Winter Vacation Scheme Review

During the week, I sat in the Funds department. Every vac schemer gets assigned a trainee buddy and supervisor, usually an associate. There was a good mixture of graduate recruitment events such as introduction to Legal Tech, department time, and socials. We were generally assigned typical trainee tasks, such as contract review/drafting and case law/statute research. Some vac schemers got the chance to attend in-person/virtual client meetings.

As someone with a non-law degree, I got to develop my legal knowledge and skills throughout the week through various tasks. I also got to improve my soft skills, such as time management as I had to control my workload while trying to make maximum use of the limited time. I also strengthened my teamwork in particular after the group case study, as we had to deliver a well-researched presentation under time constraints. The experience was extremely valuable.

My understanding was developed through a mixture of informal networking (e.g. practice group afternoon tea, social with other trainees), and attending various presentations organised by graduate recruitment. There were many opportunities to find out more about practice areas you were interested in, and graduate recruitment had been very transparent throughout the week about the training contract decision-making. I thought I left the scheme with a good knowledge of the business.

The lawyers were more approachable than others I had met at other insight days. I was told by senior members of the firm that everyone deliberately chose to be there for the culture, because renumeration would be higher elsewhere. Everyone I met knew when to have fun but could also be professional when needed. Overall very positive - there seemed to also be relatively flexible WFH arrangements too. It was also quite diverse in terms of nationality, race, sexuality etc.

The scheme exceeded my expectations. Given the packed schedule, I did not expect to get real substantive work but I was involved in a few projects. There was no competitiveness amongst the vac schemers because the firm recruited as many interns as there were training contract places available. The graduate recruitment team was also very supportive throughout the week so I got an ideal balance between independence and structure.

Yes

Simmons has quite a few distinguishing features from other international (UK) firms, so I would suggest doing a lot of research and really coming up with a compelling answer for why Simmons. As there are no written questions in the application, this will have to be demonstrated in the video interview stage. I also think Simmons focuses on their key values/competencies during recruitment so I would consider how you had demonstrated them in the past during interview.