Vacation Scheme Student Review

I highly enjoyed my two weeks with Taylor Wessing. The placement was extremely insightful into what life as a trainee is like as a firm, and the firm's ethos really shone through. I was made to feel welcome by all members of staff, and the open door policy made me feel at ease, and as such enjoy my time more than I ever thought I would.

I was extremely surprised at how valued I felt in both of my mini seats. I was worried that I would be seen as the annoying work experience student that they had to find a task for, but instead I genuinely felt as though my work was contributing to the team. Every single member of the firm had time for all of us vacation scheme students which was great.

There was lots of guidance and support given to us all throughout the two weeks. Even before starting, Sarah and Sophie were great with the information that they provided us with; automatically easing my nerves before heading to London. Then throughout the insight there was fantastic help and support from IT, HR, the buddies, supervisors and anyone that you shared your office with. I never felt as though I was asking a stupid question!

I believe that throughout the two weeks the skills that I developed really improved. It was an entirely different experience to studying law at university. Instead I was able to develop skills that I will be able to use in the 'real world' such as drafting documents, speaking to clients, working as a team and time management skills.

The insight was very well structured. Before beginning the scheme we were provided with a timetable, a list of buddies and supervisors and we were encouraged to use a LinkedIn group to introduce ourselves to our peers. Throughout the two weeks we followed a comprehensive timetable, full to the brim of Focus On talks from various departments. Apart from a couple of slight organisational glitches (e.g. being timetabled 2 hours for a talk which took 20 minutes) the structure was great.

The general atmosphere was extremely friendly. All of the vacation schemers got on really well both in the office and at the socials. The friendliness of the firm in general really shone through and it was clear how sociable everyone is at Taylor Wessing.

Everyone that I worked with was more than happy to take time out to explain a task to me and to give me feedback on the work that I was doing. All of the team were happy to answer any questions at any time and were genuinely committed to making sure that you did not leave the office at the end of the two weeks with any unanswered questions.

Whilst I believe that I already had a good insight into Taylor Wessing before the vacation scheme, I can not describe how invaluable the experience was to improving this insight. I developed a real feel for the firm's ethos and did work that was representative of what the trainees do daily. Having to balance the Focus On talks with our day-to-day work alongside meeting up with our groups to prepare for our presentations was a useful insight into how to manage your time in the firm!

As much as you can read in a firm's brochure that they're a 'friendly firm', you can never truly understand this until you are in the firm. The two weeks with the firm really helped me to understand the culture, through the presentations, talking to my buddy and supervisor, and generally observing how everyone in the office interacts with one another.

It really motivated me that a career in law, with a commercial, international firm is the right career for me!

I was paid very well, however as I do not live in London I was out of pocket after completing the scheme as my accommodation cost £600 alone, and I also had to cover my travel expenses and food for the two weeks. I imagine it would be better if you lived in London or had friends that did.

I was really impressed with the opportunities to meet and talk to people from every part of the firm. Throughout my two weeks I was able to speak to the people who originally interviewed me for the vacation scheme, two trains who I had spoken to at a previous commercial law event, as well as speaking to lots of trainees in different seats at the social events.

The social events were great, we were able to go to urban golf and ten pin bowling, and there were various lunches throughout the two weeks.

We were emailed throughout the two weeks inviting us to various sports events that happen weekly such as touch rugby. I was also able to attend a pro bono clinic. I think that you are able to get involved in as much or as little as possible, though I didn't hear about man activities that aren't sports related.

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