(Reminder: These are posts I'm copying that Jaysen made in The Student Room)
How to do well on the scheme?
It’s going to be a little scary, but remember – the firm has decided that you’re a good candidate; that’s why you’re on the vacation scheme. Even then, you don’t have to get everything right; schemes tend to be about not shooting yourself in the foot rather than being the perfect candidate. That means handling situations appropriately (communicating if there’s an issue), conducting yourself professionally (especially on the socials) and being friendly (it’s very obvious when you’re trying to be competitive).
Vacation schemes are exhausting. Or at least, that was my experience. It’s not so much the tasks, but going from uni life to a day of work was harder than I thought. It’s a new environment where you have to be switched on all day, so it helps to mentally prepare for that. I’d suggest preparing as much as you can in advance e.g. your outfit, travel routes and times (don’t do what I did and turn up late to your first day), and track what you’re doing each day – that’ll help for your TC interview if it’s held on the last day of the scheme.
If you’re getting set quite a few tasks, you’ll have to practice managing expectations. It’s good to get into the habit of asking when the trainee/associate/partner needs the work by. If you don’t think you’ll get it done on time, the best thing you can do is speak to whoever set you the work – it’s much better to give them notice than rush a piece of work or miss a deadline completely. Likewise if someone tries to set you work when you’re at full capacity, briefly let them know what you’ve got to do at the moment and check whether you can do it after. Proofread your work, many times. Make sure there are no typos or obvious errors – print it and read it over if necessary. Otherwise, it looks sloppy.
There will be times when you’re not sure what to do in a task, that’s fine, just relay that back appropriately. Prepare informed questions and ask the person who set you the work if you can run through it with them (instead of just saying you’re lost). Or, if you get stuck and want to know if you’re on the right track, you can use your trainee buddy. Explain what work you’ve been given and don't be afraid to ask for advice, or whether the partner likes the work in a particular format – this is something we also do in practice, and it’s something your trainee/supervisor will respect.
When a trainee/associate/partner sets you a task, it often doesn’t make complete sense until you start it, so make good notes – that can be a lifesaver. It might also be helpful to re-write your notes once you’re back at your desk/after your conversation with the lawyer – that can help you to understand what’s going on and flag up any immediate issues which you might want to ask. It’s quite hard to balance listening and note taking, which for me, led to some of my notes not making sense at all!
I'd suggest updating a to-do list each morning and evening. I found this to be essential for keeping track of different workloads/assessments/meetings during the day. This can combine as a work log. Some firms have their own for you to fill out, but otherwise this is useful when it comes to the TC interview, so you can easily run through what you’ve been working on.
The final interview will have some overlap with the vacation scheme interview – they’ll be looking to see your motivation/experience/commercial awareness. But now that you’ve been there for two weeks, it tends to focus more on how you found the scheme. So they’ll dig into your personality to see if you’re a good fit. It’s a bit tedious but I would suggest keeping a work log during the scheme and filling it with as much information as possible – who you worked with, who was the client, what you did, what you learned, how it fits into the bigger picture etc. Then when it comes to the interview, you’ll be able to use evidence to justify why you want to work at the firm. You’ll also be able to discuss what you did well and any areas you feel you could have done better – which tend to be popular questions post-vacation scheme.
How to do well on the scheme?
It’s going to be a little scary, but remember – the firm has decided that you’re a good candidate; that’s why you’re on the vacation scheme. Even then, you don’t have to get everything right; schemes tend to be about not shooting yourself in the foot rather than being the perfect candidate. That means handling situations appropriately (communicating if there’s an issue), conducting yourself professionally (especially on the socials) and being friendly (it’s very obvious when you’re trying to be competitive).
Vacation schemes are exhausting. Or at least, that was my experience. It’s not so much the tasks, but going from uni life to a day of work was harder than I thought. It’s a new environment where you have to be switched on all day, so it helps to mentally prepare for that. I’d suggest preparing as much as you can in advance e.g. your outfit, travel routes and times (don’t do what I did and turn up late to your first day), and track what you’re doing each day – that’ll help for your TC interview if it’s held on the last day of the scheme.
If you’re getting set quite a few tasks, you’ll have to practice managing expectations. It’s good to get into the habit of asking when the trainee/associate/partner needs the work by. If you don’t think you’ll get it done on time, the best thing you can do is speak to whoever set you the work – it’s much better to give them notice than rush a piece of work or miss a deadline completely. Likewise if someone tries to set you work when you’re at full capacity, briefly let them know what you’ve got to do at the moment and check whether you can do it after. Proofread your work, many times. Make sure there are no typos or obvious errors – print it and read it over if necessary. Otherwise, it looks sloppy.
There will be times when you’re not sure what to do in a task, that’s fine, just relay that back appropriately. Prepare informed questions and ask the person who set you the work if you can run through it with them (instead of just saying you’re lost). Or, if you get stuck and want to know if you’re on the right track, you can use your trainee buddy. Explain what work you’ve been given and don't be afraid to ask for advice, or whether the partner likes the work in a particular format – this is something we also do in practice, and it’s something your trainee/supervisor will respect.
When a trainee/associate/partner sets you a task, it often doesn’t make complete sense until you start it, so make good notes – that can be a lifesaver. It might also be helpful to re-write your notes once you’re back at your desk/after your conversation with the lawyer – that can help you to understand what’s going on and flag up any immediate issues which you might want to ask. It’s quite hard to balance listening and note taking, which for me, led to some of my notes not making sense at all!
I'd suggest updating a to-do list each morning and evening. I found this to be essential for keeping track of different workloads/assessments/meetings during the day. This can combine as a work log. Some firms have their own for you to fill out, but otherwise this is useful when it comes to the TC interview, so you can easily run through what you’ve been working on.
The final interview will have some overlap with the vacation scheme interview – they’ll be looking to see your motivation/experience/commercial awareness. But now that you’ve been there for two weeks, it tends to focus more on how you found the scheme. So they’ll dig into your personality to see if you’re a good fit. It’s a bit tedious but I would suggest keeping a work log during the scheme and filling it with as much information as possible – who you worked with, who was the client, what you did, what you learned, how it fits into the bigger picture etc. Then when it comes to the interview, you’ll be able to use evidence to justify why you want to work at the firm. You’ll also be able to discuss what you did well and any areas you feel you could have done better – which tend to be popular questions post-vacation scheme.
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