Olga Shvets – Secretary

When I first stepped through the door at Freshfields for my interview, I could already feel a difference from the other companies I'd visited. People were friendly and relaxed, and everyone make me feel like part of the team.

Since then, I've spent four years here as a legal assistant, supporting both our associates in finance and in corporate. It means tackling lots of different work, so it's lucky that I enjoy juggling many tasks. At the same time I may be handling emails, letters, documents and invoices, all the while, I'm keeping track of which of our lawyers need support. I also stay in touch with my counterparts in the London office, to be aware of what's going on that may affect the Russian lawyers and market. I enjoy being busy and people really appreciate what I do for them.

A few months ago I volunteered to run some IT training sessions. At a firm of this size, we have specialised IT systems, for those that wanted to enhance their skills I ran some workshops, as this is an area I am interested in. Now people can call me if they need a hand: 'Help me, Olga - I'm stuck!' I'm not rushing to transfer to the IT department, but I did enjoy it - and when you teach something, you learn more about it yourself.

Every so often we'll also arrange events where we can get to know other people in the company. Working in a small team, you don't always get the chance to meet everyone else. So we have team trips every summer for the whole Russian office, as well as the Christmas party. It's my chance to get to know people outside of the work environment. This brings everyone I work with closer together.