Student Review

The Vacation Scheme was a real blast! The balance of insightfulness, social time and challenging work was perfect. I got to find out more about life at the firm and the sort of work that Trainees get involved in. The workshops were really informative, fun and engaging and the social activities were a real treat!

I was given real work and was able to take ownership of real tasks for real clients from the word 'go'. I felt that I was able to make a valuable contribution to my team at a busy time for them. I always receives thanks and feedback for the work I produced.

My buddy was amazing at making me feel at ease and answering all my stupid questions without judgment. If I needed help with something or to prioritise different tasks, everyone was very accommodating and understanding. I had access to webinars, e-training and insights that helped with contextualising my work and research.

Everything I worked on during my Vacation Scheme I was able to trace some knowledge back to my studies and relate to it. The work helped develop my skills in expectation management, targeted research and document analysis. This will undoubtedly be useful for any placements or training I undertake in the future.

We were all given a schedule at the start of the week that was explained thoroughly to us. Workshops were placed in our calendars and individual sessions were available at request. The workshops and socials were really well spread across the week in order to maximise their impact at each stage of the Vacation Scheme.

The Grad Rec team was really welcoming and gave us a good introduction at the start of the week, including pointers about how to ask for more/less work and receive constructive feedback from our colleagues. The office atmosphere was bright and friendly. You were not made to feel nervous to talk, laugh or ask for help.

We had a whole series of workshops and seminars to attend. From an IT induction and tour of the offices to a personal branding workshop and presentation from a partner on the firm's strategy. All these activities made us feel valued and meant that we were able to get the most out of the experience.

My buddy was amazing at involving me in as much of her in tray as possible. I felt like a got a real flavour for the type of work a Trainee at Simmons & Simmons can expect to do. I experienced the types of pressures and expectations put on Trainees, and also the support and encouragement that is available.

I was sat at a desk in the offices for a week and I do not think there was any aspect of the firm's culture that I was not exposed to in that time. From laughing with colleagues and going on social events with them, to sitting in on conference calls. I got a real feel for Simmons' culture.

I really enjoyed the work I was involved in and I think I would definitely like to do a seat in it during my traineeship. It was also interesting to speak with other lawyers on the Practice Group speed networking event because we were able to understand what attracted them to their expertise.

I was paid a weekly salary that was very generous. The firm also paid for numerous drinks events, social activities and meals.

There were plenty of opportunities for networking and meeting other employees of the firm. In an open plan office you only need to pop over and speak to someone if you want to find out more about another team or department. Also, there was at least one event a day to speak informally with other teams.

The networking and social events were incredibly well organised and put together. Taxis were arranged for getting from one venue to another and the events themselves were great fun. They built on teamwork skills, communication and interaction. The Escape Room activity was a great laugh and everyone really enjoyed that.

We were able to ask employees about what social networks and societies they have and engage with. The budgets for running those societies are really generous and the firm encourages anyone with a good idea to bring it to fruition. There are no barriers to being creative and getting involved here.

I would recommend this Vacation Scheme to any person looking into a career as a commercial solicitor. It provided an real insight into life as a commercial solicitor and I really valued that. If you have any interest in law then Simmons & Simmons is a great firm to experience what it is really like.