In-house: Starting an in-house career, in the house!

In 2019, Aegon UK, a financial services company headquartered in Edinburgh, hired its first ever trainee solicitor. Just weeks later, the whole country went into lockdown. Since then, trainees have established themselves as an integral part of Aegon’s Legal & Company Secretarial Department. I caught up with the young lawyers who have been part of the programme, to see how they have managed it.

Marion Sweetland

Marion Sweetland studied law at the University of Aberdeen and was the first ever trainee at Aegon UK. She is now a newly qualified solicitor in Aegon’s Commercial team.

Tell me a bit about your career history so far. Was it always your intention to practise law in-house?

No, it wasn’t my initial intention to work in-house. When I was at university, my aim was to work in criminal defence, but when I was looking for a traineeship, opportunities in that area were limited. This led to me looking for other opportunities. I worked part-time during my degree and diploma, and through that, I came across an opportunity to gain some experience working as a legal intern in the Commercial Contracts department at Aberdeen Standard Investments. The solicitors I worked with there were very supportive and I was able to learn a lot from them. It was this experience that prepared me to embark on a traineeship at Aegon.

Trying to decide where you want your career to go can be very daunting, especially if you are looking at routes that are different to what you previously expected, and I was lucky to have such a supportive experience during my legal internship as it gave me a great foundation for my traineeship. It’s good to have a goal in mind, but I think it’s equally important to seize and learn from every opportunity.

How did it feel when the “stay at home” order was given, so soon after you had joined the department, and as Aegon’s
first ever trainee?

I was a little nervous at the beginning. I had always had a job that I left the house for (even at university, I did most of my studying in the library!). Everyone at Aegon was very supportive and, despite having lots on their own plates, continued to check in with me to make sure I was okay, and I feel that I still had access to all the opportunities, experience and training that I would have had in the office environment. It didn’t take me long to settle into my home office and I’ve really enjoyed it.

Almost your entire traineeship was conducted remotely. How did you manage to stay connected to your various teams and colleagues during that time? Is there any one thing that was done which you would recommend to other organisations?

One thing I would recommend is to strive for a culture that encourages openness and knowledge-sharing from the top down. As a trainee, it can be scary when things are sprung on you, or if you’re not clear on how to approach a situation or respond to a question. From day one of my traineeship, I have always felt that I can reach out to anyone in the department if there is something I’m not sure about, no matter how small.

While we were working from home, I had regular catchups with my adviser and other members of the team. Even if I didn’t have anything specific to raise or questions to ask, it was a great feeling knowing I had that consistent touchpoint if there was anything I ever wanted to chat about. The frequency of my catchups varied depending on the team, but I never felt alone and always knew there was someone to talk to.

You’re also a “culture champion” for Legal within Aegon. Could you tell me a bit about what that entails?

As a culture champion, I work with both the other culture champions and the department Leadership team to develop the legal department’s culture and encourage positive wellbeing in colleagues. This involves gathering feedback from colleagues on subjects like inclusion and diversity, wellbeing, and their feelings on the department as well as Aegon as a whole. We work with the Leadership team to put into place initiatives based on feedback, for example, a department newsletter that aims to encourage knowledge-sharing and support people in the department to feel more connected. I’ve really enjoyed being a culture champion, particularly because I’ve been able to get to know my colleagues better and have had the chance to improve things for them.

Tom Keddari

Tom Keddari completed a law degree at Robert Gordon University and took the diploma at the University of Edinburgh. He is a trainee in his second seat at Aegon’s company secretariat.

You joined Aegon in 2021. What were you up to at the start of the pandemic?

When the pandemic first hit, I was still in the second semester of the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh. We had to complete the diploma remotely, which at the beginning proved to be fairly challenging as it was difficult to focus from home. Nevertheless, the university understood the difficulty of adapting to remote learning and assessed us in ways that permitted us not to have our marks affected as a result of the pandemic. 

The search for a legal traineeship mid-pandemic was a very slow process, and there were very few opportunities. I decided to work as a customer service agent in French for Trainline while actively searching for traineeships, in order to occupy myself post-diploma and gain communication skills transferable into a legal career. Since the market for traineeships remained fairly rigid throughout the first half of the pandemic, I found an opportunity to work as a paralegal for HMRC with their International Litigation team, which greatly assisted me in obtaining transferable knowledge on commercial and tax matters, as well as improving my attention to detail. At the beginning of 2021, I finally stumbled on an opportunity with Aegon for a traineeship and I didn’t think twice in applying for the role.

What was it like joining Aegon when you couldn’t physically meet your new colleagues, and as only the second ever trainee in the department?

Prior to joining Aegon, I had the expectation that it would be difficult to adapt in an actual traineeship, as I would be learning a lot more than in my previous role as a paralegal. Nevertheless, within my first week of joining the company, I was taken aback by how well supported I felt from the first day. I attended a company-wide induction for new starts, which was very helpful for me to find my feet. Being only the second ever legal trainee at Aegon has been a privilege due to the support I’ve had. I’ve always been in contact with various members of the team who continue to ensure I am getting what I want from the traineeship.

How is your traineeship going so far?

I am currently halfway through my second seat with company sec, and I can say I am thoroughly enjoying my traineeship overall so far. I was looking for a traineeship opportunity that would give me hands-on experience, with an experienced support network to learn from when I was unsure how to proceed, and that is exactly the opportunity I have found. The learning occasions I have had so far have been very helpful in providing me with a general idea of how an in-house legal department operates. My current seat with company sec has been very interesting, as I get a chance to experience the governance aspect of the company, and how board meetings and more operate.

If you met someone who wasn’t sure whether to apply for an in-house traineeship or private practice, what advice would you give them?

Whether to choose an in-house or private practice traineeship isn’t an easy decision, and it is a much-discussed matter today for law graduates. What looks more like the “conventional” option nowadays is to undertake a private practice traineeship, as most of the employers I was able to speak with during my diploma were private practice law firms. The idea of an in-house traineeship wasn’t discussed to the great extent private practice traineeships were throughout my law degree and diploma. However, my personal experience of working for in-house legal departments as an intern gave me an overview of what being an in-house lawyer could be like. 

From there, I was clear in my mind that I wanted an in-house traineeship since I felt I had great exposure to a variety of matters, I was able to see the completion of projects and tasks I had worked on, and I felt I was gaining commercial awareness overall. 

My advice for prospective trainees is to keep an open mind, as being set on one of the two options for a traineeship can be very dependent on the opportunities available in the market. The ultimate goal of a traineeship is to gain knowledge, skills and confidence to become a solicitor, so finding the best environment to learn and develop is crucial.

Ellie Williams

Ellie Williams graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2019 and completed the diploma at the University of Edinburgh in 2020. She is now a first-year trainee in Aegon’s Propositions team.

Ellie, you are the latest trainee to join Aegon. How did you hear about the opportunity to train at Aegon and when did you first consider working in-house?

I first considered an in-house traineeship when I was in third year of university, and we were being encouraged to secure vacation schemes and summer work experience. I wasn’t completely sure what area of law interested me most, and as such, I looked not just at private practices but also larger organisations that I knew had in-house legal teams. I applied for a summer internship at a large bank, in their Human Resources department, which I was offered and accepted. While on this internship I learned a lot about the financial services industry generally, and I was lucky enough to spend some time with their in-house legal department, which really highlighted the opportunities and benefits of working as part of a legal team in a larger organisation. I spotted the opportunity to train at Aegon on a legal jobs website and knew it was the experience I was looking for.

You completed the final few months of your Diploma at the beginning of the pandemic. Tell me how that went, and did it prepare you well for remote working at Aegon?

I completed my Diploma in summer 2020, so I found myself having to make a very quick adjustment to online learning for the final portion of the year, including remote teaching and online exams. I actually then began working in a high-volume conveyancing firm full time during the pandemic, which was an incredibly different experience: as the industry is still very much paper-based we were still working from the office. As such, I didn’t begin fully working from home until I started my traineeship with Aegon. I have been very lucky though, as Aegon has set me up brilliantly for remote working, and all my colleagues have made me feel very welcome and organised regular catchups and team meetings which have helped me feel much less “remote”.

What kind of work does a “Propositions” team do? How does it match your expectations of working in the company?

The Propositions team deals with an incredibly wide range of different projects and queries. We are involved with almost every area of the business. We provide legal advice and guidance which may relate to specific products such as ISAs and pensions, but in the few months since I started with the team, I have also found myself involved in queries relating to wills and trusts and other private client matters, equality issues, tax matters and even some family law related aspects. 

The team is also responsible for drafting a range of customer documentation including scheme rules, policy conditions, terms and conditions, and declarations. Additionally, we monitor and provide analysis on legislative and regulatory changes which may affect our products or any part of the business. Working with Aegon has far exceeded my expectations of working in-house, as I have built up amazing experience due to the massive variety of work we get involved with.

What would you say to a young graduate thinking of applying for an in-house traineeship?

Absolutely go for it! In-house training contracts often aren’t as widely advertised as private practice traineeships are, but there are opportunities to be found. I would recommend keeping an eye out on a variety of different platforms such as Lawscotjobs and Scottish Legal News, but also non-legal recruitment platforms such as LinkedIn and even social media, as well as looking at the websites of individual organisations you think you would enjoy working for and that would suit you.

• James Mackenzie, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Aegon UK, comments: “We are delighted to be able to offer a traineeship, and have reaped the benefits of our trainees’ skills, dedication and enthusiasm in the department and across the business. A true highlight of 2021 was congratulating Marion on qualifying as a solicitor. We couldn’t have been more proud.”