Vacation Scheme Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Taylor Wessing. I found it a stressful experience due to constantly being assessed but I couldn’t the people very social-able and approachable. The socials were fun and the scheme as a whole was very well organised. It confirmed that law is definitely the career for me.

Naturally, there is only so much involvement that can be achieved in the short space of time that we were in the offices. People went out of their way to involve me in their work which I particularly appreciated as I have not studied law. I was able to be involved with meaningful tasks and learnt a lot in the process.

There were some areas where there was limited guidance but I think that this was part of the process. Whenever I needed anything or to ask a question, HR and the lawyers/ trainees were very responsive and eager to help. There was never a situation when I was lost or unsure where I had to be or what to do.

It was a very insightful week as I have had limited hands-on work experience time in an office. I will be able to implement the skills that I learnt and develop the skills that I have identified that I need to improve over the coming years before starting a training contract. The networking is all practice which will serve me well for life.

Very well structured. Every detail had been thought out and carefully organised so that there was never an occasion where I was left with nothing to do. Everyone turned up at the right place at the right time and sessions ran on time which made it easy to organise other things around the set sessions.

Great. It is a competitive experience and the legal sector is a competitive environment but compared to other firms that I have been at, the culture and atmosphere at Taylor Wessing is very good and that is important to me. Although most people are very busy, it was not a stressed and fraught environment in my departments.

I have developed skills and networks over the course of the vacation scheme that I will be able to apply to many situations in life. I am aware that this was part of the recruitment process and the amount of investment in our personal development that Taylor Wessing focus on the vacation scheme is impressive.

I felt that I was able to be involved with everyday trainee tasks and was not aware of people making up work for the purpose of keeping me busy. This was great for giving me an insight into working at the firm full-time. Also, there was a strong focus on the culture of the firm and that will be important to carry forward when working full-time.

The socials and networking opportunities meant that I could meet and talk to a very wide range of people across the firm. This not only helped me to see the breadth of opportunity at Taylor Wessing but also to understand the general traits of those who work at the firm and the culture that they all strive towards achieving.

It was good to have a mix of sessions over the course of the day so that we were able to explore the different options beyond our department. I was also able to complete a variety of tasks from research to drafting and sitting in on calls which strengthened my ambition to pursue law. I appreciated splitting the time between two departments.

I broke even for my time in London after rent and transport etc.

Whilst the vacation scheme involved some official networking opportunities, which were generally well attended, we were encouraged to seek out our own networks. I enjoyed reaching out to individuals across the firm and worked hard to meet a range of different people. People were very responsive to my requests and very willing to meet me for coffee and a chat.

Good, I enjoyed the socials which were well organised. It was good to have socials which involved an activity as well as time to chat. There were also specific times to network with more senior lawyers, such as the leaving lunch which was a good opportunity to network with a range of people across the firm.

I was able to attend the Blackfriars session which was very interesting. I was aware of the Blackfriars meeting which I was unable to attend which would also have been good. It would have been good to perhaps have a talk about the other opportunities at the firm such as Balance in Business and the other committees.

Yes, for those interested in studying and pursuing a career in law, I thought that this scheme was a great opportunity. There were serious sides but also plenty of opportunity to enjoy getting to know new people and finding out about all that the firm has to offer. It’s a demanding few weeks but a great insight to lift at a commercial law firm in London.