Ashurst graduates get language and cultural-awareness skills

Citation

(2011), "Ashurst graduates get language and cultural-awareness skills", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 43 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2011.03743aab.004

Ashurst graduates get language and cultural-awareness skills

Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 43, Issue 1

Ashurst LLP, a law firm with more than 200 partners in 15 countries, invests heavily in its trainee graduates. As part of their two-year traineeship, graduates spend six months in an overseas Ashurst office. In order to prepare them for this international assignment, and depending on the target country, graduates receive intensive language or cultural-awareness training.

Each year, Ashurst recruits around 55 graduates for training contracts. Culture and communication-skills consultancy Communicaid provides intensive language training for graduates going to Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Milan. Graduates bound for Dubai, Singapore and Tokyo receive cultural-awareness training before their departure.

The training is designed to:

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  raise Ashurst trainees’ language skills to an operational level and adapt their style and register to working in a legal environment;

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  provide employees with a detailed understanding of the target culture and working styles; and

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  prepare employees for the practicalities of living overseas and alleviate any concerns they may have about their new living and working environment.

Working closely with Ashurst’s graduate recruitment and development team, the Communicaid cultural-awareness training design team agreed on two separate solutions, depending on the destination of the employee. Those employees relocating to European destinations received intensive language training in order boost their business and specialist legal English while employees posted to destinations such as Tokyo or Dubai received targeted cross-cultural training that would enable them to work more effectively in their new environment.

Katherine Elam, Ashurst graduate recruitment and development officer, said: “The cultural-awareness and language training has given our trainees going on international secondment the key knowledge and skills that make their settling into a new country that little bit less daunting. All courses have always followed careful discussion with each individual about their level of language ability and experience of a country, and are tailored to ensure that each trainee really does get the most from the training offered.”

Declan Mulkeen, Communicaid marketing director, commented: “We are delighted to help to prepare Ashurst trainee graduates for these important international assignments. We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Ashurst and look forward to offering new services that will enhance the support of graduate trainees.”