Vacation Scheme Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the vacation scheme at Taylor Wessing. It was evident that Taylor Wessing had put a lot of effort into ensuring that everyone on the vacation scheme felt valued and supported throughout the two weeks. The general atmosphere on the scheme was good, which led to a very enjoyable experience.

I felt very valued during my time on the vacation scheme at Taylor Wessing. The work I was given contributed towards current projects, therefore I felt that I was helping the department to complete their work. Further, after submitting a piece of work, I received feedback meaning that the work I produced subsequently was of a better standard.

Throughout the vacation scheme at Taylor Wessing I always felt supported. Each week you sit in a different department where you have a supervisor, typically an associate, and a buddy, who is a trainee. Therefore you have an inbuilt support network. In addition to this inbuilt support network, I found that other members of the department were more than willing to answer any question I had.

I just graduated from Cambridge where I studied Natural Sciences, and this vacation scheme was my first time working in a commercial law firm. The vacation scheme gave me an insight into what type of work commercial lawyers carry out day to day, and how that varies vastly across departments. The knowledge I have gained will assist me greatly when I study the Graduate Diploma in Law in the next academic year.

The vacation scheme was very well structured. The days were structured around ‘Focus On’ sessions in which members from each department gave a presentation about the work that is done in their department. As the vacation scheme was only 2 weeks long, each vacation scheme student only got to sit in two departments, therefore these Focus On sessions were really helpful to gain an insight into all the different departments in the firm. Further the social events were well organised, and structured so that they were spread out over the 2 week period.

The general atmosphere was good during the vacation scheme. Taylor Wessing did a good job at not making it feel like a ten day interview and in general, all the vacation scheme students got along very well. Further, the employees at Taylor Wessing are friendly, approachable and very helpful. This created a good general atmosphere at the firm.

Taylor Wessing invested greatly in me. The work I was given was carefully thought out to provide exposure to a wide range of different types of work and I received constructive feedback on every piece of work I completed. Further, Taylor Wessing invested a lot of time in ensuring that I got to know the firm properly.

In the relatively short amount of the time that I spent at Taylor Wessing, I believe I have gained an understanding of what it would be like to work at the firm. However, the work that the different departments do varies greatly, and therefore it is difficult to understand what it would be like to work in each individual department.

Many law firms seem similar at law fairs and careers talks, it is only when you go into the offices of a firm and meet the employees that you get a true idea of a company’s culture. During the vacation scheme, I learnt a lot about the culture at Taylor Wessing and I can see how their 4 main values fit into daily life at the firm.

The content of the vacation scheme was very valuable in helping me to confirm that I want to become a solicitor.

I was paid £275 a week, which covered my expenses.

Yes, there were various opportunities for networking and meeting other employees including: lunch with trainees, lunch with partners, lunch time talks, department tea and drinks after work.

The networking and social event opportunities were good. We had 2 main social events; the first was to Flight Club and the second was to Madison’s followed by Dirty Martini. The social events were organised by the trainees and it was a good way to get to know the trainees and ask them about their experiences at the firm.

Yes, I did find out about activities that employees can get involved with, I even got invited to play softball with the patent department.

Yes, I would highly recommend the vacation scheme at Taylor Wessing to a friend.