Graduate Review

I enjoyed the insight scheme at Stephenson Harwood. It was good to be able to connect with employees at the firm and to complete different typical trainee tasks. My highlights included chatting with my Supervisor and also the social events. Stephenson Harwood went the extra mile by organising social events that were more engaging than a simple 'virtual quiz' and this had a good impact by helping us make friends as a group of trainees.

I did feel valued during the insight scheme. This was because firstly the firm arranged a catch up with both a buddy and also a supervisor who seemed invested in helping me to learn more about the firm and ask about me and my journey to becoming a lawyer. Also the firm arranged a call with HR during the week which was a nice check in and demonstrated support which was appreciated as it can be stressful applying to law firms.

The guidance and support received was a good level. This was because it included a 30 minute slot with my supervisor in addition to a 30 minute slot with my buddy. Also, other employees at the firm arranged catch ups. As well as this, HR arranged a 20 minute call with is which was a good level of support I felt in reflection to the rest of the scheme and our work load/ tasks/ duration on the scheme.

I think the skills I developed were mainly good communication in a virtual environment. Given the current Work from home environment due to COVID 19 I think that these skills will be beneficial for me in my full time role. In addition to this, I think I developed my interview skills from the virtual interview that I completed and this is beneficial for my future as I continue to seek a Training Contract at a law firm.

The insight was well structured, we had lots of different presentations and activities organised which were clearly laid out in a timetable we received at the beginning of the week. The first day of the scheme was extremely long due to the social event in the evening so perhaps that could be on a different day with an additional break factored in so it is slightly less intense in terms of time spent on the camera.

Overall it was good. As a group of prospective trainees we bonded well in part due to the good social events. The HR team were friendly which was an added bonus and supportive. Also, the assessment centre day was 1/2 day as oppose to being a full day which was great to make it feel less stressful and intense so that was a good decision I feel in order to help the overall atmosphere feel more friendly.

I think the company did show a good level of investing in me due to the fact that we got good, structured interview feedback. This was a call with HR who explained what had gone well and what had gone not as well during the assessment process. However there was no feedback regarding the tasks that we completed (I did ask for this but haven't heard back) and that would be a nice addition to the feedback.

I think the scheme did a good job to help understand what it would be like to have a full time role in the company due to the fact that we got to meet a wide range of staff members, we also got to listen to a number of different presentations. We heard from a partner, associates and also trainees providing a wide picture of life at the firm. Also, we completed typical trainees tasks.

The content was extremely valuable to me and I enjoyed the learning opportunity. This was because we received presentations from different lawyers on several different areas of law as well as CSR related presentations so I really deepened my understanding which is very useful for me. The firm made a big effort to ensure we got a wide variety of information and also that we completed different tasks to get a broad overall understanding of law and legal work.

This was very adequate payment/ expenses in my opinion and it was good that the firm did not chose to reduce it due to the fact that the scheme went virtual.

The networking and social events were great during this scheme. In comparison to another scheme I have completed, the firm's social events were much better. This was due to the fact that they were more engaging and because there was a specific activity to do, everyone seemed much more involved. Because of this, everyone was able to talk more and then relationships formed. I think a lot of people particularly liked the donut social event!

I would recommend this insight to a friend. This is because of the fact that I learnt a lot about new areas of law due to the presentations during the week. We always had a chance to ask 1 question (it would have been great to ask more but I do understand the time constraints) and the lawyers were always forthcoming in providing us a lot of information and insight. The HR team were also very friendly throughout the week and approachable.