Virtual Vacation Scheme Review

Really enjoyable! Grad Rec was really on board to help anyone with any issues and keen on making it an enjoyable experience for all. Every single person I interacted with was super nice and willing to help. The work I was assigned (though challenging at times) was actually enjoyable as my trainee buddies were quick to help and support. My supervisors were also keen to make it a learning experience for me and to answer any questions I had.

I felt extremely valued as everyone was keen on making it a comfortable space for everyone to share their opinions. My opinions were valued and taken into consideration, with even my often 'dumb' questions being catered to and responded to with immense detail. I loved the safe space work environment and the people are truly the nicest to work with!

Immense guidance and support! At no point did I have dread or fear of asking any questions to remove any doubts or confusion about the work I was given! While I always attempted to first try to resolve my issues through my own research etc, it felt immensely comforting to know that I could comfortably ask my trainee buddy/supervisor about any other queries I had. They were more than happy to answer and were more focused on creating a learning environment for me as opposed to a stressful one

Time management is one crucial skill I learnt and further developed and I definitely use this as I do my law conversion degree. Similarly, with organization skills, it is very important that I organized my workload and learned how to prioritise what issues had to be addressed first and what tasks could be looked at later. Lastly, communication skills very key! I had to learn how to communicate any issues I had concisely and be able to succinctly talk through them with my trainee buddy and supervisor!

Extremely well structured! You would expect there be to a lot of hiccups with a virtual vac scheme, but Dentons was superb in keeping those to a minimum. We had been given our timetables in advance and given links for each and every meeting/event we would have throughout the scheme. any time a link failed or there were other technical issues, grad rec was quick to resolve them and provide an alternative. The timings of each activity and meeting were also clealry set out, so very rarely would one be confused as to what they had to next etc

Extremely exciting and positive! Usually, vac schemes can have an almost toxic competitive environment, but this was definitely not the case here! Everyone was helpful to the other candidates and we all were really just rooting for one another. We gave advice to each other if we had done that seat earlier and tips on how to address a task. In the group exercise as well, we had a very holistic attitude towards group performance as opposed to focusing on our individual performances only!

Though it was a short scheme, the firm really wanted us to understand how they invest in their trainees. we had multiple talks about this where we could comfortably ask questions about the personal training and development at Dentons. This approach was also reflected in the work itself as the supervisors were keen to stress that they found it more important that we learn from the work we are doing rather than submitting incorrect work due to deadline stress.

Again, lots of event were scheduled for this purpose and it was very useful as we could ask questions about the firm future strategies and goals about incoming trainees. these in depth discussions gave a fair idea about what life as a trainee at Dentons could be like. We also interacted with future/current trainees to learn first hand what this would be like

While it would have been ideal to have an in-person experience, the firm still managed to do an amazing job to communicate their company culture. Not only through the multiple talks scheduled, but generally through the way supervisors, trainees etc interacted with us in such a sweet and helpful manner really communicated to us that the firm was true to its reputation as a freindly firm.

Even though we had only 2 seats (a different one in each day) I was excited about the prospect of learning something new in each one and developing skills in each.

since it was only 4 days, we were still paid adequately given the number of days

Yes! We had many events to meet current trainees and future trainees. We also got to have a chat with the Training Principal ( a partner). also since we essentially did different seats we worked and interacted with different people each time! So ample opportunities to work with and learn from different people at the firm

Really nice and exciting! We had a treasure hunt the first day and even though it was virtual it was super exciting and fun! Really nice to have that at the beginning as it worked as an icebreaker of sorts between the candidates

Yes! We learnt from the current trainees what fun activities they organise outside of work (i think they even had a book club!) and that the firm was open to organising different kinds of events once they were pitched and if enough trainees were interested!

Yes -- 100%