Early Careers Assistant in City of Westminster

The People Team plays a key role in enabling the firm to attract, develop and retain great people, and to give them the tools and support they need to develop and fulfil both their own potential and that of the firm. The team is welcoming and inclusive, with a strong focus on providing a high‑quality, responsive service and working collaboratively. It consists of approximately 40 people across business‑facing, generalist roles within People Advisory, alongside specialist teams including Talent, Reward, Engagement, EDI and Wellbeing, as well as the Academy.

Early Careers sits across two functions within the People Team. Attraction and recruitment activity sits within the Talent Team, while the development and ongoing support of trainees and apprentices sits within the People Advisory Team. Together, the Early Careers function manages the recruitment and ongoing support of approximately 20 apprentices, 60 graduate trainees, and regular cohorts of work‑experience students and interns.

The Early Careers Assistant role will support both Advisors across the full spectrum of Early Careers activity and will report to both roles. It is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build their experience in Early Careers and develop their career within the wider People Team.

Responsibilities

Attraction and Recruitment (Talent Team)

• Organise and participate in candidate attraction activity, including law fairs, open days, work experience, school outreach and other marketing events.
• Proactively manage the applicant tracking system across all Early Careers roles, including apprenticeships, open days, work experience events, internships and graduate roles.
• Work with EDI partner organisations such as the Sutton Trust, Rare Recruitment and similar organisations.
• Upload job descriptions and coordinate the advertisement of roles on our careers site, LinkedIn, training provider platforms and other channels.
• Ensure all online profiles and platforms, such as Legal Cheek, Bright Network and AllAboutLaw, are kept up to date with the most recent information.
• Review graduate, internship and apprenticeship applications.
• Schedule, coordinate and support in‑person assessment centres and vacation schemes.
• Communicate outcomes and provide constructive feedback to candidates.
• Respond to candidate and internal queries and help manage the Early Careers email inbox.
• Lead on work experience activity, acting as the main point of contact for work shadowing and work experience requests, and support the design and delivery of in‑person work experience programmes, including application and skills workshops.

Development (People Advisory Team)

• Act as a trusted first point of contact for Early Careers cohort queries, triage and escalation to the Early Careers Development Advisor where appropriate.
• Develop and maintain a detailed understanding of the Early Careers population, programmes, stakeholders and processes in order to provide proactive support and a high‑quality stakeholder experience.
• Manage onboarding communications for future trainees and apprentice joiners, acting as a key point of contact and helping ensure a positive and professional experience from offer stage through to day‑one in the business.
• Assist with onboarding for Early Careers candidates, including creating contract and offer letter templates, carrying out in‑person right to work checks, and liaising with Mishcon's Global Capability Centre to ensure the necessary documents are compiled and recorded correctly.
• Coordinate relationships with the apprenticeship training provider and support its administrative processes and requirements.
• Work with the Academy team and the Early Careers Advisor to organise induction programmes for trainees and apprentices, including taking responsibility for buddy and partner mentor allocations.
• Maintain and update Early Careers trackers, including future joiner records, development trackers and seat move spreadsheets, ensuring accuracy and timely updates in line with programme milestones.
• Maintain and develop Early Careers communications, resources and intranet content, ensuring information is accurate, current and accessible.
• Plan, organise and deliver seat information fairs, including logistics, communications and on‑the‑day coordination.
• Support the Development Advisor with the coordination of the seat move process, including liaising with Supervisors, Trainees and Apprentices, managing system updates and ensuring key stakeholders are informed within the required timeframes.
• Draft and distribute seat review reminders and other programme communications to Trainees, Apprentices and Supervisors.
• Support the qualification process by maintaining relevant trackers and assisting with logistics relating to newly qualified timelines and communications, as well as assisting with Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) for internal paralegals looking to qualify.
• Take notes and contribute at internal feedback meetings.

General Support

• Provide general support to the Early Careers function, including diary management, meeting coordination and the preparation of materials for programme events.
• Support the wider Talent Acquisition and People Team with projects and tasks.
• Assist with data collation, analysis and reporting.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes and ways of working, including through the appropriate use of AI tools.

Qualifications

• At least one year of recruitment or HR related experience, ideally gained within a fast‑paced professional services environment.
• Degree‑level education, an HR apprenticeship, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Working knowledge of an applicant tracking system would be beneficial.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong written communication skills and the ability to communicate clearly and professionally by phone and email.
• Comfortable engaging with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• Proactive and positive approach to work.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities at the same time, often working at pace, and adapt quickly to changing needs.
• Experience identifying and/or implementing process improvements to support efficient ways of working.
• Experience using AI or CoPilot for process improvement would be preferable but is not essential.

The Early Careers Assistant role is based in London. Local travel and regular working from our offices are required as part of the role.