Summer Vacation Scheme Student Review

I enjoyed the insight very much, both in terms of work and socials. I feel I got a good amount of work for me to enjoy and learn from the work. I also think so much effort and creativity was put into the evening social events that they were inevitably enjoyable.

I felt valued because my supervisors and HR all knew my name but at the same time, as there were so many people on the scheme, I could not feel as valued as I may have had there been fewer people on the scheme. But I was given real work which was of importance to my supervisor and I received a lot of feedback from them too.

I felt very well supported as I could go to my trainee buddy or supervisor or even HR for help. But I feel some trainee buddies were not particularly helpful and some supervisors did not give much guidance on the tasks we were assigned to.

The skills I developed will not help much with my degree but more so with my future career as it gave me grounding as to what it takes to be a good commercial lawyer. They should also prove invaluable to my Legal Practice Course.

It was organised well; there was enough work and there were well organised events at regular intervals. I liked the fact that we were able to spend two weeks in one department and one week in another. The two departments I sat in were very different to each other so I enjoyed the variety a lot.

The atmosphere was extremely welcoming and friendly. There was not a single person I did not enjoy talking to. I was surprised to find people being so welcoming to a vacation scheme student. The culture of the firm is very work driven but also very friendly.

The trainees guided me well throughout the scheme, although I felt a bit more training should have been organised at the start of scheme e.g. more IT training. If it were not for one of my trainee buddies, I would have been clueless IT-wise.

The insight very much confirmed that I would love a full time role with the firm because I was able to experience the firm in person. But I feel I do not know much about the substantive work levels that I would do as a trainee because not as much work is delegated to interns as it is to trainees.

The insight was the best way for me to learn about the culture as there is a limit to how much one can read about a firm's culture on the website. Seeing it in person over a period of weeks and actually working there was the one sole method for better understanding of the firm's culture.

The three week insight confirmed that this is the career path for me, so it was extremely valuable. It confirmed that this is the kind of work I would like to do and these are the type of people I would enjoy working with.

I was paid a 'living allowance' but not a salary.

Yes there were many opportunities for meeting other employees; there was a social at least twice a week. These contained trainees, associates and partners so I felt very lucky to be able to network with a range of groups across the firm.

They were very well organised and creative. Some of them were more 'fun' such as go-karting and others were more serious such as networking with the partners. But all of them were very enjoyable and I appreciated the variety of opportunities offered.

Yes I did and I was even able to get involved hands-on in some pro-bono work. It was a great experience and this was heightened by the fact that my supervisor encouraged me to do it. I would have also liked to have become involved in the firm's sports opportunities though.

Yes, this is the best insight I have ever completed.