Vacation Scheme Student Review

The experience was insightful to the everyday workings of a law firm as I was able to sit in the department and get a general feel of the work that went on within the firm. However I found that I did not feel suited to or enjoy the working environment and the work that I was given. Due to this I feel I didn't enjoy the experience. I also expected a higher number of social activities to get involved with however social opportunities were extremely limited throughout the placement.

All the staff have been extremely friendly and welcoming throughout my placement. The graduate recruitment team were extremely friendly and quick to respond to any problems or questions I had. The staff from my department were also extremely friendly and made the effort to introduce me to their colleagues. In general the firm were very welcoming and this did make me feel somewhat valued. However I do feel like I didn't achieve much in terms of the work carried out which somewhat diminishes the value felt.

I received a good amount of guidance and support in my placement. Before every task given I was well briefed on what was expected and what resources to use. Similarly, after I finished any task someone was always very happy to catch up with me and discuss my findings and then share their opinion on my research and any alternative things they would have looked at.

From the placement I got to spend time reading long documents, prioritising an order of tasks and reviewing my own work. This will be extremely helpful for the third year of my degree and great transferable skills for the future. The placement also enhanced my organisation and legal research skills, allowing me to become more familiar with sites such as Westlaw and Lexis which will be useful when returning to University as the training providing on these platforms is somewhat limited and in the first week of studies when so much is going on.

The insight was well structured to some extent as the calendar was a really useful tool for managing my time and all the social events organised appeared here when I started. However I feel we did not receive adequate information on the structuring of the programme before we started, for example not knowing if any work was expected of us on the weekend or if any social events were organised then. There was also not enough social events organised and no confirmed start of finished time for the working day which would have been extremely useful.

The general atmosphere of the law firm is extremely business orientated despite the friendly and open play layout. It was then expected from myself that to counteract this there would be a number of social events organised on evenings and a lunch time to make the experience more enjoyable socially. However this was not the case and only 2 social events were organised across the 2 weeks which was definitely not enough. Networking dinners were also not enjoyable as still felt part of the assessment therefore did not provide the opportunity to relax and socialise.

The content was extremely valuable in helping me decide on a future career path. Until you actually experience what it is like to work in an institution it is hard to know whether the job actually is right for you or whether you would be better suited to a different career. The open plan layout at Pinsent Masons is extremely helping to this end as allows you to see and hear the work of others and understand the culture and atmosphere of a big firm.

We were paid 400£ a week to complete this experience therefore a total of 800 for the two weeks. This is a great amount for people living inside London already however I did not have accommodation in London and had to stay in an air bnb and therefore 800 was not enough to cover my accommodation, travel and food. It would have been more appropriate for the firm to either provide or reimburse accommodation and travel or to differentiate from those who had to pay extra for these and therefore provide them with enough money to pay this extra cost.

The firm organised several networking events over a lunch time however these were not that helpful as there was usually a lot more vacation scheme students than solicitors/ workers in the firm and it is quite difficult to talk and stand whilst eating lunch. Furthermore, we were expected to network from people outside of our department which was difficult with limited knowledge of what they actually do. Whilst there was a booklet explaining the work of different departments this was ultimately not very insightful or even accurate. The firm also only organised 2 social events which is not enough for the two week period!

We did not hear much about what activities were available to the employees outside of work. The only activity advertised was touch rugby which a lot of people did not want to get involved in. This was disappointing as I am aware that there is a football and netball team at the firm however we were not told about how to get involved with these. There was some talks on charity work done by the firm however this was a trip only offered to one solicitor therefore not relevant to us.

Overall I would potentially recommend this insight to a friend depending on what they were looking for. The insight does provide a great insight into the law career and also a route to the training contract. However I would note that the experience is not particularly social and does not pay well if accommodation in London is required. I would also share concerns in regard to the structure and length of the insight as 2 weeks is an extremely long time to take out of your summer.