Vacation Scheme Student Review

It was a very enjoyable vacation scheme. It had the perfect balance of challenging and stimulating work and really fun socials. I was placed in the CAD (Construction Advisory & Disputes) team according to my own preference. My Trainee Buddy and Supervisor were incredibly friendly and made asking questions/ getting feedback a completely painless experience. Everyone from paralegals to partners in the team made an effort to get to know me and make me feel like a valued member of the team.

There certainly was no printing and tea-making on this vacation scheme. From day one I had a list of research tasks that I had to complete to varying deadlines which were requested from different members of the firm from the Senior Associates in CAD to members of other teams, such as Litigation, who were looking for clarification on aspects of construction law.

My Trainee Buddy and Supervisor were incredibly helpful when it came to giving me feedback and each piece of work that I did showed marked improvement, as I was able to improve each piece from the feedback given. There was only one piece of work that I did for a more senior member of the team which I did not receive feedback on but it was a very minor admin task and that was certainly the exception to the rule.

I think most importantly it has opened my eyes to an area of law that I had not previously considered before as a career as I thoroughly enjoyed learning about and working through construction law and I know I will definitely be applying to do a seat in this department in the future.

The vac scheme was very well-structured. From the induction day in the London office to the first day of my placement in Manchester to the various social and networking events organised, there were always schedules provided to keep us up to date with everything that had been organised for us.

The atmosphere overall was very welcoming and I want to say 'expectant'. There was a friendliness as well as an understanding that we were being considered potential trainees and future colleagues as everyone took a keen interest in my future plans and what I had done up until that point.

The firm made sure that we had an IT induction on our first day to understand the firm's research/ administrative systems and there were many networking events planned that allowed us to talk to people from lots of different departments to get to learn not only about the work done in our designated departments but also about other areas of law. In terms of investment of time and money a lot was put into the two weeks I spent there.

Having spent only two weeks with the firm, the open plan of the office made it really easy to hear and understand both the work that goes on in the departments as well as the way that clients are handled etc such that I got a great idea of what life would be like with a full-time role.

The balance of networking and social events helped me get an understanding of the company culture in both formal and informal environments. The firm is also very clear in the values that pervade the firm as well as what qualities they look for trainees.

Considering I now firmly want a TC with PM over any other firm I think that speaks for itself.

I was fully reimbursed for all my travel expenses to the induction day in London and assessments. Considering we were in Manchester I found we were very well-paid.

Yes lots as mentioned above.

I was lucky enough to get invited to CAD's day out where we spent an entire day exploring Yorkshire on a pub crawl and then returned to Manchester for pizza-making with the trainees and I don't think you can get better than that for social events (all of which was sponsored by the firm)

Yes there were lots of other activities that employees got involved with from sports teams to Business Responsibility activities. I didn't get involved with them on my scheme per se but there was clearly a lot of room for me to get involved if I were to train at the firm.

100%.