An Unmatched View: An Inside Look as a Campus Ambassador at a Hong Kong Law Firm

While the term "Campus Ambassador" may be unfamiliar to many in Hong Kong, it is a popular position in places like the UK and the US. What does a Campus Ambassador do? Is investing time and effort into this role worthwhile? Join me on my journey as I address this.

Author: James Lau, Intern

Working with my colleague Taj.

Connecting the Firm and Candidates

As a Campus Ambassador, my primary responsibility is to establish a connection between our firm and interested candidates, whether current students or graduates. Whenever we have events or job opportunities, we communicate the details through LinkedIn posts, emails, and personal messages.

Simultaneously, I often receive questions from candidates regarding internship and training contract prospects, practice areas, company culture, and the recruitment process. I make it a priority to respond promptly and provide accurate information. Additionally, I share my own experiences working with the firm and the opportunities that being a Campus Ambassador has presented. Through these efforts, candidates gain a deeper understanding of our firm.

Maintaining an Active LinkedIn Presence

A crucial aspect of the Campus Ambassador role involves creating LinkedIn posts that attract engagement, rather than blindly promoting the firm, and building brand recognition. To accomplish this, it is essential to carefully consider how to draft a good post and what kind of pictures to post, as well as at what time of the week and day. Prior to becoming a Campus Ambassador, I was not particularly active on LinkedIn. However, since taking on this role, I have expanded my network from zero to over 500 connections, thereby also increasing my own personal brand. Expanding my network has not only opened upadditional career opportunities but has also allowed me to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, news, and insights within the legal industry.

We create LinkedIn posts that attract engagement, rather than blindly promoting the firm.

Organizing an Open House Event

One of the most memorable aspects of my journey as a Campus Ambassador was coordinating an in-person Open House Event exclusively for the law students of CityU to be held at our office. This involved three primary stages: (i) Planning, (ii) Marketing, and (iii) Execution.

During the planning phase, I worked closely with the team at Ravenscroft & Schmierer, as well as my fellow CityU Campus Ambassador Greta to strategise the event details, such as selecting the date, time, and determining the maximum number of participants. After careful deliberation, we finalised the Sai Ying Pun office as the venue for the event, and scheduled it for Friday, 9 March 2023, from 17:30 to 18:30.

Moving on to the marketing stage, the in-house marketing team at Ravenscroft & Schmierer designed a poster to promote the event. We posted about the event on LinkedIn and selected about a dozen CityU students to attend, among those that applied.

Poster designed by my colleague Taj for the Open House Event.

The event turned out to be a great success. Our associate solicitor Mike, who is also a mentor of our CityU Vis East Moot Team, shared insights into the local legal industry, while Greta and I provided an overview of the procedures and tips for securing an internship, a Campus Ambassador role or a training contract at Ravenscroft & Schmierer.

CityU Open House Event, 2023.

Contrasts between the Campus Ambassador and Intern Roles

One notable distinction lies in the requirement for physical presence at the office. Unlike interns who typically adhere to a Monday to Friday, whole day, at the office schedule, Campus Ambassadors have more flexibility. Our primary mode of communication is MS Teams. However, for those of us in Hong Kong, we occasionally visit the Sai Ying Pun office for in-person meetings.

Transitioning from Campus Ambassador to Intern

In late May, I began my internship at the office, in addition to my previous position as a Campus Ambassador. During the first few days, I had the opportunity to observe a three-hour court hearing at the District Court about, which is rare though and I was fortuante because I know that most interns do not get to experience this. Witnessing the barristers representing their clients, advocating and defending them in front of a judge, was a great learning experience. The first week was very rewarding, and I anticipate the remaining time of the Campus Ambassador programme after my internship.

Watch my Campus Ambassador (+ Internship) video here.

Advice for Future Interns and Campus Ambassadors

For those considering applying for an internship or Campus Ambassador position at our firm in the future, I highly recommend conducting thorough research beforehand. Read the articles from our previous interns and Campus Ambassadors on our website and LinkedIn, watch our YouTube videos, and connect with current and former Campus Ambassadors and interns to learn more.

It is very important to have a complete LinkedIn profile with a professional profile picture that shows your face in big and high resolution. It also looks much better to create a LinkedIn custom URL (e.g. remove those numbers and digits at the end of your link). If you are not sure what that is, here is a short guide. A few more things you should do is adding a LinkedIn background (a photo of your university, or whatever else you feel represents you well), and adding some “Media” and “Featured” (something interesting about you, or something that you find interesting). Most of us Campus Ambassadors do this, so you can refer to our profiles or ask us directly.

We also observe on occasion that candidates have a slightly different name on their CV and their LinkedIn profiles. Make sure that they are exactly the same and make your profile consistent in English. Some profiles have a mix of English and Chinese, which does not look great, but you can choose to have both, one version in English and another one in Chinese (more about that here).

By having a strong LinkedIn profile and delving into the above-mentioned resources, you will gain a better understanding of our firm's culture, values, and practice areas, and what you would be doing. This knowledge will help you in determining whether our firm aligns with your aspirations and preferences, and vice versa.

Most importantly, to raise your chances of getting an offer, follow up from time to time, and make sure to show your research during the interview process. Demonstrating genuine interest in joining our firm and standing out from other candidates can significantly increase your likelihood of being hired.

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James is an incoming penultimate year law student at City University of Hong Kong and completed his internship at Ravenscroft & Schmierer in June 2023. You can watch his video here.