[00:00:04.05] – Darcey Geraghty

Hello, my name is Darcey Geraghty, and I’m a Corporate Graduate here at Arthur Cox, and I am in the Business Development and Marketing rotation. And I’m joined today by my colleagues, Lochlan Toner and Aoife O’Connor, who are fellow Corporate Graduates. And today we are going to be discussing the Corporate Graduate Programme. Okay, Lochlan, I might start with you. Would you be able to tell me a little bit about the Corporate Graduate Programme and how the rotations work?

[00:00:32.05] – Lochlan Toner

Yes, so the Corporate Graduate Programme is a two-year programme, and it is designed in that you have four, six months rotations to do within that time. These rotations are really wide ranging, diverse level of experience, both within legal roles and non-legal roles in business services. Perfect.

[00:00:51.22] – Darcey Geraghty

And, Aoife, can you tell me how you found out about the programme?

[00:00:56.03] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, I actually came across it on LinkedIn when I was just finishing my exams from UL.

[00:01:02.24] – Darcey Geraghty

But, Lochlan, did you have the same experience?

[00:01:05.22] – Lochlan Toner

Yeah, so after finishing College, I didn’t really know what I to was going to do afterwards. I knew there was several different opportunities available. So I just started with some self-research, and I think the opportunity was also flagged to me by a college lecturer.

[00:01:24.08] – Darcey Geraghty

So, Aoife, can you tell me about the application process and how you found it?

[00:01:29.17] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, so it’s very straightforward, very easy. I uploaded my CV, answered a few questions about my degree, wrote a brief summary, and just about myself, my experience, things I had done in college and things like that. And yeah, submitted it to the Arthur Cox site. It’s very easy, very straightforward.

[00:01:49.17] – Darcey Geraghty

After I had done my application and I was successful in getting a screening call, I then had my interview, which was supposed to be in person, but I the actually had to do mine over Zoom because I was on my J1 to New York at the time. But did you guys have your interviews in person in the firm itself?

[00:02:09.23] – Lochlan Toner

Yes. I had my interview in Summer of 2023, and a very straightforward process, just asking about your experience, both work and educational experience that you have. And yeah, it was very straightforward.

[00:02:25.12] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, mine was the same. It was just when we were coming out of COVID in 2022. I I ventured up to Dublin to do my interview. And yeah, it was really good. Just a nice easy chat, quite informal, and just explaining about your background and your experience and what you want to get out of the programme.

[00:02:43.16] – Darcey Geraghty

Amazing. Lochlan, would you be able to tell me about the rotations you have done so far?

[00:02:49.04] – Lochlan Toner

I started off in Listings, where I was performing my new duties as a Listing advisor. I then moved on to Aviation, where I was acting more as a paralegal before moving on to Knowledge, Learning and Development, where I was dealing with more enteral queries on legal research.

[00:03:07.11] – Darcey Geraghty

And, Aoife, have you had a similar experience with these rotations, or have you done completely different ones?

[00:03:12.13] – Aoife O’Connor

So me and Lochlan have overlapped a small bit. I started on the Listings team in the Listings Advisory role as well as my first rotation. Then I went to the Banking team where I was working as a paralegal, and then I was on secondment through the Aviation team to a client in Dublin, which was really cool. Then when I came back from this secondment, I worked in the Pro Bono team for my final rotation, which was really interesting, all very different.

[00:03:42.14] – Lochlan Toner

What about your experience?

[00:03:43.23] – Darcey Geraghty

I joined the firm in September, so I’m the newest intake. I’ve only completed one rotation so far. I was in Asset Management and Investment Funds doing my CoSec seat, and now I’m in business development and marketing with Loughlin. Yeah, I’m really, really enjoying the experience so far, and I can’t believe I’m nearly a year done. So, Aoife, I know you’ve finished the Corporate Graduate programme, and I have a feeling you like planes because of what you went into.

[00:04:15.15] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah. So I’m very passionate about all things planes. Coming to the end of the programme, I expressed an interest in qualifying into the Aviation Department, and then just had a few chats with the team members, and then joined the team when I finished the programme in September. And then I was able to begin a certificate in aircraft leasing and finance with the Law Society, which is really good because it gives more background and context to the work you’re doing every day. I’m really enjoying it because I didn’t realise until I did my secondment, but I…

[00:04:52.00] – Darcey Geraghty

How much you liked planes?

[00:04:53.04] – Aoife O’Connor

How much I liked planes, and how big of an industry, aviation or aircraft leasing is in Dublin, which is really interesting. It’s a really good place to be at the moment.

[00:05:02.23] – Darcey Geraghty

With the rotations, was there any reviews that you got given, near the end?

[00:05:08.16] – Lochlan Toner

Yes, so at the end of each rotation, you generally have a meeting with your team lead who oversees your development throughout that rotation. They’re able to give you feedback for your future rotations, things that you can work on, and generally support your development throughout the course of the programme.

[00:05:31.16] – Aoife O’Connor

The meeting and end of rotation reviews are really good. It’s good to get some feedback on how to improve going forward and what skills you can bring to the next team you’re going to, and just to have a one-to one with your group lead as well and build that mentor relationship is really important, too.

[00:05:51.01] – Darcey Geraghty

And with the benefits of, say, doing this grad programme, I know within working here in Arthur Cox, I love using the gym, the coffee dock, the food. But is there any other elements that are given within the programme to help your development?

[00:06:09.02] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, for sure. So me, anyways, when I finished the CRA programme, I received the bursary on completing the programme, and I was able to complete a certificate in Aviation, Leasing, and Finance at the Law Society, and hoping to go on and do the diploma now as well, which is really good. Again, just really supports my day to day work and having a general understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing every day. And then my fellow corporate graduates went on to use the bursary for company secretarial exams, tax exams, or you can do courses in risk and compliance. So whatever your interest is, you’re supported in pursuing that and progressing in that, which is really good.

[00:06:53.16] – Darcey Geraghty

And Lochlan, can you tell us about any other supports that are in place?

[00:06:57.08] – Lochlan Toner

Yes. In general, working at Arthur Cox, there’s several supports that are available to us here. There is a health insurance plan scheme through VHI. There’s also the gym, which is really useful that runs classes and a running group as well. There are also various mental health initiatives that are undertaken throughout the year. And in general, there’s a lot of support available here at Arthur Cox.

[00:07:26.05] – Darcey Geraghty

Aoife, I know myself and yourself have done a lot of pro bono work within the firm, especially the Legal Ed. I’m just wondering, could you talk a little bit more about that? I know it’s been one of my favourite experiences so far.

[00:07:38.21] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah. So we’ve done a lot of Pro Bono together. We’ve done Legal Ed sessions in different DEIS schools around Dublin. We’ve done the FLAC Information Line, which is always really interesting. I think that’s really good, especially when you first join the firm. I think it’s really good to do that because it really develops your people skills and just your ability to share information and research and just dealing with clients in general.

[00:08:07.08] – Darcey Geraghty

I just think it’s an amazing experience to be able to go out and do things outside of, say, I was in Asset Management at the time. It’s such a different spectrum. I know doing FLAC has helped my communication skills so much. Definitely. So, Lochlan, what advice would you give to applicants thinking of applying to the Corporate Graduate Programme.

[00:08:31.17] – Lochlan Toner

Yeah, so the advice that I would give to any potential applicants is to embrace the diversity of experience that you can get from this programme. I think there’s absolutely something for everyone. Within the two years that you’ll spend in Arthur Cox, you can tailor it to your own personal interests and explore new interests that you might not have had before joining Arthur Cox.

[00:08:56.09] – Darcey Geraghty

I might pass it over to you, Aoife. Can you add on to that?

[00:08:59.23] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, I completely agree with Lochlan. I feel like even though we’ve had similar rotations, we’ve had two completely different grad programmes. Obviously, your interests are taken into consideration. You can really make it your own. You can be more practise group focused or you can be more business services-focused. Even you came in with a law degree and you’re really enjoying the business development and marketing. So I think keeping an open mind is really important too. Yeah.

[00:09:31.20] – Darcey Geraghty

Yeah, and I think as well, it’s just such a social grad programme as a benefit to it. We’ve all become such good friends from just even being… We’re all in different rotations, but we’re all…cocktail-making We can go for lunch together, we can go for coffee together. I know we had a cocktail making class for the grads. I think it was before Christmas, wasn’t it, Loughlin? So there is social elements to it as well that we’re given. So yeah, I think it’s an amazing grad programme to do.

[00:10:02.02] – Aoife O’Connor

Yeah, definitely. There’s only seven in my intake. They’re small groups, so you get to know everyone really well, which is really nice.

[00:10:10.05] – Darcey Geraghty

So the applications for the Arthur Cox Graduate Programme are now open and they will be closing on the 22nd of May. And for more information, please see our website at arthurcox.com.