Vacation Scheme Student Review

I really enjoyed the insight - there was a great variety in tasks we could get involved in and events planned.

I felt really valued within the firm - my trainer took me for lunch to give me feedback, I had a buddy who checked in on a regular basis on how I was, I was invited out with the team for a social event and the HR team took the time to get to know us and organised a number of speaker events in order to improve our presentation skills, project management skills and give us an overview of the training contract in order to help us make more informed decisions.

I was given a lot of guidance and support during the scheme - I had a trainee buddy who gave me lots of advice and could give me extra insight into the company, my trainer always took the time to explain tasks to me in a very understanding and approachable way, HR and Partners also actively encouraged vac schemers to approach them in order to gain more info, insight and advice.

The major skills I have developed on the vacation scheme are presentation skills, attention to detail, communication skills and working in a team. Of course, these will be incredibly useful in my future career. Getting to know lots of people in the company and hear how they similarly developed these skills will also be useful, as I have understood how these skills can be applied in a practical context.

The insight was incredibly well structured - we were given iPads with a timetable planned and we knew clearly exactly when events were. Other information was well communicated to us. Moreover, we sat in one seat for the duration of the two weeks. This was a good structure as it allowed you to get good insight into one department and to get to know the team rather than moving around and only getting a brief introduction to the work the department engages with.

The general atmosphere during the insight was overwhelmingly positive - mainly due to the fact that if you get a vac scheme there is a strong chance that you will be offered a training contract and so my fellow vac schemers were more focussed on getting to know one another than competing with one another. The atmosphere was also incredibly friendly - not only the vac schemers but the HR team, my team, trainer and buddy were all happy to help and answer any questions.

The company invested a lot in our personal development. We were given two talks about the structure of the training contract in order to best inform us of decisions, we were given a buddy for support and guidance as well as an Associate trainer in our departments. The HR team also organised presentation skills workshops, business development talks etc in order to best prepare us for work at A&O.

The insight prepared us well for a future career - as well as gaining a broad understanding of the work of the company and its departments, we were given a variety of tasks to do in our seats such as research task, a written assignment, the tasks that a trainee would do as well as networking events and scheduled vac scheme events. The scheme was intense and was a good balance of socialising and working - and so is thus a good reflection on the intensity of a career at the firm.

The insight gave me a great understanding of the company culture - although nobody shies away from how hard they work and at times the work can be stressful and challenging, everyone was very friendly and approachable and happy to help out with any query. We had an innovation talk from a Partner and Senior Associate which also helped us to gain an understanding of A&Os innovative approach.

The content of the day was really valuable in helping my decide my future career path - the different activities organised were great in helping me to gain an understanding of the options and opportunities available to me on my training contract and beyond. Moreover, the training contract fair helped to explain the different departments from where I was sitting to help in choosing the seat options for a training contract.

There were many opportunities for networking and getting to know other employees at all different levels at the firm. Firstly, the buddy system and networking events helped us to get to know current trainees - we were paired with one particular trainee which helped to calm some of my nerves and explain the different options and what other departments are like. Meeting the other buddies and trainees also helped to give another perspective on this. The Women's lunch networking event and the Partner dinner gave us an opportunity to chat to partners and senior associates and get useful career advice for the future.

The networking/social event opportunities were as fun as they were plentiful. There was also a good variety of social event opportunities so that they didn't feel repetitive and also gave us the chance to build on relationships with other vac schemers whilst also meeting other members of the firm. The events also had a really good turnout from the other vacation scheme students and buddies which made a big difference!

We were engaged in a pro bono project which we had to present in the second week of the vac scheme which opened our eyes to the many opportunities for pro bono work that A&O offers. Moreover, if you are interested in a sport/society you could express this interest to HR and a connection was made to chat to the captains/presidents of the society to sit at a lunch and find out more information about how you could get involved.

I would recommend this insight to a friend for a number of reasons. First, the friendly nature of the vac scheme is a) representative of the firm in a general sense and b) a great opportunity to meet other like-minded people. Other vac schemes aren't structured in such a way that applicants have such a strong chance of a training contract opportunity at the end of it, so I would advise students to go for it for both the grounds of future career opportunity as well as valuable and enjoyable experience.