Employers seem to be very influenced by the way you speak. I know some really bright people with terrible grammar who missed out because of the way they speak. Not people skills, organisational ability or any kind of work ethic but rather how to load a Polaroid camera. In my first interview the interviewer ran out of film in the Polaroid she was using to photograph all the applicants. When I started work I was placed in the same division as her and everybody there knew about the incident - I guess it made her remember me.
Life is quirky.
Yes - initially all the graduates attended daily training sessions together. Now we have scheduled training sessions in between working with real clients. I certainly learn more at a client than I ever will in our scheduled training sessions. You can also attend external courses which the firm will pay for as long what's covered is relevant to them. The whole thing was very stressful.