Vacation Scheme Student Review

It was hard work, but rewarding. The hours were sometimes long, although more often than not we were encouraged to leave on time. The people were fantastic, very nice but also obviously professional. The insight was well-planned and my fellow vac schemers were a solid bunch of people, competitive but not cut-throat and generally pleasant.

The firm definitely invested a lot of time and money into us, organising partner lunches, organising good socials and generally feeding us at every opportunity. You can tell they do envisage us as future trainees, not just students doing work experience. Our supervisors valued us by giving us quality work. Less of the menial stuff here, no one was asking me to make copies or anything.

To a certain extent you are left to your own devices on tasks- not always a bad thing, certainly forces you to learn a lot quickly. People are busy, and asking questions can be hard, you have to work up the courage and be assertive. No one will blame you for making mistakes. There was a trainee buddy and supervisor allocation. but they did not always have time to give you their undivided attention (or any at all).

Make no mistake- there is almost no relevancy to the study of law itself, its purely academic whereas this is highly practical. For example, tort has very little application to private client! In terms of soft skills however, public speaking, organisational skills etc I believe these will definitely be transferable to other aspects of my life. Working a 9-5 is a valuable experience coming straight from University, and you get used to it-eventually.

Very well structured. Strict timetables and good recruitment management.

The trainees were very honest and as a group we appreciated that. But they were also fun, interesting individuals and that did create a very positive sort of atmosphere.

IT. health and safety etc was all on the first day, and throughout the scheme they invested more responsibility in us. They clearly though of us as future trainees for the firm not just students on work experience. I mean, simply having us for two weeks was a pretty big investment for them, considering we all get paid £250 a week and everyone is so busy.

TW obviously showed us their best face, but most fee earners were pretty candid about the kind of work, hours and people you'll be dealing with. Certain trainees and senior counsel were very honest about their negative experiences as well as the positive which is greatly appreciated, as it gives a broader view. I came away feeling pretty positive about the chance to work their full time- but the stories of all nighters do instill a bit of fear!

Again, people were very friendly even when busy, most of the time. It is clear that TW is not like a lot of other firms that works its trainees to the bone without even a thank you- supervisors and senior staff are generally pretty courteous. Its a firm that does try to live by its values and generally succeeds.

It has really given me a perspective on which seats I want to consider and which I definitely want to avoid, which will affect my applications elsewhere or where I'd focus my energy if I get a TC here. A seat per week was definitely a good strategy implemented by the firm, gives you time to understand the day to day work of a real lawyer that you never can from the academic study of law.

£275 a week, pretty average relative to other firms of a similar calibre.

Yes. ranging from partner lunches to after-work socials. Networking seems pretty key to the TW culture, they focus a lot on building strong relationships. If you can't talk to strangers this is not the firm, or profession for you. The events were eased by a friendly atmosphere.

They were pretty well organised, especially the external events run by trainees, who took us out to a rooftop bar and a darts place. There was definitely a culture of drinking, it being the focal point for most of the events, and the prosecco unlimited. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and most of us did manage to keep out dignity. It would have been nice to maybe have one sober social, but most seemed happy to neck it after a long day.

One of my buddies told me about on-site yoga which was pretty impressive. Pro bono was a key one, although quite competitive for vac schemers to be a part of- you'd think there would be a lot more people trying to access free legal advice from a top international law firm.