confident that the firm knows how to provide beneficial training to trainees.

The day was very structured beginning with an introductory talk, with a lunch at midday and a networking tea in the afternoon. These comfort breaks allowed me to remain engaged throughout all the seminars and to get the most value out of the entire day. An agenda was also provided at the beginning of the day.

The atmosphere was both professional and personal. The firm demonstrated that it was a place where hard work was completed but the people were comfortable in being themselves. One of the Partner's even mentioned that the best advice they could give was to not take yourself too seriously. The culture demonstrated is one that I personally want to be a part of.

I would argue that they invested a fair bit solely for potential applicants at an insight day. We were reimbursed travel expenses and given seminars on networking and lunch. Most other firms will provide lunch but generally spend the day speaking about their business only. I found the mixture offered by RPC very refreshing.

I was given a chance to speak to several trainees where they outlined a typical day in their lives as well as answers any questions we had. Overall, there was a high degree of transparency and it was made very clear by the firm what to expect as a potential candidate.

I strongly believe I left the firm that day understanding the culture completely. The firm did a very good job demonstrating this by allowing us to speak to as many people as possible. I was also given an office tour which displayed exactly how everyone is meant to work. Surprisingly, some other firms have not done this. I can't imagine wanting to work for a firm where they avoid showing you the conditions their employees are meant to conduct their business in.

This aspect did not provide me with much new information for my career path. I still want to qualify as a solicitor and am still searching for a training contract. What the day did help with is provide me with very beneficial information for my application to RPC itself. I felt I was in a much better place than other applicants when the day ended.

The firm paid for my train tickets to London and back. This is a pretty straightforward practice for most City firms. We were also provided lunch, refreshments and snacks regularly throughout the day. There was never a point where I felt hungry or uncomfortable as we were also sat at tables throughout the day.

There were three separately scheduled events on the day that allowed us to meet multiple employees. The first involved trainees, the second some Partners, and the third mingled everyone. The organisers did a great job ensuring that there was a large variety of people present and not just the same two to three trainees all day long.

They were great because they allowed for time to overrun here. This allowed conversations to continue without being abruptly cut off. Both Partners and trainees also made themselves easily accessible on Linkedin which made it easy to continue conversations afterwards. Overall, I found the approachability between everyone to be a very telling sign of the culture at this firm.

Yes. There were a number of sports and social activities that employees can become involved in outside of work. The firm has also organised inter-organisational leagues among its clients. I spoke to both a trainee and Partner who played on the football team together. There are also many Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives taking place that everyone gets involved with.

Definitely so. I did not know much about RPC before this event and was not intending to apply. However, after meeting everyone and seeing what a great place to work it is, I applied this past week. I would advise anyone to visit the firm themselves and believe that they will be impressed.