Vacation Scheme Student Review

The insight was very enjoyable. The firm put on lots of activities and insight sessions that enabled us to get to know both the people within the firm and the culture of the firm. The work was spaced out and was not too full on which allowed us to spend a lot of time getting to know the different areas of the firm whilst also getting a good taste for the different kinds of work that the lawyers do.

I felt quite valued within the firm. My supervisors across the two weeks were very keen to get me involved in as many matters and deals that they could, and which were appropriate for my level of experience to be involved in. I also got to work on matters that were very relevant to what was going on at the time in the firm and the wider business world which made it feel like I was having an actual contribution.

I received a good amount of support and guidance during the insight. My supervisors checked in with my regularly and my buddies were always open to me asking questions about different tasks I had. Other members of staff were also happy to take calls with me and for me to email me with them about any questions about any work they were doing etc. The sessions we had on the different practice areas also provided a good opportunity to ask any questions about guidance.

The skills I developed and information I received helped a lot in my job. In particular the researching element to a lot of the tasks we did required the use of online that resources that I have continued to use for other researching tasks at work. The communication skills were also very useful as we had to do a client pitch that will help in the future when having to do similar presentation and oral communication-oriented tasks.

The insight was very well structured. The sessions they put on involving a variety of topics in our practice area and in business development, CSR etc. were not too long and were spread out. The tasks we were given were very structured but that helped us stay more organised and gave us a better idea of our workload going through the scheme to ensure that we did not take on too much work or become overworked.

The atmosphere was very friendly during the insight. The firm put on lots of meet and greets and networking events to ensure that we had the chance to mix with a variety of people both socially, and in a more work focused environment. The social elements in particular were great as you could tell the firm had spent a lot of time thinking up how to provide a good event that was fun but also allowed you to socialise with others.

The personal training and development were very useful and the firm spent a lot of time showing us the different elements of a law firm. In particular things like how to pitch to a client is something that you would not normally get outside of a law firm and this investment into us was incredibly useful. The time spent showing us how to research and how the firm operated as a whole also gave me a better understanding of a law firm as a whole.

The firm spent a lot of time showing us and helping us to understand what it would be like to have a full time role with the firm. This was through formal sessions on speed networking with the different departments which gave us a feel for what it would be like in the different departments. The work also gave us a good flavour of what kind of work tasks you would be expected to do.

The insight went a long way into helping me understand the company culture. In a lot of the sessions there was a mix of different people from different levels of the firm which we got to speak to, and this definitely gave us a feel for the culture of the firm and how different people interacted with each other. This was also helped by us having the social events which gave me a first hand insight into the culture.

The content was incredibly useful in helping me to decide on my future career path. My first seat was in an area I had never considered as a practice area for law and I ended up really enjoying it and would definitely consider it for the future as somewhere to qualify into. The other practice area I was in was one of my main choices and definitely helped me work out whether I liked it or not.

We were paid.

There were lots of opportunities for networking and meeting other employees of the firm. We had structured sessions on different practice areas and networks of the firm that allowed us to meet a wide range of people and ask them questions. I also had the ability to set up meetings with people outside of these sessions in practice areas I was interested in which formed a large part of the networking and meeting of other employees.

The networking and social event opportunities were very good. The firm put on extra ones for us students who were new during those two weeks which were organised very well and were not too long either. It allowed us to relax and also have some fun with fellow students. On top of this there were other networking/ social event opportunities that were optional for us to attend and were put on by different practice area groups.

I did find out about the activities that employees can get involved in outside of work. During the networking and social event opportunities we were allowed to ask about anything we wanted to. Some of the time this included asking about the activities and social opportunities that employees can get up to outside of work which everyone was more than happy to answer, as it seemed to comprise a pretty important part of the firm.

I would recommend this insight scheme to a friend. The scheme was a great way to learn more about the firm had obviously put a lot of work into structuring it and making sure that we had opportunities to meet people and get involved in work that was relevant to what the firm was doing at the time. It also provided me with some good skills in terms of research and presentation skills that I will take forward.