I wasn’t just an intern—Here’s how I made a difference at a law firm
- Andrea Lai
- Sep 18
- 5 min read
Author: Andrea Lai, Campus Ambassador 2024/25 and intern
Taking on a role in a law firm
When doing internships, most of us may find ourselves interacting with limited colleagues, or even mostly interacting among interns – we feel like we have a limited role. And that’s understandable – Afterall, we only join firms for a few weeks. That was my experience, until I joined Ravenscroft & Schmierer. After my successful application, I found that I would be their Campus Ambassador for a whole year. That’s right, not just a few months of experience, but a whole year! What surprised me more was that I would have weekly meetings with people in the firm, and we would communicate with each other closely. I could present my own ideas, organise events for the firm, and observe the lasting impact of my contributions on the firm.
Intertwining school life and the Campus Ambassador role
As students, we often wonder if working during the semester will consume a significant amount of our time and adversely impact our studies. Yet my experience as the firm’s Campus Ambassador has revealed the complete opposite. Of course, we still have our duties — which do take time. But I found the ambassador tasks well-paced, and never overwhelming. For example, one of my duties is to answer applicants’ inquiries about the firm, the application process and their role. The majority of these questions came in through LinkedIn. Needless to say, I have engaged in some exciting conversations!
In fact, this role has shaped me in ways that are different from my university experience. Most of the time, I communicate with my supervisors through Teams, and attend our weekly meetings after my lectures. Fulfilling my responsibilities and keeping my supervisors informed is definitely an experience different from handing in essays at university. Apart from reporting my duties to my supervisors, we would do some activities each time which made our meetings more exciting. For example, we learnt about how to write a cover letter as well as some abbreviations for financial and legal terms which were fun to know. We also got to know more about how the industry works and some fun facts about it. You could say that being a Campus Ambassador was like being enrolled in another kind of university course: learning about communication and real-life applications outside of conventional lectures and textbooks!
Most importantly, it is not just about promoting the firm or listening to supervisors (which would be the duty assumed by many) — it is interactive. We would share our own lives: what we have been up to, our future plans, and so on. As students, we usually discuss among peers. But during these meetings, we were exposed to perspectives from experienced individuals as well as other peers from different backgrounds, which introduced me to a diverse range of ideas. I remember it was after a lunch (yes, not just meetings!) with my supervisors and fellow Campus Ambassadors that inspired me to also consider niche legal practice areas and not merely mainstream ones.
Event Maker!
However, the most intertwining part of this role with my school life would be holding a workshop for the firm at HKU.
In October, I co-hosted an Interview and CV workshop for the firm with the HKU Law Society. I started from the basics: inviting speakers from the firm, communicating with the HKU Law Society as the firm’s representative, confirming venues, date and time etc. The process allowed me to better grasp the communication skills needed to liaise with different people: from legal executives to student representatives, and of course, my supervisors.
After that, it was down to the most important part: promotion! Our event was mainly promoted on LinkedIn. I made posts and interacted with potential participants who were interested. Here, I cannot help but emphasise how this role has taught me to utilise LinkedIn. Before applying for this role, I did not even have a LinkedIn profile despite how famous and widely used LinkedIn is for professional growth.
I started to create my profile for my application, and even before I was offered the role, I learnt constructive lessons from my then interviewer about LinkedIn during my application process – from choosing the right picture, customising my profile link, to connecting people and how to post, and many more. To this day, I am still learning! And for anyone interested in applying but feeling insecure because you don’t have a professional profile, DON’T be. It is easy to learn, and you don’t need a perfect profile right away. Just be open-minded and willing to learn! Also, the firm has several online resources available for you to consult.
On the day of the event, I was nervous that our participants would not be an active crowd. To my relief, participants actively engaged in the workshop and raised several intriguing questions. Discussions were lively, and I was glad to see all the hard work pay off to a rewarding workshop for our participants. Special thanks to our speakers Robin Heemskerk and Kelly Leung who were an indispensable part in making all of that happen!
The event concluded successfully, and I took home with me more than interview tips: event planning skills as well. One thing that I realised is to never treat the event sign-up numbers as the number of participants who would eventually turn up. Indeed, I have my lesson learnt: never be content with the status quo!
Looking back, becoming a Campus Ambassador at Ravenscroft & Schmierer was more than just an extracurricular activity — it was a transformative journey. It taught me how to think beyond the textbook, communicate across professional levels, and embrace opportunities with confidence. It didn’t compete with my academic life — it enriched it. I learned to manage responsibilities, adapt quickly, and step outside my comfort zone. Most importantly, I realised that students can bring real value to professional environments, even as we continue learning ourselves.
To any student wondering if they can take on such a role: the answer is YES. And the growth that comes with it may just surprise you.
By the way, I put together a video about my time as the firm's Campus Ambassador at HKU, have a watch and if you like what you see, then do get in touch with me or my colleagues at the firm for more information.
Andrea is an incoming final-year student at The University of Hong Kong. She was a Campus Ambassador at Ravenscroft & Schmierer before transitioning into an internship.
Andrea Lai
Campus Ambassador and Summer Intern
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