Vacation Placement Student Review

The placement was incredibly enjoyable and a fantastic advertisement for a career with PM. The work was both challenging and interesting, and was always rewarding to complete. Everyone was very welcoming and willing to help out. Overall the three weeks were some of the most enjoyable I have had in a working environment and the time has flown.

I was given plenty of feedback and thanks for the work I performed during the placement. I was made to feel like an important part of the team.

The guidance given was incredibly helpful and I was always able to ask questions to any member of the team. As I was in a department which involved legislation and case-law which I was unfamiliar with previously, I was given many opportunities to ask questions and was always given guidance and the opportunity to research as part of my tasks.

The experience was incredibly rewarding and very good practice for work in a busy commercial firm.

Every event and exercise was well planned, well communicated and any questions about the event were very quickly answered.

The atmosphere was very welcoming and I was made to feel part of the team straight away. The firm went to impressive lengths to ensure all staff knew about and were welcoming to Placement students. Everyone you would meet was always happy to speak to you, even in the lifts on the way in each morning. Everyone was always willing to talk and very open to any questions.

The company was investing in training us from the induction day at the very beginning, all the way through to the final few days. The pensions team were always happy and willing to give advice and training in a field of law which I had little previous experience in, and helped integrate learning about the role into the tasks I was set. The company also gave IT training at the very beginning to help with understanding their computer network systems.

The firm let us experience in-depth what working life was like at the firm. We were given tasks which helped with current work the firm was doing and which reflected the working life of a trainee. We were also immersed in the office environment and welcome at any meetings or conferences which our departments were a part of.

The company was fully welcoming of placement students into the company culture, and we were given many social and networking opportunities during our placement. These were not confined to ones specifically for placement students- we were invited to office-wide events as well as things like the annual inter-office football game. Everyone at each of these was always friendly and welcoming. We were also immersed in the office environment and so very familiar with what working at the office is like.

The experience was incredibly valuable. When I started my placement I was still unsure about a future career in a commercial firm. However, the incredibly positive experience I have had during this placement has made me feel like the line of work I have been doing during the past three weeks would be a great choice of career and one I hope to have the opportunity to have in the future.

Although I was not reimbursed for travel expenses, those who had to travel to the Glasgow office for the induction day who were going to be starting their placement in the firm's other offices (i.e. in Edinburgh or Aberdeen) were fully reimbursed for the cost of travelling to that event and were given the forms to do so as well as guidance on how to claim reimbursement on the day itself.

We were given plenty of opportunities to meet with other employees of the firm in both a networking and in a social context. This started from the various events we had on our induction day and lasted all the way through to the leaving drinks. We were given the opportunity to take part in social events put on for the entire office over and above the ones specifically for placement students.

The networking and social opportunities were fantastic. We were given social invites from our very first day of the placement- which included ones specifically for placement students as well as for office-wide events. The networking events were very helpful in finding out about life in the firm beyond the department we were part of for the placement.

We were not only given the opportunity to find out about activities which other employees could be involved in outside of work, but we were also given the opportunity to take part in many of them. In each and every event that we attended we were made to feel as part of the firm as the full-time employees. There was always easily accessible information about social events as well.

I would happily recommend the vacation placement to a friend. It was an invaluable and immensely enjoyable experience beyond helping find out about what life was like as an employee at the firm. The atmosphere was always very pleasant, the work was interesting, varied and rewarding and the opportunities outside of the work also helped make the three weeks fly by. I would recommend the placement to anyone.