This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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About You
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The Company
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Everything Else
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy the insight?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued during your time at the company or firm?
- 3. How much guidance/support did you receive during the insight?
- 4. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and information you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 5. How well structured was the insight?
- 6. How was the general atmosphere during your insight?
- 7. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 8. To what extent did the insight help you to understand what it would be like to have a full time role with the company or firm?
- 9. How much did the insight help you in understanding the company culture?
- 10. How valuable was the content in helping you to decide on your future career path?
- 11. Were you paid or reimbursed adequately for this experience?
- 12. Were there opportunities for networking and meeting other employees of the company or firm?
- 13. How were the networking/ social event opportunities?
- 14. Did you find out about activities that employees can get involved in outside of work?
- 15. Would you recommend this insight to a friend?
About You
The Winter Vacation Scheme was certainly insightful, although I would not consider it enjoyable. The quality of the scheme vastly depends on luck - whether your supervisor takes the time or interest in giving you work. My supervisor was incredibly busy which meant that I spent my most of my time harassing the department for work.
It was an incredibly welcoming firm (with the exception of a rather unfriendly Graduate Recruitment team).
This is up to the individual. If I needed help or any questions answered there were always people around happy to answer questions.
There was a 'personal branding workshop' which was completely pointless and I'm not sure that any of the other 'activities' helped develop any skills. There was a talk on the training contract structure at the firm which would be helpful to those seeking to train at the firm.
The Company
There was a timetable given at the start of the vacation scheme.
The atmosphere was fairly stressful as you are reminded at every opportunity that you are being constantly assessed.
The graduate recruitment team organised two workshops throughout the schemes. Neither were particularly useful or interesting.
The time spent in the department was useful in observing what it's like for the solicitors who work there.
Spending any substantial amount of time in a company is useful in providing insight into company culture. The internship did not go any further than this.
The experience was motivating. It encouraged me to apply to law firms to which I am far better suited.
Everything Else
There were plenty of networking events where solicitors would talk at a group for 20 minutes before another solicitor would come and do the same. This was repeated several times.
There was a dinner on the last night which was enjoyable. However, only the vacation scheme interns were invited so the networking opportunity was limited.
No, this was not something that an employees at the firm drew attention to.
The insight was useful for those looking to pursue a legal career Simmons & Simmons.
Details
Insight / Vacation Scheme (< 4 Weeks)
London
April 2018