Vacation Scheme Review

I would thoroughly recommend this three week vacation scheme at PwC Legal to any individual interested in pursuing a career in commercial law. I was in three departments: Cyber Security/Data Protection, Real Estate and Intellectual Property/IT. What really surprised me within the vacation scheme was the level of responsibility entrusted to me. For example, in my first week I found myself making my own way to the other side of London to a client's office in order to help another PwC Legal professional conduct a data protection assessment. This trend continued across all three departments and it was a privilege to be given actual work to do, not just the menial tasks! I was asked to sit in on various meetings/conference calls with clients, and it gave me a really good insight into the type of work within PwC Legal.

This is quite a difficult question to answer as people have different expectations of how they should be treated within an internship/vacation scheme. At PwC Legal, I was most definitely made to feel welcome and everyone I came into contact with was extremely helpful. Personally, what made me feel valued was that some senior lawyers in my departments took the time out to have a coffee with me and to actually get to know me. This alone demonstrates how much the firm values the vacation scheme students, and the importance they place on welcoming each and every one. The only thing I would say to prospective applicants is that you get no special treatment - in a good way. This vacation scheme gives you a realistic insight into what life would be like as a trainee (what vacation schemes should do!!). You will be given a considerable amount of work to do, with some tight deadlines. Along with this workload given from your department, you will also have three further assessments to complete, so time management is the key to success. Nonetheless, there is most definitely a good social life during the vacation scheme. There are multiple events planned for everyone such as crazy golf, dinners and the end-of-scheme social which was great fun!

When starting the vacation scheme, we were all assigned a 'buddy' to answer any questions we had during the scheme. We all had lunch with our buddies on the first day which was great to help us all settle in. When starting a new department, in my personal experience, everyone was extremely helpful and had no issue answering any questions I had with my work. In fact, I remember one senior lawyer in Real Estate sitting down with me and spending at least half an hour explaining the task I was assigned. What is really good about the lay-out of PwC Legal's offices is how open-plan they are. This means that you are sitting in close proximity to lawyers of all grades (even Partners sometimes!) who are all happy to take some time out to answer any questions you may have.

In terms of skills developed as a result of this vacation scheme, I would most definitely say that my time-management ability was vastly enhanced. You are given a substantial amount of work at the start of the scheme and it is your responsibility to get everything submitted on time. Generally, my confidence was greatly improved throughout the three weeks. There were various situations where I was pushed out of my 'comfort zone', but in a good way. I was given lots of support at these times and it nearly felt like the firm was helping me to grow and develop a number of professional skills that will be invaluable in my future career.

The vacation scheme at PwC Legal was extremely well-structured. Before arriving on the first day I already knew who my buddy was and she had been e-mailing me during the week prior offering any help. We were all provided a schedule on our first day providing details of all assessment deadline, socials and talks that were going to be taking place throughout the three weeks. There was never a time where I felt like I didn't know where to go or what to do be doing. If there were any amendments made to this schedule, we were all e-mailed immediately and given good notice of an updated location/time etc.

The overall atmosphere within my vacation scheme at PwC Legal was very positive. There was a good balance of both work and fun and it gave me a great insight into life at PwC Legal. We are always encouraged to attend any socials and informal drinks after work with trainees. I was genuinely gutted to be leaving on my last day, as I really felt like part of the firm by that point. There is such a friendly atmosphere throughout the firm, and it could not have been any more enjoyable.

Considering that this was only a three week vacation scheme, we received a significant amount of training. On our first day, we were given our own personal laptops to be used throughout the three weeks. We attended a training session on how to use these, as well as the different pieces of software. We then had a further training session on how to conduct the best legal research through using the various online facilities provided by PwC Legal, and this was invaluable when assigned any research tasks during the scheme.

This is the element that makes PwC Legal's vacation scheme fantastic! You are not subjected to any artificial situations to make the firm look like something it's not. I was immersed into what life would actually be like if I worked as a trainee at PwC Legal, and this is what made the vacation scheme invaluable.

My three weeks within PwC Legal gave me a great insight into their culture. Every employee is expected to mirror the values with the 'PwC Professional' framework and this is most definitely the case. The culture fosters both personal and professional growth within employees and a lot of emphasis is placed on everyone's health and wellbeing.

Absolutely! The firm has a great social scene, and we received invites to various networking events where we could get to know other employees from different areas of PwC Legal. In our final week, all the vacation scheme students were invited for drinks with some of the Partners of PwC Legal which was fantastic. This demonstrates how much time and effort PwC Legal expends into their vacation scheme.

Any networking/social events that I attended were extremely enjoyable. I never felt excluded from anything just because I was on a vacation scheme. You were treated just the same as any other employee within PwC Legal and it was so welcoming. Everyone made a genuine effort to get to know you and to offer any assistance if required.

Absolutely! This vacation scheme offered by PwC Legal provides an invaluable insight into life as a commercial lawyer in London. You are given full access to the facilities on offer and play an integral role within any department you are place within. There is a fantastic atmosphere within the firm and a lot of time, effort (and money!) is invested into it everyone on the vacation scheme.