First Year Spring Insight Scheme Review

I very much enjoyed the insight scheme. This provided a brilliant opportunity to experience the culture of a firm, experience activities including work shadowing of a department enabling you to see the work of a trainee and plenty of networking opportunities. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming, enabling me to feel comfortable in asking questions and gaining a true insight.

I felt very valued during my time at the company, with the graduate recruitment team and staff always being willing to answer questions and were grateful for any contributions during workshops. Further, whilst shadowing in the department any work completed was greatly appreciated and I was treated as a valuable member by being entrusted with many tasks despite only being there a few days.

The graduate recruitment team were always on hand to provide support and answer any questions we had. Aside from this, the other members of staff were willing to provide guidance if necessary. For example, when in the departments the trainees and associates guided me through any tasks they set since I had not encountered some of these before.

One of the main skills developed on this scheme was my verbal communication. This was through having a skills session on pitching, and then putting together a pitch as a group and presenting this to a 'panel'. This developed further enhanced my teamwork which will be valuable in my degree and future career.

The insight was well structured and provided a range of activities to complete which meant that we were kept constantly busy. These included workshops, networking opportunities, work shadowing, group tasks and a social in the evening. There were short breaks in between tasks for food and drink which helped structure the days.

The general atmosphere was very welcoming and friendly which helped me to feel comfortable in asking questions and ensuring I got the most out of the scheme. The other students were engaged and willing to participate which again helped create a positive working environment and an atmosphere I would like to have in a future workplace.

The firm invested in sessions that helped with development of key skills. For example, there was a pitching workshop which provided information about the content of a pitch and the manner this should be performed. We then got to try this out as a group on the second day, and feedback was provided by a panel to help us develop this skill further.

There were two main activities that helped in particular to provide an insight into life at this firm. The first was a session that involved partners and associates from the firms various practice areas presenting key facts about their departments, including their journey, favourite case and day-to-day responsibilities for example. Secondly, the work shadowing in a department on the second day helped to provide us with a first-hand experience of what a role as a trainee would be like.

The insight helped me to understand the culture of the company both by witnessing this, such as through interactions between staff while in their departments, and by hearing honest accounts from the staff. The culture of a company is something that is somewhat difficult to gain without actually being there.

This firm was invaluable in terms of providing me with an insight into what life would genuinely be like at one of these firms. Being able to both witness this first-hand and hear accounts from many different people helped me to decide whether a career in a large commercial city law firm would be for me.

The scheme provided a £150 salary as well as reimbursing one journey as travel expenses. This was to ensure that those who live further away from the firm could still access this brilliant opportunity, and the salary could be used for accommodation overnight if one did not live within a commutable distance for example.

There were great opportunities for networking and meeting other employees. This included a networking lunch which enabled us to ask trainees questions about their training contract, experience so far and their application process for example. Further, there was a social on the first night with trainees, associates and partners in attendance.

There were many networking and social opportunities. On the first day there was networking with trainees at lunch, and in the evening there was a social which included having drinks with members of the firm, and the other students on the insight scheme. There was also a networking lunch with our trainee buddy on the second day who was the person we were shadowing, which was greatly valuable.

The members of staff were very willing to discuss their work-life balance - particularly the activities the firm provided in terms of sports. Another activity included pro bono and volunteering work which was advocated by some of the staff as a great experience they have had, which may be either within or out of work.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend because of the varied opportunities provided to gain a holistic and honest insight into the firm. This included the culture, the work, life at Simmons & Simmons in particular and life as a commercial city lawyer in general which was incredibly valuable.