Vacation Scheme Student Review

Having a Trainee Buddy meant that I had a lot of support when I needed it; either when doing a task or if I wanted to ask questions about being a trainee at the firm in general.

The key skills I have learnt in the last 2 weeks will help me to improve and become a more desirable candidate for a training contract in the future.

Having a timetable, detailing what we were doing each day was very helpful. We were also kept very well informed via email.

I think that Pinsent Masons really has stuck to their values. The atmosphere was "open and approachable". Definitely the type of place I would be happy working in the future.

The firm clearly took a lot of time to consider us as Vacation Scheme students and helped us to come up with objectives and targets for the time to acheive our own personal goals.

There were plenty of opportunities to chat to the trainees and other solicitors about what it is like to work for the firm. They were able to offer genuine and sincere insights.

The induction day helped to show the values of the firm in a number of different presentations. Just spending time at the firm helped to give an idea of what the company culture is really like.

I was paid £500 and we had our expenses to London (for the induction day) paid for.

The firm offered a variety of different ways of networking throughout the week. The office tour meant that we met all staff. The practice presentations all meant that we could meet lawyers from all practice areas and hear what they did etc. There was also an opportunity after each presentation to ask questions.

The social events catered to most, firstly we went wine-tasting and did a quiz, which was great! (perhaps would not have been so good if you didn't drink or have a love for quizzes...) There were 2 opportunities to attend offices drinks which was a more informal setting to ask questions and find out more about the firm. We also went to a comedy club and for cocktails which most certainly was enjoyed by all.

We went to a Corporate Social Responsibility lunch where we learned all about what lawyers can do to get involved with the local community. This was very informativve. When speaking to lawyers we also found out about sports clubs/tournaments you can get involved with. However we had no opportunity to get involved in any sport in the time we were there.