Post by @lifewithabicooper

Coffee chat etiquette for your next vac scheme ☕️ Save this before your next internship 📌 Coffee chats are one of the easiest ways to get to know people across the firm, but I definitely wouldn’t just turn up and hope for the best. A little bit of prep goes a long way!! 1. Work around their schedule ⏰ You’re usually asking someone to take time out of their working day, so make it as easy as possible for them. Offer a couple of time options, be flexible if they need to move it and once you’ve agreed a time, put it in their calendar. I’d also keep it to around 20–30 minutes to be respectful of their time. 2. Research them before you go 🔎 Have a quick look at their firm profile and LinkedIn so you know what team they’re in, how senior they are and a little bit about their career. You don’t need to do a full background check, but you also don’t want to spend half the chat asking questions you could have answered yourself in two minutes!! 3. Prepare questions that actually fit the person and their level of seniority 📝 This is probably the biggest one. Don’t ask a trainee and a partner exactly the same questions. If you’re speaking to a trainee, ask about things like seat choices, responsibility, supervision or what they wish they’d known before starting. If you’re speaking to a partner or senior associate, you can go a bit broader and ask about how their practice area is changing, what clients are currently focused on or what makes a junior stand out in their team. I’d have around four or five questions prepped and some backups. 4. Bring a notebook 📓 Jot down any useful advice, interesting matters they mention or anything you want to follow up on later. You don’t need to write while they’re speaking the entire time, but having a few notes afterwards makes it much easier to remember what you actually discussed. 5. Send a thank you message afterwards 💌 Keep it short and mention something specific from the conversation so it doesn’t feel copied and pasted. For example: “Hi [name], thanks again for taking the time to chat today. Your advice about [specific point] was really useful, and I really enjoyed hearing more about your experience with the team. Have a great [rest of your week/weekend]!” Save this for your next vac scheme or internship 🔖 #lawstudent #vacscheme #internship #legalcareers