Over the past year, Hay & Kilner has significantly stepped up its practical engagement with the Social Mobility Foundation’s Aspiring Professionals Programme, with a view to empowering young people to pursue and succeed in their career aspirations, regardless of socio-economic background.
Creating connections and insight
Earlier this year, Hay & Kilner hosted a ‘Creating Connections’ event in partnership with the SMF, welcoming students from over 20 schools and colleges across the North East to their Newcastle office at The Lumen for a Q&A and networking.
The session was designed to build confidence when creating connections and took place against a backdrop of iconic views across the city.
Skills sessions
Building on from that event, we hosted a skills-focused session for students which included a presentation, ice breaker session and a group negotiation activity. It proved to be a roaring success, with feedback gleaned from attendees as follows:
“I think it was great. I loved having that more 'intimate' approach to the event. I really took a lot out of the event, which further opened my eyes to a career in law”.
“The negotiation task was great as it helped everyone engage, and it was fun meeting and talking to everyone”.
Mentoring
In addition to insight events, 9 of Hay & Kilner’s employees act as mentors with the SMF including solicitors, paralegals, IT and HR professionals. As mentors they are paired with a student of sixth form/college age to offer guidance and support as they embark on the next stage of their careers.
It is hoped that both mentors and mentees find this a rewarding experience, with mentors “giving back” and instilling confidence in young aspiring professionals, and mentees receiving real insight and practical guidance as to life as a working professional in an array of fields.
Work experience
In August this year, and rounding off a very rewarding year of collaboration, we hosted a designated week of work experience for SMF students. 8 students joined the firm with daily rotations to enable them to sit in different departments each day across the firm’s commercial and private departments, to maximise their exposure to the variety of work a career in law can entail and enable them to gain real insights into the day-to-day life of a solicitor at the firm.
Feedback from students was as follows:
“This has been a perfect week and I would like to thank you all for the unforgettable experience”.
“It has helped me gain a much better understanding of what it is like to be a solicitor and what it is like to work in different areas of law and the types of everyday task that may be experienced”.
The Firm’s CSR Committee chair, Bethany Herbertson, and vice chairs, Kate Garrett and Lydia Sevenoaks spearhead these initiatives on behalf of the Firm and have said:
“These initiatives build on the Firm’s longstanding culture of giving back to the community and promoting access to the profession as part of its broader CSR commitments to the region. We’re delighted to be working so closely with the Social Mobility Foundation to empower talented, underrepresented young people to pursue successful legal careers”.
Katie Stamps, Head of Programme Delivery at the SMF, said:
“We know our students have the talent to access top careers, but too often lack the
opportunities to build professional networks that are so important to getting their foot in the
door. We are grateful for our partnership with Hay and Kilner and appreciate the time and
effort their team have put into speaking with our students and building up their confidence to
believe that they can reach, and thrive in, the top professions”.
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