Summer Placement/Vacation Scheme at Mishcon de Reya Review

The placement was fantastically organised and really rewarding. As with any placement, there was a degree of helping out with admin and photocopying, but I was surprised at the amount of higher-end work you could be involved with. I have felt with other schemes that students are kept at arms length to some extent but I very much felt part of the teams I was working in. There was plenty of organised and pre-scheduled events but there was enough flexibility to allow you to be as involved as you wanted so you can get a real breadth of experience and an idea of the sort of work the firm does.

The firm has an 'open door' policy, which is fairly self explanatory. As a placement student you were encouraged to speak to anyone and everyone. You are given a supervisor in the department you are working in but to some extent are expected to build up your own work load over the week. This means developing a working relationship with people quickly, which led to being trusted with some important work such as research and even preparing part of a training course.

There was plenty of support from everyone involved with the placement scheme. The scheme starts with a morning of orientation and a chance to meet everyone in HR and the others on your placement. You sit in a different department each week and have a supervisor and a trainee 'buddy' within the team. Everyone was always approachable and happy to offer advice and guidance about the scheme, the firm and even about career options as a whole.

Generally the balance was very good, although I found the variation between teams was fairly big. In one team I found myself extremely busy. I was given work that was important to cases so had to be done quickly and to a high standard. As a result I found myself doing long days, but the experience was fantastic and I was given the opportunity to say if I felt unable to take more on. In another team, however, I found I was having to regularly hunt for work more. This was simply because of the timing of my placement (at the end of a month of placements and during July when a few people were away). As part of the scheme there were, however, ongoing written projects so it was possible to use quiter period productively although I felt I was less involved with the department.

Plenty. To a degree you are responsible for finding work within your department and keeping yourself busy. The work itself was surpsingly high quality. Like a trainee I was working directly with solicitors and partners. I was never given tasks just to keep me busy. Everything contributed to a case in some way.

I was already working as a paralegal, so I was utilising some skills that I was already employing on a daily basis. It was, however, a great opportunity to gain experience of different areas of law and see the contrast between the working practices of different firms. Having the opportunity to approach solicitors and partners, to be involved in pitching exercises and to build your own work load was an excellent way of developing presentation and networking skills and forces you to be confident and assertive.

There was a fantastic atmosphere in the office. As well formal social events organised as part of the placement scheme, we were invited to join trainees and our departments for social events. Both teams I was in I was asked to come along to drinks evenings where a trolley of wine and beer would rattle into someone's office. It was a great opportunity to chat with people informally and get to know the people you were working with. Aside from that, everyone was approachable, friendly and seem genuinely happy in their jobs.

Very well organised. A full timetable was provided on the first day of the scheme. We had an introduction session for the first morning which involved IT training, some group work to get to know people and a general intro to the firm, its work and importantly the recruitment process! Each morning a different department gives a talk about the work they do and throughout the 2 weeks there were social events organised including a treasure hunt around Bloomsbury. There was also some written work to complete in our own time for which we were offered feedback. The scheme offered enough structure to feel comfortable but also allowed each person to build their own experience.

Most of the opportunities for training and development were on the job but there were also formal exercises for which feedback was given.

Towards the end of the final week we spent one day participating in a group assessment which involved working as a group to prepare a presentation for a panel of partners, solicitors and members of the graduate recruitment team. Final interviews were held after the end of the scheme. Selections for final interview were based on feedback over the 2 weeks and performance in the group assessment.

Everyone on the scheme got on really well and we ended up organising a few nights out and lunches ourselves. Obviously most people have the same goal so schemes can feel quite competitive but the atmosphere was generally really supportive. Everyone wanted each other to do well.

As the firm is based in central London the location is great but unavoidably pricey.

I love in London so know the area is full of bars, restaurants, clubs and pubs. During the scheme its probably not advisable to have a heavy night but we did take the opportunity at the end of the 2 weeks to have a proper night out.

There was plenty of stuff organised both formally and informally and I know some people (those with more co ordination that I have) got involved with some of the sports teams.