Commercial awareness is the ability to understand the context in which organisations operate, including their clients, customers and suppliers, as well as the internal and external challenges they currently face and those that may arise in the future.

If you’ve been looking into a career in law, you’ve probably heard the term ‘commercial awareness’. This slightly nebulous term seems to be unavoidable, mentioned at virtually every turn throughout careers events, firm recruitment materials and interviews.

I hope you’re all enjoying the new year. I tend to find it easier to keep up with commercial awareness in the new year, especially as my commercial awareness routine usually takes place when I’m getting ready for university!

As explored in other articles, recruiters will likely seek to directly test your commercial awareness throughout applications and interview stages. Here are four common commercial awareness interview questions and some tips for answering them!

If you’re aiming for a career in business or law, whether it’s in an international or City firm or just generally, commercial awareness is a concept you’ll come across frequently. But what does it really mean? Simply put, it’s about understanding the inner workings of businesses and staying updated with current market trends.

I used to get slightly irritated at the mention of commercial awareness. To me, it seemed like an esoteric buzzword, reserved only for those who had been strategically attentive to the trends and updates of different business industries over the years.

If you’re interested in any client-facing role, it’s inevitable you’ve heard both firms and individuals stress the importance of commercial awareness. However, the legal profession is broad and diverse in the types of work that lawyers do. Does this mean that every type of lawyer needs to be commercially aware? This article explores both sides of this question.

The financial sector is arguably the most intimidating and difficult to become acquainted with. Like technology, finance is surrounded by jargon and buzzwords: bonds, securities, hedge funds, capital markets, IPOs… Once you begin to understand one, something else equally as confusing rears its head. 

For those of us who want to work in a law firm, understanding the law is only half the battle. To truly excel at what you do, you need to understand the commercial world and business side of law firms.

You can be forgiven if you think that YouTube is nothing but a giant ocean of cat videos and other such trivial digital media. It’s a communications channel not to be taken lightly. The platform has been utilised by trainee solicitors to provide nuggets of commercial awareness, insight into training contract applications and ins and outs of the job

I used to think LinkedIn was a tool for connections and nothing else. Even the first part of its name – “linked” – suggests this emphasis on networking and professional relationships. I’d use it to connect with people I’d met at insight events and conferences, reach out to trainees at firms I'd applied to with a polite query, and keep up with what people from my school or university were doing.

I thought now would be a good time to compile a list of resources I have consistently used these past few months to improve my commercial awareness.

If you've spent any time scrolling through LinkedIn lately, you'll probably have noticed that everyone seems to be predicting the future of the legal profession. Artificial intelligence is replacing lawyers. Traditional practice is dead. Every solicitor will be a coder by 2030. It's easy to get swept up in the headlines, but the reality is far less dramatic and much more interesting.

Welcome to the next topic in this series, where I attempt to make commercial awareness content for non-law students like myself.

With around 28 million monthly active users in the UK, it is likely you have Instagram downloaded on your phone.

This article aims to cover an important starting point for developing your internal commercial awareness: namely, the differences in how lawyers assist clients with transactional work and litigation.

Media is something that we, whether intentionally or unintentionally, engage with daily. From shuffling your Spotify playlist to waiting impatiently to skip past a YouTube ad – there are countless legal hurdles that players within the media industry must overcome to reach the public. But what does ‘media’ mean in this context? 

In this article, I'll walk you through my process this year and cover some of the things I'll be doing differently next cycle.

Coming from an international background, I've always thought an international law firm would be the perfect fit - mimicking the culturally diverse contexts in which I grew up. However, when answering the question "Why would you like to work at an international firm?" on an application form, I found it hard to articulate my exact reasons without sounding too generic.

The interview process can vary across law firms, depending on their size, culture or jurisdiction. One thing they all have in common is that they will all ask you specific questions relating to your competency.