My Internship with Star Anise - insights from an LL.B graduate

PHOTO CREDIT: NIELSEN RAMON

LL.B graduate Chadwick Chan gives his insight into his recruitment internship with Star Anise.

Whilst studying a law degree at University College London (UCL), recruitment was one of the career paths that I had considered. This summer (2017) I graduated from UCL and returned to Hong Kong. When I saw Star Anise’s advertisement on the Recruitment Analyst internship role I immediately decided to give it a try.

Joining Star Anise gave me a chance to see what it would be like to work in a professional recruitment environment, having previously interned with a major law firm, a barristers' chambers, and an international insurer, respectively.  And it was an ideal internship environment given the legal sector focus of the company. 

From the first day, I was put I was put through a vigorous training programme that a trainee recruitment consultant would experience. Apart from daily research tasks, I was given dedicated training sessions, sat in on candidate meetings and participated in role plays to simulate such candidate interviews. 

"Something that became quickly evident, was that the consultants do put themselves in the candidates’ shoes when interviewing them - they really do care."

Role play was undoubtedly the most interesting part of my internship experience in Star Anise. “When interviewing candidates, put yourself into his shoes and you will know how you should approach the interview,” advised one of the consultants, when I asked for advice on my performance as a recruiter in a role play session. This empathetic approach can be applied to any client-facing jobs which is why I find it so important. 

I also had the opportunity to sit in on a lot of candidate meetings during the internship. Something that became quickly evident, was that the consultants do put themselves in the candidates’ shoes when interviewing them - they really do care. I have seen some candidate meetings ending with the consultants offering the candidate very useful job-hunting advice and wishing them luck on their future even when they may not be able to help the candidate at this moment of time. This is a contributing factor, I feel, as to how Star Anise has managed to develop such a loyal network of candidates and clients over the years.

Working as an intern at Star Anise, you get a lot of support and advice; but, at the same time with the fast pace in recruitment, you have to be a really good observer and know how to think on your feet. When I was first asked to do a role play and interview one of the consultants, I found quite a challenge at first as there are so many things to consider - making the interviewee feel at ease, asking the right questions, responding to unexpected statements or questions by the candidate, and all within a short period of time.

As I went through more role play sessions, however, I really started to understand what the key skills and attributes were to be an effective interviewer. Having this exposure allowed me to gain the confidence in adjusting and adapting my interview style in order to make sure the interviewee felt comfortable in sharing information and answering questions.

"Every member of the team is very supportive of each other, there is good office banter, and team members made a distinct effort to make me feel welcomed as part of the Star Anise family."

Following the training during this internship experience, I have learnt to take a problem-solving approach when faced with unexpected situations, and have also honed my interpersonal skills. Being a recruiter is a much more challenging role than I envisaged and this insight has allowed me to understand the profesionalism and hard work put into being a successful recruiter.

Also, I feel privileged to be working in a very friendly and collegiate environment. Every member of the team is very supportive of each other, there is good office banter, and team members made a distinct effort to make me feel welcomed as part of the Star Anise family, which made the internship experience a much more memorable one. It was also quite a unique experience, in comparison to my previous internships at companies which had a relatively local and traditional working culture. I am truly grateful for the opportunity I was given to intern at Star Anise.