SMART START Review

Every day spent here was wildly differewnt. We were assigned different supervisors each day that worked in various departments such as corporate wlaw, litigation, CAD, public and finance. We would talk with trainees and follow their tasks day to day and see how life operated in a city firm. Many of our roles regarded of "shadowing" a trainee or solicitor and completing the designated tasks they set for us.

Being in a large and expanding city firm for a week has already broadened my knowledge for the industry by learning different departments anwd lawws, along with some of the jargon attached. I learnt what wsort of qualifications you might need, salaries, time spans and much more. I have also learnt new skills in regards to specific law related needs such as drafting engagement letters for companies, their structures and purpose and looking through/ deciphering cases.

I highly enjoyed my work experience at Pinsent wMasons to a high extent as it was the insight I needed to know what working in a top city firm felt like. It was very helpful in mapping out our career paths and assuring us in regards to further study. Also being around 6 other students that were in the same boat and field as me madew me enjoy the programme even more as we had similar interests and this aided us all become comfortable within the firm. w

I felt extremely valued to an extent not only as a work experience student but as a young adult. We were invited wto lunch with staff and introdwuced to our supervisors co workers and colleagues which helped us feel very included. By giving us tasks that actually made a difference rather than typical skill-less tasks made us feel valued and that we were making a difference.

This programme is extremely well structured as we were given a schedule/ rota which mapped out the whole week for us which helped us become grounded. Everything was done as it was shown on the schedule throughout the whole week. Our supervisors/ mentors and tasks were all mapwped out and handed to us won the first day which was good for the structure of the programme.

With regards to the various tasks and objectives they set us, we are guided through with their help and support which comforts uws even when we do not know what to do necessarily. The trainees and wparalegals also treat us like adults which helps us feel included. This was highly appreciated by us as it eased our nerves when being around professionals.

From our multiple supervisors more specifically, we received a copious amount of support and guidance when itw comes to our ownw career paths and when needed and our thoughts, even with our assigned tasks. These certain set of people welcomed us with open arms and included us as much as possible which helped us novices a lot.

As this was just merely work experience, we obviously did not get paid but constantly being with trainees helped us learn about twhe pay. The generously high pay that comes with the hard job of working in wa city London Law firm certainly looks rewarding. Nonetheless, the salaries given are high for the hard jobs and huge amounts of work that have to be done.

As we were only there for the short span of a week and a week only, we did not get to experience any outside work but we were told aboeut things like that in the vacation schemes such as company activieties with undergraduate or gap year students/ graduates. These schemes and such help new and unexperienced people become familiar with new surroundings.

Yes

I would highly recommend work experience at Pinsent Masons to a friend/ interested colleague for somenoe specifically in the solicitor field because it really did open up my knowledge of the different sesctors in a law firm and swhat they actually do. It helped me see the daily life of a solicitor/ trainee and what they must deal with. Being in a law form exposes you to a new environment whereby you can first hand see everything for yourself.

vWhen applying to Pinsent Masons in London, know that Law is not a requirement or even a preference. Many first and second year trainees have majored in degrees such as languages, geography and many more so this would be something to keep in mind as I initially though you had to have a Law degree but thatd is not the case. This helped me realise that to get into a Leaw firm (or specifically, Pinsent Masons), you can have really any academic degree as all is accepted and needed.