On my VS:
* lots of formal events, interviews etc with specific lawyers. however, there's the opportunity to potentially interact with lots of other people by coming and saying "hi", asking out for coffee, etc. - are HR likely to ask the whole office for feedback on each VSer from which it might be ascertained your general level of sociability?
* is it better to ask questions or just get on with the work? I was given some fake work and told to ask if necessary - there's a bit of a learning curve and initially I probably didn't properly understand but while working through it my understanding of the concept improved and I didn't ask questions on the basis that I suppose they have better things to do than talk to VSers - I'm not at this point a trainee so they don't have a commercial interest in teaching me things, prior to me actually signing a TC, so maybe it's better to work things out alone.....
* was asked by partner to consider a client legal enquiry. Wasn't really clear what the purpose of this request was - it could either be because the partner doesn't know, or simply to give me an opportunity to experience client work. Was told "no need to draft but you can take some notes". I drafted because it seems to me more effective to write things formally. Was then asked the next day to have a chat to discuss the matter, which rather awkwardly was five minute before my final interview so very limited time, and I gave my conclusion on the main point based on the UK legislation and EU directive, and also noted a possible complication that I had identified.
Partner had a different conclusion on the main point so I explained why I had come to my conclusion and he said that what I was seeing as multiple things was in fact one. There was also a bit of awkward interaction because the matter could have fallen under one of two subsections, and I'd chosen one subsection and he the other. Ultimately his conclusion was more cautious than mine, and being cautious makes a lot of sense. I wasn't entirely convinced that his was the right conclusion but obviously had to acquiesce after initially explaining why I'd come to my conclusion.
Not sure if I handled this very wrongly and should have treated it purely as an opportunity to learn from him as it might have come across as arrogant - the timing was very far from ideal as I was about to go off to interview so I had a choice between listening to him or trying to share what I'd come up with. I guess it's a question of whether as a VSer one is supposed to show ability to analyse, or more treat it as an opportunity to learn. Bit confusing really.
