Vacation scheme Review

There were a number of talks/ presentations organised my Graduate Recruitment which took place on the Monday and Friday of both weeks. These talks ranged from learning more about the firm’s practice groups, to talks on Pro Bono, DE&I, ESG and Mental Health. On Tuesday- Thursday of each week I sat with an associate and was involved in a range of different trainee style tasks.

It was a great opportunity to develop my written communication skills through the work that I was set to complete by my trainer. This involved summarising complex documents, conducting legal research and proof reading. Furthermore, I enhanced my teamwork and presentation skills by taking part in the innovation challenge which required us to work in small teams on a project and present our ideas to a panel at the end of the scheme.

It was great to hear about the range of different roles available at A&O. We heard from the FUSE department, PSL lawyers, people who worked in legal tech as well as others across the entire firm. We learns a lot about the future vision of A&O as a business, particularly their DE&I targets.

It was an extremely friendly and welcoming culture. Every person I met was willing to take time out of their day to talk to me about their experience at the firm or answer any questions that I had. There were a number of social events which allowed us to really get to know people working at A&O which was really valuable.

It was an extremely enjoyable experience. I learnt so much and met so many great people.

Yes

Try and speak to people at the firm. Having spent 2 weeks there it is so easy to see what makes the firm stand out from its competitors and the best way to really understand this is to speak to people who work there. Make sure you know why you would want to work at A&O and what would make you a good fit for the firm.