Vacation Scheme Student Review

I was based in the Residential Development Unit, during which I was involved in a number of day-to-day duties involving legal research, title investigation and drafting legal reports. I was also invited to attend a client meeting by a senior partner in the firm, during which I was able to pick up lots of commercial points of interest. We had lots of social events throughout the week to encourage networking between ourselves as students, the other trainees at the firm, and those in more senior roles.

I have learnt lots about the style of legal drafting when it comes to legal reports on properties. I also developed my IT skills in learning how to do new things with Microsoft Teams such as screen sharing, organising meetings and checking other people's calendars.

It was largely information I already knew having done extensive work ahead of the vacation scheme to be prepared. This was all reiterated by the team and explored in more detail throughout the week. We had talks from all the different departments and everyone was welcoming and friendly to the point that asking questions was easy. There is a lot of variety between all the different roles and it was great to get an insight into this.

The company culture cannot be faulted. The teams sit in open plan offices and in my experience, are all very friendly and chatty. Considering that I am only here for a week, I was very surprised with the amount of interest that more senior members of the team took in me, it was as though they genuinely care about their staff. The talk was not all business either, but involved lots of talk around hobbies and tv shows and all the latest news which really helped with the social aspect. The trainees also invited us out to socialise twice, during which we were encouraged to get to know each other and the trainees and ask questions. I also made time to talk with three other trainees outside of my department about their time, and I was very grateful when every single one was more than happy to do so and gave me over and above the information I was after.

Absolutely loved it. It was brilliant to witness the Gateley culture first hand and see if it does live up to expectations. It was also great to be able to network internally with more senior members of the team that I would likely not have had access to otherwise.

Yes

It's a very social and friendly place but also a place where everyone works hard. It can be difficult to find that balance, but I found that Gateley really strikes it - hard work from 9-5:30 then down to the pub for some informal networking. In terms of tips, I would say to be yourself and that is at the heart of Gateley's culture. I would also say to make the most of any and all opportunities provided to you as that is how you will get the most out of the experience.