We're committed to giving you the best opportunities to build a long-term career with Clifford Chance. That means training, support, opportunities and responsibility.

Ongoing learning and structured development opportunities are a fundamental part of careers at Clifford Chance and we have developed an approach that enables us to provide consistent levels of training throughout our global network. The Clifford Chance Academy provides all of our people with the education, training and formal development activities needed to provide the best possible service to our clients. This is achieved through a framework linking the different stages of your career. Courses are run locally, regionally and globally and are integrated with our competency framework to ensure all our people – at every level of development and at every stage in their careers – have the opportunity to reach the same high standards of skills and knowledge.

The training you will experience as a trainee through the Clifford Chance Academy includes, among other things:

• Business awareness including professional standards, time management, financial awareness, risk management and anti money-laundering requirements
• Communication skills including legal writing and professional business communication
• Client Focus
• Relationship building and networking including cultural awareness and working with international teams

Each practice area offers a wide range of legal training beginning with an area-specific induction to introduce you to the type of work and clients you will encounter. These inductions will also feature specific technical legal training to prepare you for your seat.

In addition to the learning and development opportunities provided by the Academy, you will have a dedicated contact within the Graduate Development team to guide you through your Training Contract. Your Graduate Development contact will meet with you at key stages throughout your Training Contract to discuss your career development, your experience and performance to date. They will also provide guidance on your future seat allocations.

On qualification, you will be assigned a career development partner (CDP). This will be a partner within your practice area who will discuss your performance, serve as a mentor, encourage you to take appropriate training, connect you with other people around the firm and work with you to ensure you receive the necessary exposure to take your career in the direction you wish.

As your experience develops you may decide to apply your skills to a specialist area, or to work overseas, perhaps in the emerging markets where our expanding presence means many exciting new opportunities including the chance to experience another jurisdiction's approach to the practise of law. Many of our lawyers go on secondment to a client. Our clients recognise how much our lawyers can add through secondments and we value secondments too, not just as a means of strengthening our relationships but also for the great experience they provide. Secondments enable lawyers to see things from a client's perspective, to develop new business skills and get involved in different kinds of work, adding a new dimension to their experience and ultimately enriching both their own careers and the firm.

As a junior lawyer you will continue to benefit from the technical and business skills training offered by the Clifford Chance Academy. As you progress to senior associate levels you will be invited to attend our Academy Development Centre. This will help you to acquire the skills and behaviours that you will need to progress your career still further. Your training will increasingly focus on the skills necessary to build and maintain client relationships, market the firm, lead meetings, make presentations and be involved in financial and people management. These are the skills that will enable you to contribute to the ongoing growth of our business.

Of course, there are many different futures ahead for our people. Clifford Chance has trained many lawyers who are today working beyond the firm in business, finance and law. The quality and impact of our alumni are testament to our emphasis on both professional training and personal development. Our international alumni programme, with over 1,000 registered members, provides a valuable link between former and current members of Clifford Chance.