A&O First Review

It was a holistically great experience. As a non-lawyer I felt very informed and was impressed at the number of people that I was given the opportunity to interact with. I especially enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) talking to my trainee buddy, This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions who epitomised A&O's friendly atmosphere.

I really got on with a number of people. This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions The graduate recruitment team and partners were both also lovely and really welcoming. This made the intensity of the work that was being carried out in front of me not seem intimidating but fulfilling.

Plenty. Again, being able to talk to people holding various positions across the firm meant that I could really gauge what it was like to have an established career there. This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions He allowed me to dive straight into an international task by sending emails to various firms in other countries, which really made me feel like I was having an impact. For this reason, 1.5 hours seemed a tad too short for me.

I am now fully convinced that my History degree can translate to a career in Law. The negotiation skills game and one-on-one interactions with both trainees and partners parallels the supervision system at Cambridge, which I immensely enjoy and benefit from. All in all I was well informed and thoroughly convinced.

Very good. I was impressed at how much A&O were able to pack into what was quite a short day. It was also great to be invited back for a relaxed catch-up and information day, which made it seem like A&O hadn't forgotten about us after a brief whistle-stop tour. I was hoping to gain access to the webinars, however, but I believe that they were not working.

Great. Everybody was very friendly and welcoming, and I honestly feel that the people stand out at A&O. They are one of the firm's unique and excellent characteristics, and really convince me that it is the place that I want to work at in the future. For this reason, I am not that nervous about returning for a vacation scheme interview on the 7th of November.

I think the focus of the day was on understanding the firm and law in general, rather than training or developing us for the future. It succeeded very much so in its principal aim. The walk-through of vacation scheme applications and the dos and don'ts of interviews was very useful as preparation.

I think this was achieved mainly through shadowing in Tax. It was a great insight but simultaneously I felt that I would have liked it to be a little longer. I understand, however, within the time constraints of the day that this is limited.

Very well. As aforementioned, being able to talk to a variety of people in the firm was enlightening and have a holistic idea of the culture. I think that's what really sold it for me, and something that I try and stress to the best of my ability in my role as a Campus Executive.

It was very well balanced for the short day that it was. I felt that all the talks were very useful (even the one about the personal brand and understanding the little things). Again, I found that the returning office visit was really great because it showed the extension of the scheme beyond a single day.

N/A.

There were plenty of opportunities for networking and meeting other employees. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]

They were very useful. The ability to talk to a number of people throughout the firm was very useful. After all, you are only a trainee for 2 years, so talking to Partners helped see the longevity of a career at A&O. I enjoyed how we were able to rotate around numerous people from different departments and really get an understanding very generally of what it was and how the employees were coping with it.

Not really. There was a couple mentions of inter-law firm sports days and use of the gym in the building, but asides from that there was not much discussion on this point.

Absolutely. I have been actively encouraging my friends to apply to the day when it opens for applications in January and they sound really enthusiastic. I showed them the plan and my emails [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and they were astonished at the level of depth and support that I was getting, which is particularly useful for a non-lawyer still trying to understand the industry.