Vacation Scheme Student Review

I really enjoyed the experience. To make up for the lack of in person contact, the firm arranged a number of socials that allowed us to chat informally to the other vacation scheme students. This was really valuable. The supervisors and buddies were incredibly friendly and approachable. They gave a lot guidance with the task we had been set for our practice area. The firm also encouraged us to try and chat to trainees and associated for 'virtual coffee'. Everyone was really happy to talk and set aside time to answer questions and get to know us.

I felt very valued. They showed an interest in our personal development, not just in assessing us to make training contract offers. For example, we had sessions of innovation and how that works within the firm. One of the assessment points was a group presentation to come up with a solution for disruption within the industry. They made clear that they took our ideas very seriously and that they have in the past taken on the ideas presented by vacation scheme students in these presentations. The graduate recruitment team frequently caught up with us to check if we were okay and whether we needed anything.

I received a lot of guidance. They initially introduced us to all of the software that we needed all throughout the scheme. My supervisor was happy to email or call for any point about the task she set me. Similarly I had a trainee buddy who was very happy to answer questions over an email or a video call. The graduate recruitment team were also available to ask for help with any issues we had.

The skills I developed will be incredibly useful for my career. I learnt how to work while balancing a number of deadlines. I learnt how best to ask for help, make sure I knew precisely what I wanted to ask before taking the time out of someone else's day. I gained a lot of commercial awareness in the various activities we completed, and when all of the different practice areas of the firm talked about their work and clients.

The structure of the scheme was good. Most of the tasks were set at the very beginning of the week so that we had the time to plan our work schedule. The days were very busy with a sessions, but this was good because it meant that we could make the most of the week. When the scheme is in person it is 2 weeks long instead of 1, so they tried their best to make sure that we did not miss out on too many sessions.

The atmosphere was welcoming and friendly. All of the vacation scheme students were keen to help each other out which was particularly nice. It did not feel tense or competitive. We got a number of chances to talk informally on the arranged socials which was really good fun. Everyone I spoke to was approachable and friendly, regardless of their seniority. All of the staff were aware of how the vacation scheme works and so they made sure to help us make the most of our week and were sympathetic to how busy our schedules were.

They invested a lot in our personal training and development. Both through assessed and non-assessed tasks, they put an emphasis on allowing us to get the chance to experience the firm, develop our own skills and helping us in our future career. They made sure we got contact with the trainees that was without the supervision of any of the partners to make sure we felt comfortable to ask any of the questions we wanted to ask.

The sheer amount of contact we received with the different practice areas meant that we got a good sense of the different practice areas that we might end up in. We got the chance to speak to a number of trainees who were very honest about their experience, for example the working hours, the culture and the quality of work that the firm gives. I understood the nature of the tasks that would be given to me as a trainee very well towards the end of the scheme.

We got the opportunity to get into contact with a very large number of members of the firm, of different levels of seniority. Getting to see how approachable they all were and how willing they were to give up their time to help us make the most of the week. I understood the culture also from the honest experiences of the trainees they spoke about their own experiences with their supervisors to help us to understand what the Taylor Wessing community is like.

I already know that I want to be a solicitor. However, the week made me realise that I really enjoyed doing a task for tax law that I was already interested in. They also made clear that it is good to keep an open mind with which seats you train into, because people often have preconceived notions of what they may enjoy before they start in a training seat, but those notions are often changed significantly in the course of the training contract.

I was paid at the same weekly rate I would have been if the vac scheme went ahead as normal. However, the online scheme is only now for one week, so the pay was halved accordingly.

There was plenty of opportunity for this. Although our schedules were fairly packed, the employees were very understanding and willing to meet with us. It did take our own initiative to reach out to individuals in the firm we wanted to chat to. We also were required to circulate a feedback survey to everyone we networked with as this formed a part of our evaluation for the training contract offers they make after the scheme is over.

Great, friendly and fun

Yes we found out a lot about the activities from a number of different sources. The trainees told us about the socials that they got to go on as a cohort during their training contract. Each practice area presented and talked about the other activities and events that they get to take part in. For example trips and days out as a department. We also heard from a number of the graduate recruitment representatives about the teams and clubs that the firm has.

Yes!