Summer Vacation Scheme Student Review

It was one of the best things I have taken part it - fun, prestigious and i was surrounded by incredibly talented and lovely people who were a pleasure to be around, which applies to lawyers, HR and other vacation students.

I was made to feel valued at Nabarro at every level. HR made us all feel like valued employees, which was seen in the level of training we were given, events we were invited to, and the socials that were organised. The department I was in made me feel like a trainee in the level of work I was given (drafting leases and other agreements, creating research matrices, going to client meetings and getting involved in strategy meetings).

A lot. We had training for two days straight. A buddy who was a trainee and a supervisor who was an associate. We were made to feel very looked after and we all had a support structure in place from the moment we accepted our vacation scheme offers! Beyond this, we had HR who actively gave us daily tips on what we can do to improve our day within the department. The entire three weeks we were truly supported on several levels.

As a graduate, who has been working as a paralegal since graduating, the skills I gained during the vacation scheme reinforced and refined my current skill set. I was able to practise these skills daily, which is key to developing your soft skills. The skills such as team work, making and building on new relationships, learning a new area of law, etc., will greatly assist me going forwards because the environment at Nabarro is positive and encouraging as it allowed me to ask the right questions and actively demonstrate my learning.

The structure certainly tested you, it involved a standard working day in a city law firm, with socials, training sessions every other day, and an overarching project. The scheme gave us a holistic experience of what it would feel like if we were to become trainees, which is testament to a well-structured vacation scheme. The clear and effective structure certainly fitted well with the firms motto: 'Clarity Matters'.

Excitement, nurturing and unique. Excitement - every day we were doing something fun and productive. From a talk from a department, such a corporate or ICE, to a networking event, to a karaoke social -it just never stopped! Nurturing - there was a significant amount of support throughout the three weeks, which really added to the experience and made us all feel welcomed and part of the Nabarro family. Unique - It is three weeks long, which in itself sets the scheme apart from the crowd, but it also involves an effort to create lasting relationships with future trainees. Every single vacation student feel valued and there was an atmosphere of being somewhere special.

I am not entirely sure I agree with the premise of your question, as I think it would be impossible for a law firm to invest in you individually, in terms of personal training and development -especially during a vacation scheme. What they can try and achieve is to create a well structured and nurturing vacation scheme that strikes the right balance between assessing you and teaching you, while ensuring you have a great time doing both. Nabarro certainly did this. They formally assessed us through the project and the partner interviews. They informally assessed us (I think) during socials, the relationships with colleagues, etc. They taught us through sustained exposure to a single department during the full three week period. This clear structure ensured that we felt invested in as individuals and they we were all given an equal chance to train and develop. Accordingly, I do not think the salient question is whether Nabarro sought to invest in me as an individual, but whether I was (like every other vacation student) able to gain the benefit of the training and development that was on offer to feel invested in -which I fully believe I did, and this is a credit to Nabarro and their HR team.

It gave me a holistic view, previously described, but I think the other thing i did not experience was the long hours - which I am certain happens in every department at some point during your training contract and beyond. I would have preferred to be exposed to some of this, sadly I was consistently told to go home and enjoy my evening on the days we did not have a social/event.

I think the scheme was a very accurate reflection of the friendly nature of Nabarro, the department i was in was full of very nice people and I already miss them! I also made some great friends on the vacation scheme, who made me laugh whenever we had our socials or at lunchtime! It does appear that they consistently and actively look to hire very personable and able people.

Again, it reinforced my current aspirations.

We were given the opportunity to represent the firm in the Corporate Games 2016 in Liverpool. I immediately volunteered. It gave me the opportunity to take part in some form of physical activity (which I love), exposure to the Nabarro staff in a less formal environment and the unique opportunity to represent the firm -which I might never get to do again! I met people from different departments, across other Nabarro offices. This was, again, a great opportunity to get to Nabarro that bit better. We also took part in an networking event with another company's interns, which was fun too.

There were a plethora of events and socials -all equally fun and surprisingly educational. I would have preferred more talks from smaller departments.

Yes, emails were sent around pro bono / charitable / sporting events.

Yes! I already have.