Insight / Vacation Scheme Review

The two weeks I had at HSF were incredibly enjoyable overall. We were given loads of really interesting presentations about all the different areas of the firm and everyone made a massive effort to make us feel welcome. The work I was given was really interesting and HR put on great social events in the evenings.

While everyone was very friendly towards me, there were obviously limits to the importance of the work that I was given. Sometimes it did feel as if I was able to give people proper help that they were really thankful for but a lot of the time it felt as if the tasks I was set were more to keep me busy rather than providing much of worth to the firm.

Despite everyone, especially my supervisors, being incredibly busy, they all took the time to properly explain to me the matters they were working on, what they wanted me to do and how to use the tools I required to do it. If I ever got stuck, my trainee buddy was also incredibly helpful in showing me what to do.

I definitely developed my close attention to detail which will definitely be of use during close analysis within my history degree. Going into law school next year, the vacation scheme was really useful in showing me how to use various legal resources, how to use case law and introducing me to lots of legal terms and principles.

The insight was structured really clearly. We were given our full itineraries on the first day and everything ran really seamlessly according to that. No events were cancelled and there was a good mixture of time at our desk, preparing for our group presentation, attending presentations and going to social events.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the firm. People were really easy to talk to and down to earth but also really hard-working which suited me. I also really liked the other attendees on the vacation scheme and we were given lots of time to get to know each other.

People seemed genuinely interested, as a non-law student, that I got to grips with the basics of the world of law and the sorts of skills that working in it requires. However, this usually happened in quite an ad hoc manner, but in 2 weeks it was amazing the breadth of training and development I received.

I think the vacation scheme gave a really good picture of what life as a trainee at the firm would be like. We were given similar sorts of tasks to what they might receive, were able to use all of the firm's facilities such as the canteen and the library and also got to see lawyers of all seniorities at work.

I definitely think we were given an accurate portrayal of the day-to-day culture of the firm and my impression was overwhelmingly positive. I had lots of opportunities to ask trainees candidly without any reporting back to HR about what the culture was like and we were given lots of talks about the culture of the firm too.

As a non-law student, the experience gave me a really good insight into what lawyers do and has completely confirmed in my mind that I want to be a commercial lawyer as a future career path. We also got to hear a lot about the career progression aspect of being at the firm which also helped me plot out where I wanted to end up long-term.

I got paid £400 a week for the vacation scheme which I thought was a good amount given the amount of activities that were put on for us alongside the work. Also the insight was useful in so many ways more than just earning money so I think it was easily an adequate amount.

There were a couple of events, namely the partners drinks and the future joiners quiz where it was very easy to talk to lawyers across the firm or future trainees. However, I feel there could have been more events like these put on for us across the two week vacation scheme.

All of them were really fun, with lots of free drinks and snacks. A particular highlight was the future joiners quiz where there was a great opportunity to meet other future lawyers and junior lawyers who were on the same team as you. Overall, they were all well run and very well attended.

I found out mainly about activities outside of work through my own research into the firm prior to my application for the vacation scheme. That being said, there were lots of opportunities to ask members of the firm about what you can do in terms of sport, music, community initiatives etc. but you had to go out of your way to find out for the most part.

I definitely would recommend the vacation scheme. It was incredibly fun, I got to meet lots of great people, the work was interesting, I got to learn a lot about being a lawyer and there were lots of fun social activities. Overall it was great and I think most people would enjoy it.