Ian Temple, Hydrogen Group CEO
Hydrogen’s annual event for Trainee Lawyers
25 April 2017
Our annual event for trainee lawyers took place at the City of London club on 4 April. Hydrogen’s Private Practice, In-house,Offshore,Middle East, APAC and Contract Legal teams were on hand to answer questions and provide tailored advice to the 75 young professionals who attended.
“I’d like to personally thank everyone who attended for making it such a special evening and in particular our three speakers who provided such invaluable career insight and perspective from the private practice, in-house and offshore worlds.”
Our speakers
Charles Bischoff, Partner at Travers Smith, spoke about the importance of proactivity; thinking “outside the task” and an ability to work quickly.
Andrew Boyce, Partner, Carey Olsen, cleared up a few misconceptions about working offshore and discussed the intellectually challenging and sophisticated variety of work.
Russell Johnstone, General Counsel, BT Consumer, TV and Sport, spoke about the breadth, depth and challenge of working in-house.
Top tips for trainees
- Make yourself indispensable. A top trainee is proactive, thinks outside of the box and finds the response first.
- Interest and engagement goes far.
- Non fee-earning activities – get involved!
In-house – is it right for you?
When considering whether or not in-house could be the right path for you, there are four attributes that you will need to succeed.
- Diver – are you willing to delve into the business, to really understand its products, drivers, vision and goals?
- Juggler – are you ruthless at prioritising and using sharp commercial acumen? Do you have the ability to deal with many and varied matters simultaneously?
- Risk taker – can you successfully balance risk, making sure that the crucial points are covered? Are you able to let some smaller less significant things go? The key here is having sound commercial judgment!
- Owner – do you take ownership for your work? Do you have the people skills to engage with the business to find out the information you need to? Can you influence people, explain your standpoint and reasoning?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions, then in-house could be the route for you.
Blog series – more top tips!
Read our top career tips for newly qualified and trainee lawyers in a new three-part blog series:
Part one: should I stay or should I go?
Part two: how to ‘protect’ your CV
Part three: choose the right recruiter
Should you wish to discuss NQ opportunities in the market please don’t hesitate to get in touch on info@hydrogengroup.com
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