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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jacob Miller" data-source="post: 70715" data-attributes="member: 5063">This is a really good question - and something which I think a lot of people struggle to get their head around at this stage. I think the answer, here, is two-fold:Firstly, there's no doubt in my mind that the way applicants have to approach commercial awareness (which largely boils down to the 5 or so minutes after being asked "tell me about something you've seen in the news recently") definitely means that it can feel quite contrived and without any real context. Certainly as far as I know, when you're a trainee, you won't have to look at the world through the same lens and there will be a natural paradigm shift into just keeping abreast of the things that naturally become relevant to you.With that said, I don't want the above to sound like a caveat on the importance of commercial awareness at every stage - because it isn't. The best way I can compare it is anecdotally:After I got my uni offer, I worked in warehousing for 6 months (within my family business, bathroom supply). It wasn't glamorous, but I genuinely really enjoyed it and took a hell of a lot from the experience. Anyway, I digress. As I said, I worked in the warehouse. Building and dispatching orders, organising deliveries, processing new stock, organising and consolidating existing stock etc. Nothing even vaguely technical. However, rather than just mindlessly stacking boxes all day, I went to an effort to learn about the industry, the different manufacturers, the products, the technical elements of how they work and what parts fit together etc. It meant, for example, that I could answer just about any question a customer would ever ask me - because the customer just assumes that, as you work for a bathroom company, you know about bathrooms, despite the fact that this isn't usually the case. It meant that I understood why certain components had to be put in orders in certain combinations, why some parts of a delivery might be late of XYZ factory has had stock issues etc. In turn, this meant a better service for each client I interacted with, as I could help them in a more rounded way with queries, and also it meant that I wasn't having to phone someone from another department to answer a question every time it was asked.Now, while commercial law is very different (evidently!) to warehousing, the underlying principle here is the same: wider, more rounded knowledge will make you better at your job. If you really understand the industry you're advising a client in, you'll almost certainly spot details in due diligence etc that a colleague who doesn't have that same understanding will miss. It also means, if you're being told something from a Senior colleague which seems unusual or incongruous, you'll probably know why (as it will almost certainly be a nuance associated with a particular industry or client that isn't applicable elsewhere) so you will apply yourself more fully.Thirdly, and a much more minor point, displaying this enhanced level of understanding - and accompanying it with the quality of work that should follow it - will also help your career progression as you'll stand out as someone who is willing to go above and beyond to have a better understanding of everything they're doing. At more senior stages, this is vital as you'll begin to develop your own real specialism and you'll need to know that specialism back to front and inside out to succeed when you're at the stage of developing relationships with clients and pitching for work.</blockquote>

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