Vacation Scheme Student Review

Immensely: it's absolutely flown by! Would have loved to have stayed for longer, and I think it's very exciting to think that, if I loved these two weeks in one seat, how great sitting in other areas of the firm might be. I would definitely recommend it to friends at university.

Very much. My trainer has told me that I really got the ball rolling on a deal, so it was great to hear that my impact was actually having a tangible effect. I think this was token of the whole scheme really, since the we were often posed questions by members of certain teams (e.g. Pro Bono) where we could tell that our answers were genuinely taken on board.

I received a lot of guidance from people both vertically and horizontally within the firm. There was never a moment where I felt I couldn’t approach someone for information or help. From standard day-to-day tasks or even written assignments, feedback was immediate and very useful to understanding how A&O operates.

Massively. Sitting in the banking team, I was tasked with reading documents maybe twice or thrice over to make sure that there were no errors or duplications. This essentially was the practically applied element of my History degree. I would say the ability to summarise documents was also imperative and, again, a key staple of my degree.

Very well structured. There was no point at which I was clueless or left with nothing to do. Whilst shadowing my trainer and doing work for him, I would go out for talks from and meetings with various people of the firm. I think the balance between shadowing and presentations was spot on.

The general atmosphere was very warm and friendly; people really aren’t exaggerating when they emphasise the accessible and amazing culture of Allen & Overy. Everybody has time for you (even if you have to fit in between a few meetings!) I never felt uncomfortable in the office nor awkward to walk in and ask someone a question if I was unsure.

They invested in our personal training and development a lot. This ranged from IT sessions to understand the software that the firm uses, to talks and presentations aiming to improve our own presentation skills. The fact that we are assigned a personal 'trainer' is telling that the firm was keen not to 'supervise' us, but rather make sure that we improve our skills and effectively 'train'.

You spend two weeks in the firm, and 80% of this time is in the office that of your trainer doing tasks for them. Having done A&O First, I left comments on how the 1.5 hours of trainee shadowing should be increased, because this was the most representative element of day-to-day life in the firm. Having done this for to weeks, I feel that I am thoroughly clued-up on what a full time role would look like.

This was probably the focus of the scheme. In terms of work, the magic circle law firms deal largely on the same scale and scope, but what really differs is how they go about that: the culture. Two weeks shadowing, meeting, and liaising with people within the firm made it impossible not to immerse yourself in that culture and find out whether or not it was for you. As I've already stressed: I loved it.

Very valuable. I'm still not certain what type of law (what seat) I would like to specialise in, but I do know more now. I am told that many don't make up their mind till they start training anyway. But as a non-law student, I can credit A&O with distilling and clarifying their sectors; it was quite daunting for me initially (and to some extent still is), but it has simplified it. I am also thoroughly convinced that this is the industry I want to go into.

I was paid a weekly sum which would help cover cost of travel and, if needed, accommodation in London. Since I wanted to keep some of the money (I'm doing other schemes this summer and I wouldn't have much time to find a job), I commuted from my university halls in Cambridge. The amount paid was generous and in line with the other firms.

All the time. Each presentation stressed the importance in diversifying and extending your network, and from day one we were encouraged to organise meetings with partners in the firm so that we could explore other practice areas that we were not sitting in. The culture of openness, accessibility, and friendliness made 'networking' actually a lot more like 'befriending', and I will definitely stay in contact with many of the people who I have met at the firm in the future.

Again, this was all the time; the office is essentially one big place to network, and you're given two weeks to explore and meet new people.

Yes. Allen & Overy have lots of sports clubs where they play against different departments but also against clients. We found out that it's really easy to set up your own society if it hasn't already been created (maybe a future fencing club?) All the people I've spoken too have also really emphasised life outside work; my trainer went to Lords for a day during the scheme, so it seems that there is a healthy balance between work and outside work.

Absolutely. If I enjoyed it as much as I did, then it seems natural to recommend the insight.