A&L Goodbody – Supporting the diversification of our recruitment pool

Year:

2013

Company Description:

A&L Goodbody is internationally recognised as one of Ireland’s leading law firms. The Firm advises both domestic and international clients across every facet of business law.

Business Issue:

Our Step-Up community programme is designed to make a real difference in the local community we work in.  Attracting and retaining our employees is equally very important to A&L Goodbody as we firmly believe it is our people who make us stand out from our competitors.  Understanding the importance of diversity in securing top candidates, ALG recognised that very few of the schools in the community around the office were represented when it came to graduate intake.

Solution Applied:

To support the long term diversification of our recruitment pool and help young people in our local community be aware of the professional services career opportunities available to them, A&L Goodbody  created a bespoke educational programme which gives students aged between 15 and 17 the opportunity to avail of a work placement in the Firm.  During the 2012/2013 school year, we partnered with three schools from our local community:

• O’Connells Secondary School, North Richmond St, Dublin 1
• Mount Carmel Secondary School, King’s Inn St, Dublin 1
• Presentation Secondary School, Warrenmount, Dublin 8

Students from each of the participating schools were invited into the Firm for a careers fair which introduced the variety of careers available including Legal, HR, Marketing, Finance and IT.  Students were encouraged to apply for a position in the area of most interest to them.  Students were then interviewed and positions were offered to approximately 7 students from each school.  The successful students then had an 8 week work placement experience – 1 day per week with the Firm. The students were given exposure to the various different areas of the Firm giving them an opportunity to experience and understand what potential career paths they could to take in life.  In addition to their work experience, the students also participate in weekly skills-based workshops such as interview skills and presentation skills, to help them prepare for the working world.

Company Benefits:

As education is a key component to the future generations of our business, we have significant opportunities to make available our support and resources on supporting educational programmes. We can help young people enhance their school experience, be aware of career opportunities available to them and potentially be their future employers.

Stakeholder Benefits:

The feedback from students, teachers and principals from each of the schools involved in the programme has been over-whelmingly positive.  Schools are struggling to find meaningful work placement opportunities for their students and the A&L Goodbody programme provides a very valuable insight into careers in the professional services sector.

Tip:

Keeping the work placement programme varied keeps the students interested but also gives them a broader experience of what it’s like to work in a legal firm.

Department Involved:

This programme is co-ordinated by the CR Manager and the HR department but involves firm-wide practice areas and departments.

Solution Champion:

Sinead Smith – CR Manager.  Email: scsmith@algoodbody.com