Paralegal Review

The vacation scheme was a great opportunity to experience different departments. I really liked the fact we had a talk from a different department every morning and enjoyed the social activities planned on evenings. I was able to have all of my questions answered and employees were always willing to sit down and explain things where necessary. I was given interesting work from my departments and able to see that work carried through to the next stages ie. if I had done some research I was then able to see how this was formulated in a response to the client.

I felt valued in that I was able to help on live matters and felt that my work was therefore helping solicitors who really needed it. The level of responsibility given was good. Everybody made me feel welcome and I felt like I could have fit quite easily into the teams I was sat with on a long term basis.

People were always on hand to answer questions when needed which was a great support tool. The intellectual property team I sat with were really good in that following some research I did and after moving teams they still sent me through feedback and the finished work they had sent out to the client which was a good learning process.

The skills developed primarily include team work in working with my presentation group, communication skills in meeting other people within the firm and clients and research skills in helping with various pieces of work. These will assist me with my ongoing work within the corporate department. It was good to be able to communicate with clients on an informal basis at the charity quiz and all of this is helpful for meeting clients in the future and c9ommunicating with different people around the firm.

The insight was really well structured with a week in each department and a talk from a different department every morning. The socials were well planned and we knew in advance the details of what we were to be doing from the timetables given to us. Most bases were covered in terms of what we would want to cover from the insight but one thing to perhaps look at for the future could be a talk on business development alongside the departmental talks.

The atmosphere was very friendly and encouraging. Everybody around the firm wanted you to give your best and wanted you to think about whether squires was the firm for you as well as them assessing whether we were right for the firm. Involvement was key to the vacation scheme and this was evident in the different people we got to meet.

Squires really invested time and effort into the structure of the vacation scheme and into our personal learning about the different departments. This was evident from the different talks given and the opportunities offered to work on live matters and meet clients.We were encouraged to join departmental training sessions and to get feedback from our supervisors to help with this.

The vacation scheme allowed me to see the work that different departments do on a day to day basis. I was able to see the culture of the firm and it was great to go along to the summer party and see the social side of the firm also. Learning about different trainees' experiences was really insightful and you were able to get a fell for the level of responsibility you would be given as a trainee.

The vacation scheme really helped me understand the comp[any culture in that the solicitors who work here are committed to their work and incredibly hard working but also like to have fun and the social aspect of the firm was evident with activities like the summer party. The open door culture was evident and it was great to be able to ask questions about work to people of all levels in a department and have a friendly chat with them at the same time.

The content of the vacation scheme was extremely helpful in reinforcing that this was the future career I was looking for. It helped me look at the different possible departments I could consider for a training contract and beyond and helped me consider things like whether I would want to take part in more poro-bono work and take on a secondment. Naomi Parkin was particularly helpful with this in sitting down to discuss with me her secondments.

I was paid my usual pay for this vacation scheme experience which was adequate.

Lunch opportunities with employees, social activities and daily talks all helped with networking and meeting other employees. The firm has an open door culture and you were able to ask questions of anybody really thoughout your time on the placement. Employees were willing to have private chats with you on particular topics you were interested in where you had not had time to talk with them as part of a group.

The networking and social opportunities were great. I really liked that there were several social opportunities to give us a chance to get to know one another on the vacation scheme as well as other people within the firm. The activities were really well planned and good fun. Tick tock unlock was hilarious although also quite creepy for those of us in the mental asylum room and dressing up as Homer Simpson for the summer party was great fun! I also really enjoyed the charity quiz and being able to sit with clients at that event was a really good opporunity.

The departmental talks helped with this in that most employees as well as talking about their departments would talk about other things they were involved with outside work including charity and pro-bono projects, however, there weren't specific talks for this which could have helped vacation schemers better understand what activities there are.

Definitely. The firm runs a really well structured placement scheme and it is easy to feel like part of the firm from your first day there! Everybody is friendly and everybody wants you to succeed. The opportunities to talk to people within the firm and ask questions of them are fantastic and the socials are good fun too!