Work Experience Student Review

I was a work experience student for a week at the corporate law firm Pinsent Masons.Throughout the week I was sent to 3 different departments: coorporate, commercial and procurement. I was given a variety of tasks- from the basic administrative tasks such as printing and filing, to the more interesting company research tasks. At each department I was assigned a trainee who was available for me to answer any questions I had based on the task at hand and any general questions to do with law. This was a very helpeful experience as it gave me an insight into the world of a qualifying trainee student at a prestigious corporate law firm. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly and were always available to answer any questsions I had for them about their profession.

The main skill I have learnt throughout my week is being resourceful and resilient. I embraced the resposibility that was given to me by my trainee in completing certain necessary tasks. I learnt how to keep to deadlines and so how to work in the most productive manner. I enjoyted my indepence and the fact that even though I had my trainee to help me if I was really stuck, it was up to me to complete certain research regarding the task I was set if I was unsure about some of the concepts in it. This made me feel a lot more proud of myself when I did complete the task and got it correct because I knew that that was entirely due to my hard work.

The work was good as I appreciate that at work experience there is very little for students to do that actually gives them a flavour of the work included in their chosen profession (my previous experiences at other firms was me doing a lot of filing). I got to learn how to complete paperwork and forms and confidently understand the purpose of each file. Also the staff were extremely nice and always kept me busy with things to do. I enjoyed this programme a lot as it provided me with a good insight of how large solicitor firms work and also confirmed to me that this is the career option that I am interested in.

I felt that I was very valued by the firm as all trainees were thanking me each time I completed a helpful task for them.

It was very well organised since we were provided with 'work experience booklets' that we had to complete with questions regarding the differnent departments in the law firm. Also in the coporate department I was provided with a ' Corporate Work Experience pack' with set tasks to do and ready made examples to help us complete our tasks (whcih I found very helpful). On the first day we had a mock vacation scheme interview, and also everyday in the mornings we had different presentations such as ' How to get in to study law', 'Commercial Law' and 'Litigation' law which were very helpful. These talks were held by the experienced trainees themselves which allowed us to ask questions and expect an honest answer and their honest views about studying law etc.

Each trainee at each department helped me a lot and dedicated a lot of time to me throughout the week. At each new department before commencing with work, the trainee would have a little discussion with me about their particular department and also general information about themselves and how they got into this field of law. This gave me a great opportunity to ask questions and advice that I found very helful.

There was a lot of support generally from the HR team and the IT support were always there to help if there were any technical difficulties.

N/A

Yes they have many socials etc. that you can go to but these are more available for older students.

Yes

You could tell that Pinsent Masons put a lot of energy and effort into this scheme and tried to make it as informative as possible. There was a variety of things for us to do and it was very insightful.

Do some research about the company prior to doing work experience at the firm because even though they explain to you the different sectors of the firm etc. it's good for you to already have a basic understanding about it so that you absorb the information quicker and easier the second time round. Also prepare questions that you have so you can always keep up with conversation and show your interest and enthusiasm in regards to possibly working at this firm in the future.