First Year Workshop Attendee Review

For the first Law Firm I’ve attended, they’ve set the bar really high. In the space of only 2 days, I learned so much about the ethos of the firm and what they have to offer. All the trainees, associates and partners that I met were welcoming and made it very clear that HSF is a wonderful firm to work for. I will definitely be applying for a vacation scheme here!

Everyone was happy to talk to you and were interested about what you did, which surprised me considering we were only uni students and these people were high up in the company and must have had a lot of things to do, so I respected the fact that they took their time to invest interest into us as first year students.

Many people were giving talks about the firm and supporting us by teaching about the application process for the future. Many others were floating around and giving us help when we were working on different tasks.

Everything they did was important for life as we learned about how to do things that we would need to do on a daily basis at a law firm. Giving us practise in tasks like negotiating is really helpful.

It was set out clearly how the day would work even when we ran over time on some events.

Everyone was made to feel welcome and I think that encouraged fellow first years to engage with each other so everyone felt like they were on the same boat.

We had one on one training with current trainees who were very helpful and supportive, as well as the support that was offered when we were doing the other tasks in groups, with many trainees walking around offering help where needed and asking us questions to help really dive deep into the tasks at hand.

Having many chats with all of the people there made me feel like I was a current employee as they spoke to us with respect and were more than happy to talk in detail about the company, which really helped to make sure that attending the workshop was the right decision.

I could tell that the company are clearly diverse by speaking to many employees. Also, I noticed that out of 50 ish first years that were there, there was no majority of a type of people, there was a clear mix of gender and race which made me feel welcome as I value a company who respects diversity.

The purpose of the event was to give first year uni students an insight into the company. I felt they did more than that as I started the event not knowing much about the company at all to leaving with a desire to work for them for a very long time.

If you live outside London, they offered to pay for the hotel, and are also in the process of reimbursing people for travel expenses. My travel cost £94 so although that is quite expensive, they are more than happy to cover the costs which I really appreciate, as it’s clear that they want to set a good impression.

There was a networking event in the first evening where drinks and food were provided. We had the chance to network with current trainees, associates and partners to get a good feel for the company and work out what they do within the firm itself. There was also a fair where we could chat with people about specific sectors of the company.

The fact that there was free food and drinks was amazing in itself. It showed that they were really happy to welcome us to the team, the people we spoke to were very friendly and it makes a massive difference as you get a strong idea of what it will be like if you worked there.

Theres lots of pro bono work that they have to offer, where you can do work at the legal clinic or help to develop small businesses who are offering something positive/supportive to societies. I liked this as it reflects the company as a fair team who really care about people outside of the firm itself.

The fact that everything was paid for meant we had nothing to lose. But it was more than that, we had lots to gain. If I didn’t attend I may not have had the desire to work for them like I do now, and I also have a large understanding about how the company works which is really important if you want to work there in the future.