Spring Vacation Scheme Participant Review

I enjoyed the insight immensely. The culture of the firm was very warm and supportive which made me find it easier to learn more from them. Additionally, there were so many events organised daily that were very useful and engaging, and I took away many skills from those events. Altogether, the insight was helpful in increasing my knowledge about the legal work the firm does, but fun and enjoyable as well.

The people in the firm always put in a concerted effort to make me feel like I was a part of the team, and my work was valued, which I appreciate. However, the difficulty is that as an intern there are many aspects of the work that are over your head, and there was only so much that I was able to do. However, this tends to be department-specific as well.

The people in the firm were always very patient to explain the context surrounding the work they gave me, which made it much easier for me to complete my task, and allowed me to appreciate the bigger picture of what they were doing even though it's so esoteric! They were also very kind in going through the work with me after I completed it which allowed me to understand what I was doing and improve subsequently.

I mainly developed technical skills through work like drafting, which helped to hone a very keen eye for details. I believe that this is crucial in not just my degree studies, but beyond as well. By being able to spot tiny discrepancies in the documents, I think I would be more alert in my daily life as well (at least when it matters) and avoid making mistakes that follow from not paying enough attention

The structure of the insight was incredible. From the very first day, when we were handed our timetable (in an iPad! -excites-), we knew exactly what was going to happen over the next two weeks. This was really helpful in allowing me to plan my schedule subsequently because I always had the timetable to revert back to. Also, while there were a whole slew of different events, they usually took place at around the same time so it allowed me to settle into some sort of comfortable routine.

The atmosphere at the firm was really fun and warm. Even when there were more serious events with the aim of imparting some sort of skills, they found a way to make it engaging and fun. One example is the BD Business Touch Points game that we had to play, which was so effective in both teaching us business skills, yet allowing us to have friendly competition and a whole load of fun along the way. The fact that everyone in the firm is so friendly definitely played a part in boosting the general atmosphere of the insight as well.

I am honestly amazed at the amount of effort Allen & Overy put in when investing in our personal training and development. There were events almost every day - often more than one event a day, where there would be a range of speakers talking to us about other aspects of the firm (such as their Project Management team) or trying to hone our skills (in areas such as presenting and business acumen). The fact that so many people were willing to take time off to meet with us and answer our questions was very heartwarming and allowed me to learn a lot.

Even sitting in the department on a daily basis was a very good indicator of what it would be like to have a full time role with the company. Everyone in the firm was very frank about their daily lives - there was no sort of cover up or façade to make the firm look better than it was and what you see is really what you get! Additionally, there was a talk on receiving a training contract at the firm which answered a lot of the more technical questions.

The insight helped me understand the company culture a lot, at least in my specific department. This is because I was also invited to their lunchtime lectures, and the HR department put a tab on the company bar at night for us to go there and see for ourselves what the after-work company culture is like too. And from observing daily interactions between different people of the firm, you can pick up quite a lot. The culture here is really sociable and friendly, and it was very apparent because not just a few people - but almost everyone I met was like this.

I think that there was a lot of knowledge being given to us that was helpful. And I really enjoyed the practice area fair organised where we had a chance to move around in pairs to talk to representatives of different departments and ask them questions. Most importantly, everyone was really nice and it was easy to reach out to different people to ask for their opinions, However, I think that when deciding on a future career path, it's important to get some first-hand experience in a range of departments, and unless it's a very long insight it's hard to fit that in.

I was paid 450 pounds a week. I didn't have any expenses that needed reimbursements.

The firm was so supportive in encouraging is to network, and the HR department even proactively organised a slew of different events for us to meet more people according to our interests or passions. For example, a Women's lunch was organised for us to talk to associates and partners in the firm and discuss the initiatives A & O has in place to support women. They also have something called 'coffee chats' where everyone is very open if you want to just invite someone from a different department for coffee to discuss something. The open culture of the firm makes it easy to reach out.

The socials were incredible, and I could not have expected anything better. They were very impressive (we went for dinner at the Corinthia hotel, and candy-making, just to give two examples). But more importantly, they were so well thought out and fostered an environment where it became easier to meet other vacation scheme students and people at the firm. For example, during the dinner, they had the partners rotate from table to table just so that we would get a chance to interact with all of them - which was honestly so thoughtful.

Yes, especially in the area of pro bono or volunteering work. We had to do a presentation on the different areas of pro bono that the firm does and present our findings. However, it's not as scary as it sounds because there was a lot of support and guidance where a representative would talk to us for an hour, and we were given names of people to contact to find out more. Everyone was very open to talking which made it easy to learn more.

Yes, definitely. I think that anyone who comes here will learn not just many important skills and gain exposure to the kind of legal work that the firm does, but also have a very enjoyable time.