Summer Vacation Scheme Review

Two week Vacation Scheme, spent one week in the Banking department, and one in the Infrastructure, Projects and Energy (IPE) department. My experiences varied across the departments, but overall I feel as if I benefited from the time spent in the firm and met some friendly people. We were also given a team project, planning and presenting a client pitch to a panel. This was organised and done outside of the work done in our departments.

Within the Banking department, I felt very valued. Feedback was given for all of my work, and I was invited to client events within the department. I had a meeting with my supervisor at the end of the week to go over my time in the department and see if there was anything else I wanted to get involved in. The IPE department had a stronger focus on independence, as I had to find associates to ask for work and feedback. I was in a room by myself for most of the week, which made me feel a bit unwanted at times.

In the banking department, I received background information about the matter before I was given any work. As I was sat with my supervisor, it was easy for me to ask any questions as I was working also. In particular, I mentioned that I was interested in the Commercial department, and she arranged for me to meet with an associate, which was really useful. In IPE, I was given a good amount of background information and was encouraged to ask questions as I worked. I found this to be difficult though, as the department was very spread out, and it was difficult to keep track whether the associate I was working for was even in the office.

Not really, it will probably be more useful for the LPC. I learnt how to draft documents and use precedents, do company searches. Not usually things you would do on your law degree, but useful for a head start later on.

Very structured, we were given a timetable showing when we were in departments and when we were at presentations or socials. We attended talks by BPP law school on the LPC, associates in different departments across the firm and an informal coffee meeting with a partner of the firm.

Trainees at the firm were welcoming, organised lunches with us almost every day. Everyone I was introduced to was very friendly, and eager to stop and talk to the vacation scheme students.

Not much, we didn't have any training on the computer systems or databases.

It was really useful, as a lot of the work I was doing was exactly what the trainee in the department would do and it was sent out to the clients.

AG are very big on their culture, and it was focused on throughout. I found the culture in the Leeds office to be very open and friendly at every level, and when I spoke to partners, they were transparent about the firm's future strategy.

It showed me what it would be like to work at the firm as a trainee, and the sort of people I would encounter. Really enjoyed it, would love to work there.

I was paid a good amount for the Leeds office. A lot of people lived nearby or had links to the area, so nobody seemed to struggle with finding accommodation. I live in Leeds and walked to the office most days so had barely any costs throughout.

Lots. We had a Q&A panel with partners, dinner with partners, activities within our departments. The trainees are especially involved with the scheme, everyone is assigned a trainee buddy and they organise lunch together most days, and check in at the end of the scheme to make sure you've enjoyed it all.

Fantastic socials, we had 3 across the two weeks. An informal pool and ping pong social with trainees, dinner at a very nice restaurant with trainees and partners and a cheese tasting. The cheese tasting was my favourite, very different and location focused, as all the cheeses were made locally in Yorkshire.

Nothing was really mentioned, the only thing that was said a few times was the free drinks social on the first Friday of every month.

I definitely would, really enjoyed my time at AG. I would suggest that they ensure each department is consistent in providing a positive experience, as I found I had a lot to do in Banking but was left on my own quite a lot in IPE which affected my view of the firm.