Vacation Placement Review

The Pinsent Masons vacation placement is a fun, hands-on way to learn what life as a trainee in a commercial firm is like. It is an enjoyable few weeks, with a good balance of work and social activities. Emphasis is very much put on making the placement as useful and worthwhile as possible.

I felt very valued in the firm. My office made an effort to get me involved in their work as much as possible, including taking me to a client meeting. I was given real work to do for clients, meaning that I was able to help with the workload of the office.

I received a good level of support. The placement began with an induction day where we got to know the other interns and the office. Vacation students are given a trainee buddy and a supervisor in their office, who you can go to for work or with questions. Everyone in the office is approachable and the graduate recruitment team are always available to help.

The placement has allowed me to further develop my people skills, particularly in relation to a professional office environment. Additionally, I have undertaken various research tasks. These have been very different from research at university as they are more outcome-focused. Therefore I feel I have learned how to tailor my research to a particular problem.

I found it well structured during the placement. We were given timetables and sent invites to meetings/presentations via email. I feel it would have been more beneficial for the traineeship interview to have been conducted in the third, rather than the second week. I did find the application process to be a little incoherent from being invited to interview. I was studying abroad and so had to do a phone interview. The organisation of this and the psychometric test could have been a lot better.

The atmosphere is one of the things I like best about Pinsent Masons. It genuinely is an approachable firm. People are generally very friendly and willing to help.

The firm invests a lot in the vacation program, from the vigorous application process, to lunches and social activities, to the time spent in the office. It is evident that the firm places a lot of importance on the scheme, particularly in terms of it being a path to a traineeship.

As the placement is three weeks long in Scotland, and since the assessment day was during the second week, I was able to spend a fair amount of time in the office doing work. This is good as it means you get the chance to be involved in the day to day work of the team you are in.

The firm place a lot of emphasis on their values, and spending time in the office shows that these really do matter. One of these is approachability, and this is definitely evident in the office. It is not as intimidating an environment as some other firms might be.

The work was very varied, which for me was a pleasant surprise in a commercial law firm. It was also quite personable, even though the clients are companies and public bodies rather than individuals. I think that seeing this has confirmed my desire to be a commercial lawyer.

The placement was paid at £300 per week.

There was a trainee lunch, where we got to chat informally with the trainees, and a partner lunch which was more formal. In addition, people in the office were happy to talk and to answer any questions. In fact, this was actively encouraged.

These were good. At the partner lunch we were taken to a nice restaurant, and the partners distributed themselves around the table so that everyone would be able to talk to them.

Yes. The trainees had nights out, and there was a leaving night at the end of our first week which we were invited to. There is also office drinks on the last Friday of every month. The firm were very inclusive with inviting the vac student along to social events.

Yes. It is a very worthwhile experience. It is very much geared up towards getting the traineeship, but even if you don't get the traineeship it is still a great placement to do. The firm are very welcoming and it is a steep learning curve.