Graduate Recruitment

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm's global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn,

thrive, and grow. That's why we're so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You'll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they've reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that's possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you'll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you'll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

The Graduate Recruitment and Development Specialist will be responsible for attracting, selecting, and developing top graduate talent for the firm's Singapore business. This role plays a critical part in shaping the future workforce by managing end-to-end graduate recruitment processes and implementing development programs that align with the firm's People Proposition, strategic goals and legal industry standards.

Key Responsibilities

Graduate Recruitment

• Develop and successfully execute internship programmes with strong candidate conversion to Training Contracts and strong internal engagement in terms of partner & associate involvement.
• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle for graduates: job postings, campus engagement, application screening, assessment centres, interviews and offer decisions.
• Manage interviewer training, interviewing materials and interviewer panels.
• Brief, co-ordinate and work with partners and lawyers on the selection process for trainees and interns.
• Deliver the firm's People Proposition for the internship and training programmes, to enhance the attraction, selection and retention of quality candidates.
• Monitor recruitment metrics and provide insights to improve processes and diversity outcomes.
• Act as the main liaison with the graduate recruitment contacts in our international network, maximising opportunities for inter-office student events, networking and knowledge sharing.
• Plan an annual calendar of events and activities and attend key events which relate to the recruitment and development of graduate talent.  Design and deliver key events including open days, post-offer events and cultivation activities.

Graduate Development and Engagement

• Manage the seat allocation and rotation process for the office.
• Manage trainee secondments, including the secondment of international trainees within the network.
• Take responsibility for the career development of trainees (including regulatory requirements related to formal qualification).
• Brief lawyers on supervision skills and monitor their effectiveness in their task.
• Determine and implement development activities for interns and trainees, including onboarding inductions, technical skills and business skills training.
• Manage the internal trainee qualification process and familiarity with changing legal regulatory landscape.
• Manage and facilitate foreign / dual qualification process of trainees.
• Support performance management processes for graduates, including feedback cycles and career progression pathways.
• Organise ongoing engagement sessions with Trainees.
• Involvement in ad-hoc projects as directed by the Senior HR Business Partner.

Educational Outreach

• Manage relationships with legal educational institutions, looking for areas for collaboration or information sharing to support the development of legal talent in Singapore.
• Partner with university leaders, faculty, and staff to deliver presentations and workshops and ensure that we are present at career fairs.
• Take responsibility for Campus relationship management for key strategic relationship universities and monitoring activities to ensure return on investment from events.
• Creation and execution of ELEVATE, the firms mentoring programme with local universities.

Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate with Partners, Practice Group Managers and Compliance team to understand talent needs and regulatory landscape and align recruitment efforts.
• Act as a trusted advisor on graduate market trends and best practices.

Your Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in graduate recruitment, preferably within a professional services or legal environment, with involvement in the marketing, attraction, assessment, and selection of graduates.
• Project management experience with the ability to gain buy-in from stakeholders, manage expectations, and communicate progress effectively.
• Good knowledge of current trends in recruitment marketing tools and social media.
• Strong technical skills, specifically Excel and PowerPoint, and ideally familiarity with Smart Recruiters and Helix.
• Understanding of how to demonstrate the business impact of recruitment via measures and metrics.
• Demonstrated interest and experience in the development of talent.
• Strong planning and organisational skills and strong attention to detail.
• Experience in providing solutions to often complex issues.
• Excellent communication skills with proven experience of building and managing relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• A natural presenter and communicator, with an ability to build rapport easily.
• Strong adaptability to thrive in a dynamic and evolving legal environment.

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

Find out more about our inclusive culture here