Vacation placement student Review

I very much enjoyed my two weeks in Pinsent Masons' London office. The environment was welcoming, the work was well varied, and I was able to learn a lot about the firm and what a life as a trainee would be like. The trainee social reps did a good job of organising a couple of fun socials per week and I even had the chance to join the firm's touch rugby team in a game after work.

I was with the Projects team and they were all very welcoming. I felt the work I was doing was valuable and not just created for me. The other trainees I met over the scheme were all extremely friendly and spoke very highly of the firm and its other employees. We had the chance to attend a number of lunches, the partner lunch was a particular highlight. The welcoming atmosphere of the firm was evident across these meetings.

I was given a trainee buddy and a supervisor, both of whom were very busy over the fortnight. They still found the time to meet with me at the beginning of the scheme to set objectives and then again, at the end of the scheme, for a review. My trainee buddy clearly explained all the work he gave to me and introduced me to others across the team so that I had exposure to a range of work.

The scheme confirmed that I would like to pursue a career in commercial law and gave me a great insight into what kind of law firm I would like to start my training contract with. The practice presentations enabled me to understand what the teams across the firm do and will play a part in my seat selection when I start a training contract.

The first couple of days were structured well by graduate recruitment. It was nice to meet the placement students from all the offices on the first day. The IT training ended up being a bit rushed as we had to fit it into the second day with the work we had been given. Some of it was quite extensive in areas I already understood and there was not enough emphasis on the areas that were unique to IT in the office (e.g. printing). Beyond that it was left down to the students and their teams to structure the work, though the planned lunches and team presentations provided some interesting social and learning opportunities during the week.

Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming and the fact the scheme was not competitive was emphasised at the beginning. However, I did think the presentation we had to do on the first day set the tone as a little competitive, but that was the only indication of that atmosphere. The socials were a great chance to meet trainees in a laid back environment and find out about their experiences.

The practice presentations were useful for personal development. The range of lunches, including the secondment lunch, were a good way of finding out about opportunities you might have as a trainee solicitor.

Two weeks does not really give enough time to develop a full understanding of how you could fit into the firm as a full time employee. However, the range of opportunities to meet people across the firm gives you the chance to develop an understanding of what it would be like to work there.

Very much so, everyone was friendly, supportive and willing to help. The company culture does seem to be what the graduate brochures say: approachable.

Some of the work was more interesting than other bits, some work was a lot more challenging than other parts, which is the nature of the role. I felt that the placement organisers made a point of including information in the form of the partner and secondment lunches, as well as the practice presentation, which would help us make decisions about our future careers.

£300 / week

Many: Practice Presentations Trainee Lunch Partner Lunch Secondment Lunch 2 X Organised Socials Summer Party End of scheme drinks + other opportunities to get involved in sports teams

All events were well organised and well attended and it was possible to make as little or as much use of them as you wanted.

Yes, there were emails sent to the placement students about sports events. There wasn't any information about the diversity groups meetings.

Yes.