Work experience Review

I enjoyed how involved I was on the programme. The staff really tried to involve the work experience students by giving us work which they actually used. Some areas such as sitting on conference calls became confusing as we didn't understand the background behind the call, so I didn't enjoy that as much however for a lot of the calls we were actually informed about the background knowledge so that made it more enjoyable.

I felt valued a lot during my time, as I was invited by partners to join conference calls and I was very rarely left with nothing to do. When we were in groups we were given specific tasks and when we were presenting we were listened to attentively and were given feedback. We were able to book meetings in teams with no problems and were never moved out of a room to make way for other staff.

We were supervised by people working in our department and we could ask them questions whenever we needed guidance. We were also independent though so we could think for ourselves and get the most out of the week; I think the balance was appropriate. When we were in teams we received guidance from our peers rather than just staff which was also useful as they were another source of information and advice.

Things such as the CV workshop will help me a lot when applying for jobs in the future and also in interviews. The skills such as presenting and the ability to research unfamiliar topics are also skills which I will need especially in university, and also in many jobs. Due to the qualifications needed we were unable to use specific skills that lawyers would use, however that was expected. This did restrict how much we could learn about what lawyers do however shadowing and listening to conferences partly made up for this.

It was well structured as there was a balance of working as a whole group of students and working more individually in our specific departments. This meant we got a well rounded insight and were able to be independent to get a real feel of what it would really be like. Some activities such as the CV workshop were more general which was also helpful, so even if we perhaps decided not to go into law following the placement we still get useful things from the placement that we can use in any job.

The staff were very friendly and approachable, and this meant I didn't feel under pressure. There was a great atmosphere amongst the work experience students too and we got to know each other well. The staff made the atmosphere comfortable but I could still tell I was in an office environment which I feel is a great positive as that is how it would really be at work.

We had an introductory talk by our supervisor about the department we were working in and how it worked, however in terms of other tasks we were set they didn't really involve skills and things that were particularly challenging or ones that we hadn't used before.

Due to the short time we spent it was difficult to tell what it would be like working on a long term basis, however I began to get the feel of an office environment and the sorts of work my specific department carries out.

I learnt a lot about the company's values and how they operate. We were told stories and anecdotes to help us understand the morals by which the company stands by. I understood a lot about where the company operates and what their specific goals and focuses are.

Due to the different activities I did I got to assess quite a few different parts of the job, but with something like law each client is different so it was be difficult to judge whether it was the particular situation that I enjoyed or whether it was the actual activity.

It was only a short work experience and it was one that I volunteered to do for personal benefit so I wasn't particularly worried that I wasn't paid.

We had a networking lunch where we were able to meet employees who worked in lots of different departments, I was also introduced to many of the members of my department on the first day, so I got to know some of them well.

They were also plentiful and useful. We had icebreaker activities initially to get to know fellow work experience colleagues, and we had events such as the networking lunch and a presentation event where we met and interacted with work experience colleagues as well as employees of the firm. They were useful as we understood the background of some of the employees e.g. universities, which was just as useful as learning about their job.

Not really, we weren't introduced to many events outside of the workplace where employees can get involved with.

Yes I would recommend the insight as we got a well rounded initial insight into a law firm and also got to meet great people who I hope to maintain contact with in the future.