Vacation Scheme Student Review

I did enjoy the insight Vacation Scheme, as there was the opportunity to sit in two different departments over the three weeks. The social events were relatively regular and varied, and there was good exposure to the more senior members of the firm, including the Senior Partner. It felt that they were really trying to demonstrate how much they wanted you.

I did feel relatively valued. The firm definitely has quite an obvious hierarchical structure, and in that way is still an old-school law firm. However, this did not mean that I was not given decent work, and I was also invited to my team social only a week after joining.

I received a decent amount of support and guidance, as you are assigned both a trainee buddy and a supervisor in both seats. This means that you can ask for help on any work that you are given. The graduate recruitment team is also fantastic for any questions that you might have.

I think that I developed a keen eye for detail during my time, as a lot of work involved proof-reading or due diligence. I also gained insight into new legal developments, that for contract and trusts will definitely be useful for my final exams. I also got much better at legal research.

It was ok. There was quite a lot of time sat in the office with your supervisor. This was great if you had lots of tasks to do, or if your supervisor had time to chat through what they were working on. If they didn't, this time felt a little wasted.

The atmosphere was mixed. There was not the same culture of going out together after work, and sometimes it felt overly competitive. Generally, everyone was very friendly and nice, and the firm made a good impression. The trainees were slightly competitive amongst themselves, and partners often did not know the names of people.

By spending three weeks in a firm, it does not take long before you are pretty used to how things operate, how team members interact with one another, and what the regular social scene is like. By putting us in two groups, and spending time in our offices, we got to grips with the culture quickly.

We got paid relatively well. It was £400 for the week, which when combined with the huge amount of food and drink offered, was a pretty good deal. We definitely had to work for the money that we earned, and we were definitely expected to contribute to the teams we sat in.

through the practice group presentations, various social and drinks occassions, and a dedicated partner networking event, there was plenty of interaction with senior members of the firm. We also had a Trainee Q&A, meaning that we were able to ask any questions that we may not have wanted to ask more senior members of the firm.

The social events were good. We started the week with a dinner with just the vacation scheme students. We also had a Pasta Making event, and had a Summer Party with future joiners. Alongside this, we had a Partner Networking event and also went out informally amongst ourselves throughout the scheme.