CMS Academy Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual experience. Even more so, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of working with CMS. The virtual experience itself was extremely informative, very interactive, and really answered all of my questions regarding what CMS is like as a firm. On top of that, the amount of time spent on the organisaiton and updates for those partaking in the event, in the couple of months leading up to the virtual experience starting and even in the weeks after it had finished really enhanced the experience.

I felt extremely valued during my time with CMS. The Early Talent Team were happy to discuss any questions and were extremely prompt in responding to any queries about the CMS Academy. On average I would receive a response to any questions on the same day or the following morning, and each time I was thanked for my input or for reaching out to the team. Even during the breaks between the online events, the organisers were extremely friendly and wanted to chat to us about our lives outside of law and learn more about who we are as individuals.

The layout of the CMS Academy was great. We each received a physical welcome pack the week beforehand which had information about all the other candidates, the organisers, the helpline and assistance contacts, and a detailed schedule of events for the following week. This included what activities we would be taking each day and when we would be speaking with any individuals/guests who were external to CMS. The schedule was followed very closely and so I felt that this provided a lot of guidance for what to expect and what to prepare for. Every day we would have a round up of the days activities and some time to discuss what would be happening the following day.

The activity I enjoyed and felt that I learned the most from would have to be the client visit. This was a chance to work as a team with other participants of the CMS Academy, which was excellent to find out the type of person that may be joining CMS within the same trainee cohort and be my potential future colleagues. I really enjoyed this and it helped me further decide whether CMS was the right fit for me. The client visit itself was extremely useful in getting a first-hand idea of the type of client and client business that you would be dealing with when working with CMS.

The entire CMS Academy was extremely well planned. The schedule for the week was posted out to candidates the week before the CMS Academy began, and it was followed very closely. The day was split into a morning and afternoon session, with regular tea breaks and a good length of lunch break to break up the different events that were being run. The days were planned to allow us time to get a moment to refresh and relax before moving on to the next event.

I felt that the general atmosphere was really positive. The big group sessions and presentations were always followed by thanks and a virtual applause. Participants were always encouraged to engage in the question and answer sessions at the end of each event, and this could be done either by commenting in the discussion board and having a question read out by one of the organisers, or by using the 'raise hand' function and coming onto the microphone and speaking directly. All of the questions were welcomed and answered which increased the positive atmosphere.

There were some parts of the CMS Academy which were given out in advance, such as a presentation to be prepared with another participant and given virtually towards the end of the week. This was done in smaller groups, with at least two CMS representatives watching the presentations and giving really detailed feedback at the end. This was beneficial in building public speaking and presentation skills, and the feedback covered both the content and the delivery of the presentation.

The virtual experience gave a great insight into the types of clients and lifestyle of what it would be like to work at CMS. It was very beneficial to gain an understanding of what remote working would be like with CMS from taking part in the CMS Academy, I felt very reassured by this experience that the community spirit is still very much alive even whilst working remotely. Of course, going online does not give an insight into what life would be like in office, which is usually included within the CMS Academy, but could not happen this year due to Covid-19 restrictions and remote working.

The CMS Academy covered not only the professional side of CMS, such as the different career opportunities and clients that you may work with, but it also covered the community and culture aspects of CMS as a law firm. There were speakers who came to discuss their additional roles in CMS, such as involvement in the LGBT+ support community, religious groups, charity projects, and the various sports groups that exist within CMS for their employees.

The content was extremely valuable. I understand so much more about CMS after taking part in the CMS Academy that I did from the other events, talks, and webinars that I had previously attended. These other events gave a good insight into CMS, but they were not as in depth or as involved as the experience of taking part in the CMS Academy. The lack of competition from having reached that stage in the training contract application process with CMS really made the biggest difference and made the entire CMS Academy an extremely enjoyable experience.

The downside to the 2020 CMS Academy was that the experience had to be shortened to one week of virtual internship, instead of the originally planned three weeks. The three week full CMS Academy includes two paid weeks of working in office and one paid week of attending the 'Business of Law' week in London. This unfortunately had to be condensed down into one virtual week. Had the London week gone ahead, travel expenses were to be covered by CMS and accommodation for the week was to be provided by CMS.

There was a huge amount of networking and opportunity to meet other employees during the CMS Academy. In addition, we were provided with a printed book containing the names and a short bio of all of the participants for the CMS Academy 2020. Having this posted out to us the week before allowed us to find other participants on LinkedIn and to reach other and make connections with each other both before and during the CMS Academy.

The networking and social events were really great and there were a lot of opportunities provided for this. At the end of each day the participants could stay slightly longer on the central group chat and exchange details to continue chatting. We were greatly encouraged to add each other on various online platforms and all of the participants were extremely friendly and happy to make new connections.

There was some time dedicated to this during the CMS Academy. There were several CMS employees who came to discuss their experiences in charity work, promoting a variety of causes such as LGBT+ support and awareness, mental health awareness, and also some individuals who came to discuss the variety of sporting groups and events help by CMS for their employees. We were encouraged to get involved in these groups as trainees and to promote our own interests.

I would definitely recommend the CMS Academy. The best part of the CMS Academy is that the majority of the competition side of the selection process has been completed by this point of the application journey, in comparison to other similar programmes for other law firms where candidates may still be competing with each other for training contract positions during the placement. This really created a more positive atmosphere and removed a lot of the pressure.