While studying Civil Engineering and Law at Hong Kong University, I took part in the Linklaters vacation scheme, spending two weeks in Corporate and two weeks in Projects. I worked directly on an IPO (Initial Public Offering) deal, and I felt I made a real contribution. It was an intense experience, as everyone was completely focused on closing this high-profile piece of work.

My first seat in SFG (Structured Finance Group ) involved structured equity deals and credit default swaps. Drafting a credit default swap on my own helped me understand the depth of the derivatives practice. The complexity and technicality of the work here really excites me. My principal inspired me, and cared about my development and wellbeing – he’s become my mentor.

My final seat was in FRG (Financial Regulation Group). It was different to my seat in SFG as it was more advisory than transactional. It was also more academic, so I used more of my academic training. I mostly worked on pulling together advice for clients - short, pithy guidance on email or longer, more in-depth notes. I really enjoyed the client contact, both in meetings and direct correspondence.

You need to be resilient but you do get really good support - from cutting edge IT facilities to a helpful HR team. The seat allocation, secondment and other activities are organised really well, and the training here is excellent. You're taught how to do great research and you learn the insights of the practice.

I enjoy the breadth of practice. It’s easy to specialise, but you also get a broad understanding of practice and market. This is something only a firm with the scale and standing of Linklaters can offer.