Hogan Lovells first year vacation scheme (insight week) Review

The week-long first year vacation scheme at Hogan Lovells was very enjoyable. They provided us with a good mix of both informative presentations, interactive skills sessions and work shadowing opportunities. The former told us much about what Hogan Lovells does and discussed many case studies to show examples of the types of work they get involved in. The interactive skills sessions allowed each of us on the scheme to get to know one another well (you soon get very friendly and we spent a couple of evenings together at a firm meal or going out into London as a group).

Everyone had a warm welcome for us and it was evident that a great deal of planning had gone into the week. Those that organised the scheme had clearly gone the extra mile, trying to help us prepare for applications in the law sector and genuinely showing an interest in each of us.

We were paired up with trainee mentors that met up with us for lunch frequently throughout the week. They were a great source of guidance and advice. We were able to sit within the three main sectors (Finance, Corporate and Litigation) throughout the week and the trainees guided me through the tasks well. Associates were extremely welcoming and often took time out to teach me the basics of the area I was sitting in so that I could gain a better idea of what work they typically do and how they operate.

Having experienced what work lawyers in the city do has helped me to decide whether I have an interest in working in the legal sector. Graduate recruitment who organise the week clearly show that they want to develop your skills for your own benefit. They set up a mock assessment day and gave us feedback that we could use for any applications in future. Work shadowing provides you the greatest insight into whether the legal profession (and that of a global city law firm in particular) is for you.

Great structure with lots of different activities, as described above: 'They provided us with a good mix of both informative presentations, interactive skills sessions and work shadowing opportunities. The former told us much about what Hogan Lovells does and discussed many case studies to show examples of the types of work they get involved in. The interactive skills sessions allowed each of us on the scheme to get to know one another well (you soon get very friendly and we spent a couple of evenings together at a firm meal or going out into London as a group).' Presentations and skills sessions would take place in the mornings and work shadowing would be for around three-four hours in the afternoon. You are able to sit in the three main practice areas which allows for a great breadth of insight into the various seats you could be sat in if you were to work at HL. This gives you more of an idea of where you interests may lie and which area you may be more inclined to look into in the future,

The atmosphere was always friendly and welcoming. There is a very open door policy at Hogan Lovells so it is clear that most people are very willing to listen to your questions and are keen to share their experiences whilst working at the firm.

As mentioned previously, the Graduate Recruitment team clearly wants to provide you with insight to give you a greater idea of whether working in this type of firm and with HL specifically is for you. The wide range of sessions and work shadowing opportunities showed that they they had this in mind.

The scheme focuses more on breadth of experience than depth. Whilst the second year vacation scheme sits you in two seats over the course of two weeks to allow you to develop a greater insight into what being part of a team at HL would be like, the first year vacation scheme places greater emphasis on you as an individual and whether the general work they get involved in would be of interest to you. You can talk to trainees or partners within the firm to gain a greater insight into what they do during their full-time work.

Being in the office for a week is a great way to understand what the company culture is like. Everyone was really friendly and you see people doing their job and watching how they work as a team. HL has a great atmosphere and a very friendly environment that would be great to work in. You only sit within each team for one afternoon at a time so getting to know each team culture properly is difficult to gauge but the emphasis of this week is to gain a broad experience of what different areas are like.

The vacation scheme has definitely helped me to decide on a future career path. Work shadowing is the greatest way to gain an insight into what the firm does and how the various areas differ.

I have yet to be reimbursed for the expenses of the week although we were told we would receive £350 so I assume this will come through around a month after completing the week. I recommend trying to find relatives or friends to stay with during your week. It is impossible for the £350 to cover more than three nights at a hotel in central London let alone food and transport for the week so make sure to have some savings to invest!

In every seat you sit in you can network and meet employees from those areas. A few may give you a contact card after you have finished your afternoon with them. There was also a dinner organised for our group to attend one evening and three partners from the firm joined us for this. This allowed us to network with them in a different environment to that you would experience in the offices.

The dinner was a great opportunity to ask questions outside of the career-orientated sphere. We got to understand what background the partners were from and what their work/life balance was like. This was a very relaxed event and the food and drink served was great - three course meal to a high standard. The partners also made sure to talk to everyone so that you could get as much out of the evening as possible.

Not to a large extent. I asked a few trainees about what activities they do outside of work or how they spend their free time but I was personally more interested in getting to know whether the work they do would be right for me. However, there are plenty of opportunities for people to ask about this if you are interested in finding out.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend. The thought and planning that went into the week was beyond what I expected of any first year vacation scheme insight weeks. The friendly atmosphere of the firm stands out and I would encourage anyone who is considering applying to go for it. You will learn a lot about whether law is right for you, whether specifically a city law firm fits what you want and whether you could see yourself working at HL in the future.