Vacation Schemer Review

The vacation scheme was better than I even had imagined. I was immersed into life at DLA Piper from day one, getting to know the exact ethos, culture, and motivations of the business and I was thrilled to discover that they matched my own entirely. I came away from the scheme only wishing it was longer, demonstrating the extent of my enjoyment.

I felt completely valued during my time at DLA Piper as I was given work and tasks which current trainees were working on and this was always followed up by invaluable feedback. I did not feel at all that there was a hierarchy culture but felt that everyone was integrated and worked as one big team, respecting each other and supporting one another.

At the beginning of each week's work experience placement, my supervisor's took the time to set me objectives and this was followed up at the end of each week with written feedback and a discussion regarding my performance. This guidance/support was a really helpful addition to the scheme as it allowed both myself and DLA Piper to understand how I worked.

The skills I developed on the scheme include networking skills, presentation skills, time management, attention to detail, researching skills, teamwork skills and commercial and legal practice-area awareness. Not only this, but I believe that the information I received upon building these skills has given me the confidence to utilise them further and assist me throughout every future walk of life.

The insight had a set time table which was quite structured, yet this was not always adhered to due to the technical problems the company was having whilst I was there. However, graduate recruitment had exceptional communication with all vacation schemer's thus whenever a problem did arise, the scheme was not affected too much because of it.

The atmosphere was one of the main attractions of the firm. Everyone involved stayed professional but ultimately their passion for their workplace really shone through and made the business seem like an exciting place to be around, to work in, and to develop oneself. Throughout the scheme, I was made aware of how DLA Piper is very innovation and opportunity driven and everyone always spoke enthusiastically about how this will continue to progress, leaving me feeling truly inspired.

The whole first week of the vacation scheme was based in DLA Pipers London Office, where every vacation schemer from across all their UK offices came together and participated in professional skills training and listened to informative talks by some of DLA's highest qualified employees (including the firm's CEO). During the work experience placements, practice insight talks were also led by partners from each of the practice areas, which always ended in Q&A sessions so that we could discover everything we wanted and needed to know about the firm, developing our knowledge even further.

The hours I worked during the scheme followed a typical working day in each of the practise areas I had experience in, as I made sure I did not leave until there was nothing else I could help with. Therefore, I feel like my experience mirrored what it would be like to have a full-time role with the company and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my experience.

I felt that I already knew a lot about the firm's culture due to networking events I had previously attended yet having the 3 weeks experience confirmed my already noted positive opinions. DLA Piper seems to be a place where one work's hard yet has fun whilst doing it. The open door policy also made me feel really welcomed throughout my stay, everyone is friendly and supportive yet also very hard-working with whatever they may be doing independently.

Having the 3 weeks experience has confirmed my ambitions to become a commercial legal solicitor in a highly reputable law firm that also has global reach, as the opportunities I was made aware of throughout utterly inspired and excited me. The week placements in alternate practise areas eluded that the work content is something which would motivate me every day and something which I found myself to be good at, however, I feel like a longer experience would be required to help me decide my exact career path.

I was really appreciative of how DLA Piper paid me £275 per week and how all travel expenses were reimbursed during my visit to the London office. This enabled me not to worry about money and focus solely on the experience which is invaluable as not everyone would even be able to attend if this was not carried out this way and having everyone together during that first week was one of the best parts of the vacation scheme.

Yes. Throughout the scheme, many talks were led by partners and heads of office's which were always followed up by a Q&A session, allowing us to introduce ourselves to experienced DLA employees and find out further information about their experiences and the firm. Additional networking events were also put on including dinners and trips to bars to enable us to network less formally.

We had at least one networking/social opportunities per week throughout the three weeks which were always paid for by the firm. This enabled us to question DLA Piper employees about their own opinions and experiences of working for the firm, giving us invaluable insight and building upon our own communication and confidence skills.

Yes. The extra opportunities DLA Piper provides for outside of fee earning are limitless. The firm is so invested in giving back to society and their probono and charity work is so interesting, from bake sales to hikes to raise money for UNICEF, every employee seems really invested. Other fun activities to get involved in include the DLA Piper choir, the DLA Piper netball team and other sporting events, and just general fun social outings such as the DLA Piper visit to the races.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend, even if they felt that they did not know much about the firm before-hand or were apprehensive about their own ambitions, this vacation scheme provided me with so much knowledge and personal development regarding working in the commercial legal sector. It really was invaluable.