Legal Intern Review

I enjoyed it a lot; I learnt a lot within a short period of time, and developed my commercial awareness significantly. I was exposed to a variety of work, and felt welcomed to the team. Everyone was friendly and supportive, and I felt able to approach any member of the team with questions.

I felt welcomed, and the work that I did was praised or given helpful constructive criticism; however I did not feel that my work was of any real importance to the organisation overall. I felt that whilst my colleges were really friendly and supportive, if I were to leave suddenly, there would be no real impact to the team.

The internship was very structured. I created development goals, and learning targets with my line manager. These were reviewed frequently, and I felt that my manager was invested in my development. I felt able to approach my supervisor with any question, however trivial, and was made to feel like my questions were valid.

I tended to be either not busy at all, or comfortably busy. This was probably due to the nature of the sector I worked in, but also was probably due to the fact that I was given work by a lot of different team members. Initially I had plenty to do, but as time went on, the workload decreased steadily.

I was trusted to complete work, under supervision, which my qualified managers would otherwise do; I was given work which was typical of a qualified equivalent, and had responsibility for researching important subjects to inform business going forwards, though this was always checked, understandably, by my supervisor or supervising member of staff.

This experience has been invaluable for my future career. I have developed my commercial awareness significantly, and learnt that my subject in practice can be a lot different to theoretical understanding. I feel I will be able to apply for jobs after this placement with greater overall awareness and understanding of my sector.

Generally the office was fairly relaxed. Everyone had their own workload to get on with, and sometimes the office was very quiet because staff members travel to other sites for their work. The atmosphere is friendly, and there is a dress down code on fridays. You can have a friendly chat over the coffee machine, and sometimes go into town for lunch with colleges.

There was a lot of support from HR, though IT could definitely be more accessible in terms of software support. HR was responsive to inquiries, and I was kept well informed about details of my placement before starting. My line manager was a good source of information with regards to the ongoing structure of the placement.

I was able to visit different sites across the country, which was funded by the company, in order to develop my understanding of the organisation, and the context within which I worked. I was able to develop goals with my line manager, and felt my line manager was genuinely invested in my improvement.

The office I worked in is very small, and does not tend to employ entry level staff in my sector. I do not feel like there are any employment prospects due to the size of the team, however I do feel like I would be considered if this were not the case.

Not really- there was only one other intern, and they worked in the office only one day per week. The office is quite isolated, and is very small, so there was not really a placement social scene. This said I did go for lunch with my fellow intern on occasions.

Quite high- we are close to the capital, and the office is located in a very middle class area. Considering the low intern wage I was on, it meant that most of my money was spent of living costs, and socialising was kept to a minimum. This was okay for the few short months I was there.

There is no nightlife, though this did not bother me, as I commuted to work. I prefer to go for meals, watch films etc, so I would not be looking for nightlife anyway. If you wanted good clubs etc., then the capital is not far from the office and you could get a train

Not really- we took part in EEEC, which is a volunteering scheme, but i wasn't really involved in this due to the short length of my placement. I attended a training day we took part in, but only really observed, and wasn't actively involved. To the best of my knowledge, our office didn't participate in holiday schemes etc.