Paralegal job and vacation schemes

[p9b]

I recently secured a position as a paralegal in commercial litigation for a small commercial firm. This will obviously help me immensely and it's great experience, but I also have an upcoming interview for a vacation scheme with a regional law firm. My dilema is, I would have to take 2 weeks leave for this vacation scheme IF I got offered it. I have already decided I would not want to to do my training contract at that firm for location reasons, but I still would be eager to do the vacation scheme because its great experience. SO my dilema is, if I got offered this vacation scheme, is it worth prioritising it over my employment even though I would not want to do a subsequent training contract there? My employers wouldn't be too happy as I am relatively new and it would mean they would know I am looking for other opportunities, so I'm not really sure which is more important

 

[D]

Vacation Schemes are work experience.

You are going to have work experience from being a paralegal.

The benefit of doing a VS is that you are often interviewed for a TC at the end.

If you are not interested in securing a TC with that firm, I'd suggest sticking with your paralegal work. However, if you think you could secure paralegal work again very quickly, then doing the VS may be interesting. I imagine this would all depend on your financial situation and commitments.

Just remember - People secure TC's having not done VS's! It is possible. They are not the be-all and end-all of applications (save for firms who exclusively recruit from their VS of course).