Early Careers
Life at Freshfields
With us, you can expect more innovation, more collaboration, more opportunity, more variety and more impact.
No matter how you start at Freshfields, you’ll get to experience and contribute to a diverse and inclusive culture, do meaningful work, be creative and drive our business forward. All while building the skills and gaining the experience you need to grow – not just as lawyers, but as people too. You are empowered to make the most out of the opportunities we offer, take initiative and shape your journey here.
Beyond a job, we want you to find a community. We strongly believe that having fun is part of working for us and you can expect to get involved in a wide range of social activities, team building and affinity networks.
Welcome to life at Freshfields.
Mentoring and supervision
Close support at Freshfields includes a main supervisor, who will guide you in work allocation, day-to-day tasks and reviews. A second supervisor, usually an associate, will be your buddy, providing regular check-ins and support.
Your trainee intake partner is your personal mentor, with regular catch-ups and valuable insights midway through the programme. Our early careers team provides one-to-one coaching to ensure continuous growth and development.
Learning and development
Beyond learning on the job via your supervisor and colleagues, we supplement your training with a formal curriculum of learning. These learning opportunities are offered through the course of the two-year trainee associate programme and cover topics such as business development and commercial acumen, through to enhancing project management skills.
At the half-way mark of your trainee associate programme, you will have the opportunity to meet with your partner mentor and a member of the early careers team to discuss your development and focus on the year ahead.
Disability, long-term health conditions and neurodiversity at Freshfields
We provide support to any applicants who require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process and beyond.
Our FAQs page has more information for applicants requiring reasonable adjustments.
Mental health and wellbeing support
Freshfields’ flexible and collaborative agile working environment prioritises mental health and wellbeing support.
All colleagues can access appropriate support easily, including through our Mental Health Affinity Network and trained Mental Health First Aiders, who proactively spot signs of struggle and provide support.