Resources other than FT/TCLA?

[James Kitching]

Hi all,
In September (should this quarantine subside) I will going into the final year of my science degree, I intend to use this summer to really get up to speed with the seemingly essential knowledge for these assessment centres. My query is, aside from the FT/TCLA posts and the Jake Schogger corporate law textbook, are there any other resources (particularly in IP if possible) which I could use this summer to really enrich my legal and business understanding?
I’m asking as after having read some of the interview examples on this site, I am panic stricken! I have a lot to learn it seems!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi all,
In September (should this quarantine subside) I will going into the final year of my science degree, I intend to use this summer to really get up to speed with the seemingly essential knowledge for these assessment centres. My query is, aside from the FT/TCLA posts and the Jake Schogger corporate law textbook, are there any other resources (particularly in IP if possible) which I could use this summer to really enrich my legal and business understanding?
I’m asking as after having read some of the interview examples on this site, I am panic stricken! I have a lot to learn it seems!

Christopher Stoakes’ books are pretty good.

I am rubbish with “commercial awareness” but I find I can understand how he explains things.

there’s a whole host of YouTube content/Vloggers of late who you can follow on those social media channels or LinkedIn.

Also recommend looking at Legal Cheek (just take it with a pinch of salt) and Lawcareers.net.

Chambers Student Guide can provide some useful insights too.

 

[D]

Hi all,
In September (should this quarantine subside) I will going into the final year of my science degree, I intend to use this summer to really get up to speed with the seemingly essential knowledge for these assessment centres. My query is, aside from the FT/TCLA posts and the Jake Schogger corporate law textbook, are there any other resources (particularly in IP if possible) which I could use this summer to really enrich my legal and business understanding?
I’m asking as after having read some of the interview examples on this site, I am panic stricken! I have a lot to learn it seems!

The key with "commercial awareness" is understanding that it is not something that can be crammed.

I posted a podcast thread on here - https://thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/commercial-awareness-podcast-thread.2182/ - Just by listening to 10 mins of that a day you will find after a month or two, you really get what is going on.

Also, don't be worried if you don't understand what is going on! Every time you hear something you don't understand, jump into Investopedia and look it up. I cannot explain how much I learnt from watching The Big Short, and stopping and searching on Investopedia.

Finally, one of the absolute BEST tips I ever received at an event regarding commercial awareness - Pick a topical issue, and stick with it, trying to find out each week how it is developing. An example of this could be something as simple as "Oil prices". If, each week you read all the news surrounding oil prices, all of a sudden you will have this ever-growing bank of knowledge about that topic that will invariably filter into other areas. Furthermore, when it comes to writing about a commercial topic in 8 months time, you will be able to write something absolutely fantastic about it that will be much better than the usual AI/FinTech stuff that gets written about. This was a successful strategy for me and some of my other friends this year (We all agreed to be the hub of knowledge for X and then shared it).

Slow and steady wins the race!

 

[James Kitching]

The key with "commercial awareness" is understanding that it is not something that can be crammed.

I posted a podcast thread on here - https://thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/commercial-awareness-podcast-thread.2182/ - Just by listening to 10 mins of that a day you will find after a month or two, you really get what is going on.

Also, don't be worried if you don't understand what is going on! Every time you hear something you don't understand, jump into Investopedia and look it up. I cannot explain how much I learnt from watching The Big Short, and stopping and searching on Investopedia.

Finally, one of the absolute BEST tips I ever received at an event regarding commercial awareness - Pick a topical issue, and stick with it, trying to find out each week how it is developing. An example of this could be something as simple as "Oil prices". If, each week you read all the news surrounding oil prices, all of a sudden you will have this ever-growing bank of knowledge about that topic that will invariably filter into other areas. Furthermore, when it comes to writing about a commercial topic in 8 months time, you will be able to write something absolutely fantastic about it that will be much better than the usual AI/FinTech stuff that gets written about. This was a successful strategy for me and some of my other friends this year (We all agreed to be the hub of knowledge for X and then shared it).

Slow and steady wins the race!

Thank-you so much! Those podcasts seem brilliant. It seems I better get listening and reading.

 

[D]

Thank-you so much! Those podcasts seem brilliant. It seems I better get listening and reading.

7 minutes a day for a few months really up-skilled my commercial awareness! The beauty of it as well is that you have a lot of time to get to grips with it all

I also highly recommend Chris Stokes book (as referenced above).

Beyond that, I also did some audible books written by Michael Lewis as I enjoyed the stories behind them, but, they also deal with commercial issues.

 

[Frank]

On my side, I recommend listening to podcasts. There’s a lot of resources you can listen to of course, but I suggest listening to the Sound of Economics from Bruegel. They have 30-45 minute podcasts that discuss events from a macroeconomic perspective. It’s basically macroeconomics for dummies. This helps you understand how the economy works. I also suggest watching their online meetings too. The speakers use dummy language for everybody. POLITICO has the same.


I’ve noticed in 5 years and a half that it’s less useful to boilerplate opinions from others about how X will impact a law firm etc. These are extremely valuable articles to read of course, but people have to appreciate what the cause-effect is of an event that drives the impact. If I may give you a piece of advice, understand the basics of the economy. This will help you a lot in the recruitment process