A & O First Review

The day was very enjoyable and sociable, providing a good introduction to the life of a trainee at the firm and the seats / roles available.

It is hard to comment as the experience was only one day. However, we were given free hoodies, food and assigned a mentor, which made it seem as though they were genuinely interested in our future applications for training contracts.

We were given examples of previous applications to analyse, as well as the opportunity to openly ask the trainees questions about the application process, which was useful.

The negotiation task was interesting and, despite nerve-racking, actually quite fun. However, the aim of the day was not really to tie in with any academic studies.

The day was very packed and varied - I don't think they could have fit anything else in! There was a good balance between activities, talks and networking with various employees.

The atmosphere was much friendlier than I expected, particularly between students, and not very competitive as I had anticipated. Interacting with the trainees definitely improved this, as they were very honest and open about their experiences, and the associates were all extremely passionate about their individual areas of expertise.

The scheme provides a mentor, webinars and another visit to the office in future, so it really felt as though A&O were investing in your application, to give you the best chance of securing a training contract.

As it was only one day it was hard to grasp fully the operations or typical workload of a trainee, however for the limited amount of time, I felt HR did the best they could to illustrate what working for the firm would include.

Spending time shadowing a trainee gave a good insight into the company culture - and, if this was an area you specifically wanted to find out more about, there were many opportunities to ask questions of associates and trainees throughout the day.

Travel expenses are supposed to be reimbursed, although I am yet to receive this.

There was a networking with associates session in the morning, as well as lunch and an afternoon shadowing a trainee.

Networking opportunities were a key component to the day, although due to the brief nature of the insight, socialising with other applicants / employees was not really feasible.

The opportunities for pro-bono work and joining company sports teams were mentioned in a couple of the talks given, and the trainees were on hand to answer any further questions on this.

Yes, definitely! Especially for non-law students such as myself, who might otherwise not consider applying for a training contract.