Summer Vacation Student Review

I found it a great insight into the world of commercial law and the role of a trainee solicitor. I feel I got a good feel for the firm and what the firm is about, and I got exposure to some really fantastic pieces of work which were exciting to work on.

I felt very valued during the vacation scheme, and felt as much as though Hogan Lovells was trying to persuade me to join them as I was trying to persuade them to offer me a training contract. A lot of effort went into making sure we were entertained and had a top quality experience, and it really felt like the firm were happy to have us.

We had plenty of guidance through our 1 to 1 assigned mentor, and the contact with supervising associates was very thorough. I also received a lot of guidance from the partners in each of my seats which was very welcome, and of course from graduate recruitment. The support was constant and high quality.

The training sessions put on by Hogan Lovells were fantastic, and instilled knowledge which I am finding useful in my studies. The commercial awareness and finance workshops in particular were superb. My communication skills also came on a long way during the programme, and I look forward to developing further when I join the firm.

The insight was very well structured. There were specific workshops covering a range of areas which were terrific. The weekly rotational structure of the programme was great, allowing exposure to different areas of the business, and the timetables given to us were thorough. There was a lot packed in, but it was all very well organised.

There was a very collegiate atmosphere among the vacation scheme students, and we all seemed to enjoy it. People enjoyed the tasks they were given, and everyone had many positive things to say about the firm. There were some anxious nerves in the final week approaching the partner interviews, and some deflated individuals who felt their interviews hadn't gone well. The socials were fantastic fun.

The company spent the first day training us on using such facilities as the library, online resources and a team building exercise which introduced us to the programme and how we can best succeed on it. They also organised many workshops covering different areas, with external consultants coming in to run some of these sessions. They were great quality.

Very much so. The contact with trainees was extensive, giving an accurate picture, and amongst the glamorous tasks there were also some more mundane day to day tasks such as 'bundling' which I got involved with too, to give an accurate picture. My supervisors all had great advice, and gave me a very honest account of how they've found their experience at the company.

It can be very hard to understand the culture of a company going off the promotional materials they produce for their websites and social media platforms. Getting in and amongst the company gave me a much better feel for the culture, and allowed me to better understand its key selling points.

I didn't know if I wanted to be a solicitor, and had many questions about what it looked like as a career since I'm the first in my family to consider this career path. Given that, it was very valuable to get some hands on experience and understand fundamentally what solicitors actually do. I have a much better idea, and I'm more convinced that it's a path I'd like to explore than I was before the vacation scheme.

I was paid competitively for the experience, at £400 per week. This was very useful, and took the sting out of having to take time off work (unpaid) in order to do the scheme. I think this is important for other career switchers, since it can be expensive taking time off work to complete the vacation scheme.

Very much so. We had two partner lunches and a large dinner in the final week with everyone, as well as multiple social events. I had many opportunities to get to know some of the trainees, and got to know many of them quite well. I even got to know a few of the partners.

The socials were superb, and no expense was spared in ensuring we had a fantastic time. There were several fun socials, which gave us the opportunity to get to know our mentors and other trainees. There was also a networking event during the vacation scheme, during which we could talk to employees from many different areas of the business. This was very useful.

Less so. We were very well educated on the pro bono opportunities that the firm is involved in, but social activities outside of work is not something that was covered too extensively. That said, all the information about the various societies was contained in a booklet that was distributed to all vacation scheme students.

Very much so, I had a very positive experience and it gave me everything I sought from it, namely to further explore whether commercial law was a career path I wanted to commit to. The firm were very welcoming and respectful, and I'm very much looking forward to rejoining them in 2 years' time.