Here's a 3 Step Strategy to Build Your Commercial Awareness

[Erin]

Hi everyone, Erin here! How is your week going so far? 😊

I have been speaking to so many of you over the course of the last few weeks whilst running our TCLA Premium onboarding calls (which has been so lovely!) Something that has come up on almost all of my calls is candidates struggling with knowing how to improve their commercial awareness, especially at the beginning of a new cycle.

It's easy to fall out of the habit of staying on top of the news once a cycle comes to an end, and with this years cycle already underway, I wanted to jump into the forum today to share with you some tips on getting back into the commercial awareness flow.

Here is a 3 step strategy to get you started:

1. Choose your stories: Whilst it's important to have a broad overview of the current news stories, you can't be expected to know every detail of every story. Choose 3 stories to follow in depth, preferably covering multiple sectors, taking into account your own interests, as well stories that are important to law firms. Have a few favourite firms that you are applying to? You can get a sense of what news stories are important to them by looking at the deals they are currently working on, via the firm's website/social media.
   
   
2. Subscribe to commercial awareness emails & download news apps: I know life is very busy, and it can be difficult to set time aside to research and find all of the information you need. Create a folder in your email inbox, subscribe to some commercial awareness emails/newsletters and store them all in one folder. Then, when you have free time, treat this as a reading list and read through any updates that you may have missed throughout the week. Downloading news apps on your phone is another way of staying in the loop. Turn on 'push notifications' for your key stories, so even if you don't have time to read the full story at the time, you are aware of any important developments.
   
   Need some recommendations? Here is an extensive list of commercial awareness newsletters, youtube series' and podcasts for you to get stuck into. (Kindly provided by brilliantly helpful @RANDOTRON 👏)
   
   
3. Take notes & look up terms that you don't understand: You've sat down and read the recent updates for your 3 chosen stories. So, you're done for the day, right? This is an easy trap to fall into, because just reading the stories feels easy, and you feel like you've accomplished your task. But let's be real with ourselves here, did you actually absorb the story? Did you maybe skim over some terms that you didn't quite understand? Don't worry, we've all done it. Instead, make notes as you go, summarise the key details in bullet points, and note down any of your own reflections or opinions that crop up whilst reading. Read a term that you don't understand? Take a pause and look it up, include the explanation in your notes to come back to. Once you've done this a few times, terms will begin to stick, and your overall understanding will deepen.

⭐️Remember: Don't be too hard on yourself. Developing your commercial awareness and critical thinking is a process. Don't be put off if you haven't learned everything within the first week - give yourself time, stick to your strategy and try not to compare your knowledge to other peoples'. Everyone learns in different ways and at different speeds. Find a strategy that works for you and take it at your own pace.

Got the basics down? It's time to dive deeper.​

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Once you've gotten into a steady rhythm of reading and understanding the current news stories each week, broaden your commercial knowledge with our course, "Develop your Commercial Awareness: Understand the City, the Financial Markets & More".

This course focuses on:

✅Developing your understanding of the City, and how it works.

✅An overview of the financial and stock markets.

✅Explaining financial terms like liquidity, equity, and EBITDA, and how they relate to law firms.

✅An introduction to financial statements and balance sheets.

Developing a deeper knowledge of the City and the financial markets will help you to think critically when reading commercial news stories, and understand the wider impact they have on law firms as businesses.

📢 For access to this course, sign up to TCLA Premium Gold today via the this link for 15% off your first month.​

I hope that you find these tips useful, feel free to share any of your own in this thread! 😊