Work Experience - Unpaid Role Review

I was a work experience student at Pinsent Masons for one week. My week at the law firm allowed me to gain an insight into the daily roles of trainee solicitors and the work that this role contains. I was given presentations each morning and after lunch from each part of the law firm e.g property, employment, oil and gas etc. I was given a different supervisor and a different seat each day which varied the work I completed on a daily basis. I was given worksheets containing questions which I would need to find the answers out to in order to gain a deeper knowledge of that particular area of law. This was talked over and made clear at the end of the day by my supervisor which helped me understand the purpose of each question.

I am now aware of what it is that a trainee solicitor gets up to on a daily basis. We had several team exercises during my week. This included a business group exercise where I was given a scenario and I had to come up with the action that should be taken and the advise that should be given to the client. This gave me a new skill and will make the challenge I will come up against in the future with this exercise less daunting as I will know I have already completed one similar.

I enjoyed my week at Pinsent Masons as not only have I met new people but I have also gained an insight into the different tasks I shall come up against if I choose to follow a law career path. This programme has allowed me to focus my studies particularly on commercial law as before I was unsure on which area of law to focus on.

During my time in the office I was greeted and checked up on regularly by not only my supervisor but also the office head. This made me feel welcomes and valued during this experienced which helped me with completing my work as I did not have to be constantly worrying about everyone else.

I was issued with a timetable at the start of the week. This allowed me to understand what it was I was going to be doing that day. I was well prepared for each day and my supervisor had clearly taken a lot of time to prepare the tasks I was given each day.

The tasks I completed during the day was talked over by my supervisor. At the end of the day my supervisor would take over all of the issues I had with the tasks, which usually weren't many as the instructions given before it were very clear. This allowed me to speak to my supervisor about other things non work related, like university which I will be attending soon. I got advice based on that which will be useful in the future.

I received a great deal of support from my employer. I was issued with a great deal of responsibility during my week which made me feel valued. Not only this but I received advise on career paths, taking my strengths and working out which career path would suit me best.

There was no expected salary. I was however advised on local no permit parking which was free. This was useful as I was planning to park in parking which was expensive each day. However, with the guidance from the office manager this allowed me to cut those costs and park somewhere that was free and only a short walk from the office.

I am still at secondary school so the opportunities are minimal outwith work experience. However, once I complete university I will hopefully become a trainee solicitor which will allow me to follow on from my work experienced. I have felt welcomed during my work experience at Pinsent Masons so I will bear them in mind when applying for a summer traineeship during university.

Yes

I would love one of my friends to go through the experience I went through. Not only was the week interesting which allowed I learn new things but it was also action packed. I was kept busy during this week.

It is a great week and going on the work experience will allow you to understand what it is like to work in a commercial law firm.