Struggling with commercial awareness

[TonyStark]

This is my first application cycle so I'm getting my head around all the different aspects of the application process. One I'm really struggling with is my commercial awareness.

I've identified how I can get the information e.g. FT/Watson's Daily/Ziplaw etc but what's the step beyond just reading the information? Is there a framework that I can use that gets me thinking how do these stories impact a law firm/client?

 

[JP13]

I didnt have direct questions on this but I would always bring them up to back up points. I first thought whats the biggest problems facing the economy and whats everyone speaking / doing about it. For me that was interest rates. I looked at ways firms are mitigating this risk and I found Uber using convertable bonds to raise capital and lock in a really low interest rate. I used this to back up my points in a interview about why I would recommend using convertable bonds instead of just 'normal' bonds.

I also think another point of commercial awareness is being aware of the firm you are applying to, many firms have news on their website so scroll through that and pick out someting that actually interests you. For me it was a luxury fashion client. Try not to pick a new client, pick one that has a history with the firm. The client i picked to have a deep dive into used almost every practice area (e.g. They IPO'd with them, they used their litigation department and then they were sold of to another company, they stuck with them for the clients life cycle) and used a huge chunk of the firms offices around the world (which I then used to ask a question in the interview). This just means that the interviewers or person reading your applicaiton has a higher chance of knowing the client, and you can show interest over everything. I would then click any links in the news on the firms page (as a lot of the time the firm doesnt go into detail). What I found out was that when you click these links to the client site it goes into a lot more detail about the structe etc.

I found out that the client I chose was using a really complex structure of derivatives and bridge loans and spoke about this as a way to finance a acquision in the case study.

Hope this helps

 

[TonyStark]

That's really helpful thank you @JP13 Do you have any tips on the kinds of notes I should be making when reading a commercial news article?

 

[AlexJ]

The best way to develop CA is to read into what you find interesting! Its better (and easier) to talk about something a bit more niche that you are generally interested in, as opposed to being candidate no 404 who talks about the impact of higher interest rates on M&A activity.

 

[TonyStark]

Thanks AlexJ, I’ve identified two topics that align with my interests. Do you have any advice on how to go about researching and how to talk about it in an interview? Much appreciated.

 

[AlexJ]

Hi there, I would always think of how it could come up in an interview - think of which departments or types of clients it could effect. Keep up to date on the story, and make sure you are clear what your own opinion is. You can practice by telling your cat/ bed table / parents about the story!

 

[JP13]

That's really helpful thank you @JP13 Do you have any tips on the kinds of notes I should be making when reading a commercial news article?

To be honest, I didnt really take notes - I have a google document with everything about my applications (not very organised) and I would just list out anything I could think of is a issue that chould arise then underneath list the headline and main point i've read (did this as 'revision'). I've been reading many different news sites (FT, WSJ, CNBC, ProPublica, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC) almost daily for 2 years and I just remember anything significant, and sometimes imporant old(ish) stories come to be as im about to fall asleep so I always have my phone beside me to write in my notes app and look at in the morning (thats where my best ideas come from).

News that I think could be key to follow are big stories that affect more than one thing - I was looking at China stories with all the geopolitical tension, possibility of deflation, regulation crackdown, law firm businesses in there etc etc you could then link this with Japan by speaking about Asia and speak about what the government are doing with interest rates -> the impact, what you believe will happen, why there doing this and what will happen to corporate / investment sector in Japan and the implications of M&A etc etc. It takes a while to search through all the different news sites to link all the stores together but I find that enjoyable.

 

[JP13]

Just another note to help you - try to find out what you really enjoy. I really enjoy reading about debt (even though its not a area I want to go into). From that I loved reading about 'niche' (in a sense of people who arnt interested in financial markets at all) areas of finance like repo markets. I've read far to much into this but I find it fascinating to know how the economy functions and how the US was so close to a disaster. I've noticed this works really well in interviews as if you speak about a area they may questions you etc but if you show you know about it by adding in little bits of information thats beyond a news story, like a academic article. You can find these as many news sites will cite from these articles and provide links, thats how I found out about the different types of repo markets and how each one functions.

Do you have anyone to discuss news with? I'm fortunate my dad keeps up all the time with news so I challenge myself to know more than him (which is impossible) but we discuss recent stories and this just helps to get someone elses opinions, as well as different political opinions on stories. This is very important as it can help you debate a story. If your in a AC and your interviewer casts doubt over something, dont just fold instantly becuase they may just be trying to push you. Unless you are very clearly wrong stick with what you think is right but acknowledge and build on their comments, its fine to change stance, but only do that if you have gone wrong or you have overlooked something in the news you read. It may also be good to state that in this particular instance you have got it wrong.