Vacation Scheme Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Linklaters, everyone was really supportive and there was a positive atmosphere in the office. Over the course of the four weeks I was able to get a really good sense of the firm and everyone who worked there. They had really strong values and objectives, and everyone who worked there represented that same passion to achieve as the firm envisaged.

I felt very valued, while I was not able to do particularly expert stuff, I was given the opportunity to help out wherever I could. This was mainly through carrying out various checks - having completed any task the associates and trainees expressed a large amount of gratitude and thanks. We were also able to particulate in many workshops to help develop the firms development aims, which were later promoted to the rest of the firm.

Linklaters were very supportive, we had weekly meetings with our graduate recruitment contact, who made sure that we were all doing well and that we were enjoying our time at the firm. The trainees were also very supportive, and they regularly took me to get tea/coffee in the cafeteria to answer any questions or to help with anything we needed.

I learned a lot during my vacation scheme at Linklaters. We had regular sessions with various departments to find out what exactly they did, cases they had done as well as sessions on commercial awareness generally. We also had to complete part of a project every week, which enabled everyone to research into new areas of law and commercial awareness. All of these have helped me since coming back to university - and I believe they will all help later in life too.

The vacation scheme was very well structured. The four weeks consisted of two weeks in two different departments. You were able to put preferences down for which departments you wanted to sit on, and everyone got two out of their four choices. There was also a project to complete, which was structured well as to fit into the week, while still allowing you time to work in the department.

Everyone was really friendly and welcoming. Everyone at all levels in the firms took time out of their day to talk to you, including the senior and managing partners. Everyone was really excited, ambitious, and down to earth. We had socials during the week after a day in the office - everyone was able to relax, have fun and really get to know one another.

The firm provided me with a really well structured project to complete which really helped me develop my commercial awareness. They also gave me access to all of their online learning and development resources online. I had also been able to attend seminars on the various departments and gain a much better understanding about how the firm operates.

I was really able to understand what day to day life at the firm was like. Spending two weeks in each department I was able to see the kind of work given to trainees, associates and partners. I was able to attend project meetings to see the very beginning of a project, so I was really able to understand what happens on a project from beginning to end.

I gained a massive insight into the culture of the firm. On the first day we were taught about the various goals, diversity initiatives and pro-bono projects the firm was invested in, which gave a good insight into the values which the firm help close. Spending time with various departments I was able to get a good sense of the working cultures - such as the working hours, how much they work as a team and so on.

Very useful! The trainees were always open to talk about the various career paths they had considered before deciding to take a training contract offer from Liklaters. The trainees also spoke very openly about the reality of their work and gave good career advice. The associated and partners also openly spoke about their own carer paths and gave us an insight as to where a training contract with Linklaters could take you.

I was paid weekly for my time at Linklaters. This covered all of mt accommodation costs, which I arranged myself. there were no reimbursements for travel or accommodation - but the weekly salary was sufficient to cover both of these costs. They took us out on many socials, and so there were very few days in the week where I needed to cater for myself. The firm also have a massive cafeteria which is not particularly expensive,s so the overall costs incurred during the scheme were low.

There were many opportunities to network with others from the firm. We were able to meet lot of trainees on the first day at a networking session. During the scheme there were multiple networking breakfasts with associates and trainees. We also had the opportunity to meet the senior partner and managing partner and ask them questions.

There were loads of socials during the week, including a cooking class at school of wok, a session at the escape rooms, drinks on the London eye, and a dinner at M restaurant. The socials were really good and allowed everyone to get to know each other as well as trainees from the firm.

The trainees and associates were very open about what they do in their free time, this gave a good understanding of the kind of work life balance they have. This included acting as a trustee for charities, taking part in various sporting activities, travelling and so on. The office also had a gym, which many people said they used.

I would highly recommend this vacation scheme to a friend. It gave me a really good idea of what working at a commercial law firm is like, it also gave me a good idea of the type of people the firm is looking for, and helped me to decide if I could see myself working in that environment and fitting in well.