Vacation Scheme Review

All students were allocated departments, I was in financial institutions directors and officers (FIDO). There were various events (including brilliant socials) organised by Graduate Recruitment which were aimed at helping us get to know Clydes. These included insights into corporate responsibility & inclusion, an overview of some of the departments and partner talk about strategy. The rest of your time is spent with your department. They give you real work to do, which is really varied!

My organisation skills came in very handy because I was given several tasks to do which had conflicting deadlines so it was important to prioritise and use my time efficiently. I also think communication skills are hugely important. The scheme was virtual so being able to get your personality across and form relationships over teams was vital!

Obviously I wanted to work at Clydes before applying but after finding out about the variety of interesting work available, learning more about the business model and meeting a cross section of people who work there, I’m completely sold! It seems like a really rewarding place to work. The culture is collaborative and supportive, which means you can get involved in the work you are interested in and learn in a supportive environment!

The culture is really unique, everyone was really friendly and had plenty of time to spend with us (or it felt that way at least). This goes for trainees all the way up to senior partners, nothing was too much trouble. If you are in a department but you’re interested in another department/practice area, there is nothing from stopping you getting involved, as long as you manage your department workload.

It was an invaluable opportunity, I can’t believe how smoothly it ran and how much was invested in us. So it was very enjoyable. It wasn’t easy though, they do expect you to work really hard and some of the work I was given was really challenging. But I didn’t feel daunted because I was supported by a trainee buddy and supervisor. On the whole, a fantastic experience!

Yes

I spent a long time making sure my application was really tailored to the firm. I also attended an open day which I believe gave my application an edge. I am a career changer so I spoke a lot about my work experience in my application.