Vacation Scheme Student Review

It has been an amazing experience working for CMS. The work was high quality and the colleagues were helpful and genuine. Great social events. The extent to which I enjoyed this insight cannot be described with words, one must experience it themselves, in order to grasp the value of such an experience.

Constantly valued as a member of the firm. Superiors were very patient and supportive. The whole atmosphere during these two weeks was very professional and friendly. The firm didn't make it seem as though they were pushing you to work.

There was a very good buddy/supervisor system within the firm so I felt that I was supported every step of the way. A suitable balance of guidance and independence was achieved and the lawyers were very good at explaining the implications of the task at hand.

The whole experience of networking that took place, meeting new people, learning more about yourself, being given the joyful task of presenting in front of a partner will definitely benefit me in the future. All of these skills that I developed through the would definitely help me in my career,

It was a very organized two weeks as there were numerous talks about various topics introducing the practice groups and with speakers ranging from partners to trainees. This gave an insight into what the working environment and culture would be like throughout the firm and so it did help understand what it would be like to have a full time role.

The culture of the firm was really friendly and welcoming. My fellow vacation scheme students seemed a bit cautious and nervous at the beginning, as we weren't sure what was waiting for us throughout the days. However, once the social events set in, people were very friendly and accepting towards other individuals.

Allowing for a partner, trainees, current employees and even the managing partner of the firm to come and talk to us clearly shows the level of attention we received as vacation scheme students. Also, the firm surely managed to show that we were not just some random candidates, instead, we were the potential future trainees that earned their place at the vacation scheme, which really helped boost our self-esteem and allowed us to focus more on the work and relationship building.

Many of the exercises that were used to assess us were directly related to the work in these service lines. It gave me a very good insight and understanding about the day-to-day work of a lawyer. The firm really gives us a taste of what working in these fields would feel like as we are placed in a room with one of the lawyers. Also, the contact with trainees and current employees, working in these lines, was really beneficial to understand the company.

The people at CMS was extremely friendly, genuine and proactive, in the sense that they really want to help you grow and get the most out of the vacation scheme experience. they also do not encourage "face time" where you have to stay at the office for long hours to prove something.

Very valuable.

Yes. There were many networking, and seminar events that allowed us to meet a multitude of lawyers working in different departments hailing from different backgrounds.

Everyone could freely interact and socialise amongst each other, which was amazing and definitely contributed to the atmosphere.

There were quite a lot of Corporate social responsibility programs that employees could attend, and there was also year end parties.

Definitely.