Vacation Scheme Student Review

Very much so. The GR team at CMS and all the supervisors and staff at CMS have made me feel very welcome. Fewer 'social' events than on other schemes but far more time in the office overall!

I did real work for real clients, including drafting board minutes and notes to clients. Whilst everything was checked and inevitably amended, I was made to feel like a valued member of the team!

I sat in the same pod as my Trainee Buddy and Supervisor. They constantly provided my with support and indeed work to be getting on with. That said, not too much support that I felt mollycoddled the entire time!

I am studying a law degree, so not applicable directly per se. This said, I have learnt a lot of company law and it will no doubt prove useful in some of my commercial modules next year. The placement will go a long way in getting a job for the future in terms of building insight

Day to day we had presentations and group activities at set times, with the rest of the time to be at our desks working or chatting to various people, This proved very handy as I could structure my day exactly how I wanted it!

Very different to other firms. CMS has open plan offices and so it is very difficult to get involved in detailed conversations with people at your desk. You therefore have to go for coffee / drinks with someone to really get to know them which is slightly unusual. Nonetheless, the people were friendly and all the other Vacation Scheme students were really nice!

Aside from the salary, the firm invested in us by really ensuring that supervisors and other associates had high quality work to give us instead of boring filing tasks. When combined with partner presentations, this made for an excellent experience!

As good as you can get. The best way to see what an organisation is like is by sitting on the working floors and really understanding what drives the firm. I had the opportunity to sit in the excellent corporate team and to get involved in many of the transactions which others were working on!

Again, by sitting and mixing with people from all different levels across the firm, you get an excellent insight into the culture both socially and working of the firm.

I have already decided on a career in commercial law, however in terms of differentiating between the Magic Circle, silver circle and US firms this has helped a lot. In particular, the differences in the type of work and people and their drivers has become abundantly clear!

The salary is £250pw. This is at the lower end for legal Vacation Schemes, however the money does not particularly motivate people to come and does not adversely affect application statistics.

Abundantly with trainees, however to a lesser extent with associates and particularly partners. To do so you have to very much go out of your way and find them. Also with the new office layout It is incredibly hard to find people and then to distinguish their level of seniority!

Average. The effort was made to take us out, however the firm constantly stressed that it was a "2 week interview" and so everyone was rather timid. This resulted in socials which were more about networking and maintaining professionalism than being social!

The CMS football world cup has been frequently highlighted!

Indeed. Any kind of legal work experience is fantastic and this is undoubtedly an excellent firm; one of the largest in the world! Completing the vacation scheme gives you a true insight into what it is like at a big corporate law firm in the heart of London!