Vacation Scheme Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation scheme and overall it was a very positive experience which cemented my desire to pursue a career in law. Even though the scheme was hard work, and you definitely get challenging tasks and have full days, I feel like this served to give a real taste of the life of a lawyer and therefore made the vacation scheme interesting and authentic.

I felt very valued during my time at HSF, whether this was because my supervisors were constantly encouraging me to come to their meetings or listen in on client calls, or because I was actually producing written pieces of work (such as research) which they could then use and build on for genuine client work.

This was one of the best things about my vacation scheme - you are encouraged to be as inquisitive as possible and there are so many people you can ask questions to, from all practice areas and at all levels. Therefore, if you were stuck with any piece of work, help was readily available.

As you are doing the kind of work that a trainee could be working on, it was invaluable to gain insight into this and it will definitely help me if I do end up being a trainee. However, regardless of what I end up doing I feel that the research side of the tasks together with the large amount of networking that was involved in the vacation scheme will be greatly helpful.

Very well structured, with a huge variation in activities. During the day this involved basically whatever your supervisor was doing or needed doing as well as presentations from each different practice area. In the evenings there was often a scheduled bonding activity which were always great fun, allowing you to unwind at the end of the working day and bond with your fellow vacation schemers and often trainees, future joiners and even lawyers from higher ranks.

The general atmosphere was supportive, friendly and open. As previously mentioned, everyone I came across was more than happy to answer any questions I had and did so passionately and truthfully. The firm operates an open door policy in offices and this also led to a much better atmosphere in my opinion, and also encouraged collaboration and team work.

The firm greatly invest in you by allowing you to come in and take the place of a trainee for two weeks as well as giving workshops and presentations about the various sectors in the firm, which also included details of how to excel and make a great lawyer within these practice areas.

I think that doing the vacation scheme gave a complete insight into what it is like to be a trainee at the firm, as we were doing 'trainee-type' work. It also gave a flavor of the general atmosphere and type of people that you would be working with if you were to join the firm which I think is hugely important.

The vacation scheme was extremely insightful into understanding the company culture as we were encouraged to fully immerse ourselves into the firm, speak to and spend as much time with other members of the firm and also attend group meetings or other forums in which you can see how the lawyers interact with one another.

The content was extremely helpful in helping me decide whether law was for me because of the fact that the tasks reflected the genuine work of a lawyer at a lower level, and we were exposed to and allowed to see the type of work that is done at a higher level.

I think that the pay you receive is very generous considering that you also get lots of free food most days as well as the activities being free of charge. However you should expect to work hard during the day and this is why I think the pay is as generous as it is.

This was another fantastic thing about the firm - there were endless opportunities to network. For example, there were partner drinks, quiz nights and even a dim sum cooking class which involved trainees, associates and partners. Alumni from your university are also told about you and this often leads to emails from alumni asking for coffee, which was another great way to network.

These were fantastic not only because it widens the amount of people that you get to interact with but they were also fun and a great way to end a tiring and often stressful day. It is a great way to mingle with the other vacation scheme students who you may be working with in the future.

This was not explicitly covered but I had various conversations where this was discussed, for example the numerous sports teams which exist such as football and tennis. The lawyers spoke highly of these and said they were a great way to socialize with their colleagues without being in the office.

Although the process to get there is grueling, it is extremely worth it if you do get a place on the vacation scheme and the experience has been highly enjoyable and insightful. Therefore I would definitely recommend this to a friend, and not even one necessarily considering law but to a more general person as well.