Vacation Scheme Participant Review

Shearman & Sterling's vacation scheme was highly enjoyable. I found that I learned a lot about working in law as well as the atmosphere of this particular firm as the lawyers working at Shearman were very open and willing to answer any questions that we had. I also felt a lot more comfortable going into the assessments in the second week so would recommend doing a vacation scheme at Shearman.

We were placed with a supervisor and were also assigned a trainee mentor each week. Both my supervisors and mentors made sure to make me feel welcome and to assign me work. The people who had given me work were also happy to give me feedback. This feedback was very useful and made me feel valued while at the firm.

Both trainees and associates made themselves available to answer any questions that I might have. The graduate recruitment team also made it clear that they were there to support us too. The trainee mentors were particularly supportive and were able to give us some tips on what to expect. My supervisors were also willing to talk to me about the work that they did and offered advice on any tasks that I was doing.

The skills and information I learned on this vacation scheme will be most useful in applying them to future vacation schemes/assessments and in a training contract. They are most likely not applicable to my degree but I will definitely make use of them in a professional rather than academic capacity.

The vacation scheme was actually extremely well structured. There were a lot of social events - both in the evening and at lunchtimes. We also received talks from various practice groups that were extremely informative and useful when considering interview preparation. The interviews and assessments came at the beginning of the second week. There were advantages and disadvantages to this placement of the assessments - it meant that once they were completed we could enjoy the second half of the week without worrying, but it also meant that less time was spent in one practice area than another. Overall, the scheme was very well structured.

The firm came across as relatively relaxed and open. We were invited to the office's summer party and that was a really popular event where we got to speak to a lot of the lawyers - all very enthusiastic about their work and open about what was expected of them. Everyone repeated that this was a relaxed firm.

The talks from the different departments, social events to get to know each other and the firm, and the time committed by our various supervisors and mentors made it feel as if the firm was very much invested in us. We were also given advice by the graduate recruitment team on how to get the most out of the scheme.

Our supervisors and mentors were very open about all aspects of the life of a full-time lawyer at Shearman & Sterling. The vacation scheme helped me to understand the life of a Shearman lawyer, and it was particularly useful to compare the experiences of the lawyers who had had experiences at other firms too.

Being able to speak openly with the trainees and associates was extremely useful in understanding the company culture - in particular the variety between the different practice areas. The social events were also obviously important in getting to know from a broader range of people their experiences at the firm.

The content of the scheme reinforced my belief that my choice of career path is the right one for me.

I was paid adequately for this experience.

The social events were important in this respect. The most useful part I found was talking to people in the different practice groups I sat in about the work they did. I was able to talk to people whose work interested me greatly and they were all willing to have a chat with me over a coffee.

These were excellent. I really enjoyed the dinners and lunches especially. The best by far was going to The Duck and Waffle - a standout meal and it gave us more opportunity to talk to the trainees.

Yes - trainees and supervisors talked about the sports and trips that they get involved in.

I would definitely recommend applying to this vacation scheme if you are considering a training contract at Shearman & Sterling. Not only is it a good way of meeting the firm, but it was also a particularly informative and enjoyable vacation scheme. Regardless of the outcome of the assessments, the scheme was very good at providing information that will be useful in the future.