Taking time off to do winter/summer schemes

[antisocial applicant]

Hi guys. I was wondering, for those of you in full time employment, how do you usually open a dialogue with your employer about taking time off to do schemes with other law firms (including direct competitors)? Also, does it come across as a bit cheeky if you want to take time off to do more than one scheme in a specific season (e.g. 2 winter vac schemes)?

 

[AvniD]

Hi guys. I was wondering, for those of you in full time employment, how do you usually open a dialogue with your employer about taking time off to do schemes with other law firms (including direct competitors)? Also, does it come across as a bit cheeky if you want to take time off to do more than one scheme in a specific season (e.g. 2 winter vac schemes)?

This is super tricky as it depends on your firm's policies around taking time off beyond the duration that they have made allowances for and your relationship with the firm itself. There is also the added consideration of conflict of interest, which means that you cannot simply do a vac scheme without telling your current employer. Clueing in your supervisor/any superiors you have a good relationship with about your intention to make a vac scheme application could be a good starting point. I would also highly recommend taking the direct TC route as you could potentially pursue this without needing to let your employer know until you're made an offer or you accept an offer.

 

[Lisa Lowe]

Or you can just speak to HR directly, I did this and didn't actually have the convo with my manager (they didnt need to know, it was cleared by the internal compliance team).

I dont think it comes across as 'cheeky' but you may struggle to get the time off, especially if either scheme is longer than a week long.

 

[antisocial applicant]

@Lisa Lowe @AvniD Thank you both for answering my question!

 

[OB]

Hi guys. I was wondering, for those of you in full time employment, how do you usually open a dialogue with your employer about taking time off to do schemes with other law firms (including direct competitors)? Also, does it come across as a bit cheeky if you want to take time off to do more than one scheme in a specific season (e.g. 2 winter vac schemes)?

I was quite open with my employers when I joined them that I would be applying for vac schemes (moved jobs halfway through the app cycle). I think its definitely worth being open and honest with them and seeing how they can help.

I opted for a mix of unpaid leave and holiday for my 3 week scheme to not use all of my holiday up so see if you can ask for that (sometimes they don't let you take unpaid leave if you haven't already exhausted your holiday). Also be forthcoming with any conflict checks the firm might do - in-house legal had to consider if there were any risks from me going to my vac scheme firm. Sometimes they might want to cut off your log ins/hand in your work phone/laptop while you're at the other firm!

 

[thirdtimelucky]

I work for the Civil Service and luckily had a really open and supportive team so they all knew from the start that I was applying for vac schemes/TCs. I took off a lot of time to do events, schemes and interviews but because my employers knew this I got some extra time off to relax. I made sure to ask if there were any conflicts of interest as I work for the Government but didn't have any issues and everything worked out well. I think it helps if you can do vac schemes that are only a week long e.g., winter because you only have to take off like 5 days. Hope everything works out well for you

 

[antisocial applicant]

I was quite open with my employers when I joined them that I would be applying for vac schemes (moved jobs halfway through the app cycle). I think its definitely worth being open and honest with them and seeing how they can help.

I opted for a mix of unpaid leave and holiday for my 3 week scheme to not use all of my holiday up so see if you can ask for that (sometimes they don't let you take unpaid leave if you haven't already exhausted your holiday). Also be forthcoming with any conflict checks the firm might do - in-house legal had to consider if there were any risks from me going to my vac scheme firm. Sometimes they might want to cut off your log ins/hand in your work phone/laptop while you're at the other firm!

Thanks for this, OB!

 

[antisocial applicant]

I work for the Civil Service and luckily had a really open and supportive team so they all knew from the start that I was applying for vac schemes/TCs. I took off a lot of time to do events, schemes and interviews but because my employers knew this I got some extra time off to relax. I made sure to ask if there were any conflicts of interest as I work for the Government but didn't have any issues and everything worked out well. I think it helps if you can do vac schemes that are only a week long e.g., winter because you only have to take off like 5 days. Hope everything works out well for you

Thanks for you input, third time lucky!