We recently caught up with Izaak about how they secured a role with Stephenson Harwood, how they built commercial awareness before the interview and their top tips for Bright Network members looking to follow in their footsteps.
What stood out to you about Stephenson Harwood?
One of the first things that drew my attention to Stephenson Harwood was the variety of practice areas the firm has. Looking at other firms they had the standard areas like corporate transactions, private equity, and real estate projects. Whilst when looking at Stephenson Harwood there were areas that really stood out to me, like shipping law. It was an area I hadn’t really covered in my degree or heard about in other firms. My interest was instant, and I wanted to be able to go further on the journey to learn more.
How did you build your commercial awareness before the interview?
Before my interview, I started to use quite a few sites to help build my commercial awareness. They’d update you on news going on in around the business, which would prove useful to discuss in the interview. Sites like the Guardian and BBC News were very helpful. I also found Finimize which is a free to sign-up service, where they send you three business updates a day. Being able to constantly check these was ideal, as it helped me build a greater understanding as time moved forward, surrounding those wider issues of the business and industry.
What would be your top tip to members going through the application process?
Be persistent with the process. Don’t be disheartened by rejections as they do happen. Also, make sure to really tailor each application to each firm and role. You more or less have to start from scratch each time, as there will be different areas you’ll need to emphasise to really grab that firm’s attention.
How did Bright Network help you secure this role?
In my first year of university, I attended the Bright Network ‘First Year Top 100 Lawyers’ event. It was a great opportunity to get that exposure to a lot of different law firms. Being able to speak to graduates and lawyers from around 8 or 9 different firms, was a great opportunity to build a foundation on how to get into law and these firms specifically. I feel it really helped me start off on the right track, which was good for me at that stage.
What’s been the toughest interview question you've faced and how did you tackle it?
In general, if you get a tough interview question, I found coming at them from a certain angle is helpful. I have found my difficult questions have been based on critical thinking. Questions that are somewhat random, such as ‘how many phones do you think there are in the UK?’. I found to minimise the difficulty of answering these questions has been working on my critical thinking, analytical skills as well. Along with my knowledge of the firm and industry, these more specific skills are being tested, but may not be tested in a way that links to the role.
Let us know where you've secured your work experience, internship or graduate role. We want to celebrate your success with a gift from us and exclusive invitations to evening networking drinks throughout the year.
