Summer scheme student Review

Overall I enjoyed the placement a lot. There was a good balance between challenging departmental work, other opportunities such as going on court runs, and social events with the trainees. We were pushed quite hard, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

It varied. Participants on the vac scheme spend a week each in two departments: my first department was extremely friendly and open, while the second seemed a bit more distant. As would be the case with work experience placements at any large company the extent to which you felt valued varied: most people seemed happy for me to get involved; others seemed to just want to get on with what they were doing.

There was a lot of guidance in the form of IT and training workshops, allocated supervisors etc. You were not expected to pick up everything straight away, and at no point did I get the feeling that no one was willing to help me if I needed help.

Between office work, presentations, business projects, social activities etc we were kept extremely busy. Personally I was very happy with this as I wanted to gain as much as I could during my two weeks with RPC. Office hours were 9:30-5:30 but we generally met for breakfast at 8:15 to talk about business projects we had been allocated, and often stayed later than 6.

Levels of responsibility were not huge but I wouldn't have expected them to be. Most enjoyable for me were several research tasks that I performed. There was the impression that if you did well with such tasks you would be given more to do.

The experience was extremely useful in terms of my future career. Being exposed to meaningful work in different commercial departments was useful because I had not yet had the opportunity to study commercial law at university. I now have a much better idea of what areas interest me, what I personally need to look for in terms of training contracts etc. The placement as a whole was extremely well organised, and provided me with an excellent insight into what life would be like as a trainee solicitor at a commercial firm.

The atmosphere varied in the two departments I worked in. The first was far more friendly and open, whereas in the second I had the impression that a few people didn't want to take an interest in me. The firm as a whole was very friendly though.

The organisation was pretty much flawless apart from a few IT issues which disrupted our induction. Whatever presentation or event we were attending went ahead with few glitches, and the trainees seemed well organised when taking us out for drinks. We were provided with more than enough food and drink at all times.

There was a definite impression that RPC were investing in us and making an effort to get to know us. There was also a discernible effort to develop the skills we would need as trainee solicitors: we were given challenging business projects to work on alongside our office duties, which threw us in at the deep end but which turned out to be one of the most useful exercises I have ever done. I now have a lot more confidence in my ability to think commercially, which for me was the most useful thing I got out of the placement.

RPC is renowned as being more dynamic and progressive than most City law firms, and it did not take long for me to witness this working culture first-hand. There is less of an obvious hierarchy in comparison with other firms, and the people at RPC are genuinely friendly and open because they come from a diverse background. RPC is in strong health financially, and is picking up awards all over the place so the impression is very much of an innovative firm on the way up. With a strong emphasis on career development and excellent retention figures, future employment prospects are extremely appealing as far as I a concerned and I hope to gain a training contract with RPC.

In terms of social events the trainees seemed to know what they were doing, and took us out a couple of times which was good fun. They were all extremely friendly and happy to talk, and there were many opportunities to pick their brains as well as have a good time.

The City is always going to be expensive, no surprises there.

Again, it's London so there will always be many things to do. The trainee life of working hard and socialising hard is something that appeals to me.

Through a couple of emails I managed to go to the Leveson Inquiry with the senior media Associate, although I was not technically working in the department. There was the definite impression that if you were proactive and enthusiastic about doing something the firm would be open enough to respond and accommodate you.