ACCESS Scheme Review

The scheme is wide ranging, the core 4 day work experience programme included a range of activities from training on speaking and working in a professional environment, to commercial awareness training and also a range of panels with alumni of the programme about all the different routes on offer ranging from working as in-house counsel to all the various seats one may take up in a training contract. We also had the opportunity to present case studies to real lawyers. Beyond the core work experience, participants are also offered ongoing coaching on commercial awareness as well as other career progressing opportunities such as tutoring and experience outside of law

I gained a range of skills from the programme. I have definitely increased my commercial awareness as well as learning about its importance when seeking a career in law. I gained experience with case studies across both commercial and criminal law due to the wide ranging introduction to law the programme provided. The programme also more generally boosted my confidence with its various workshops and increased my interest in a career in law

I really did enjoy the work experience with Clifford Chance. The programme coordinators have always been really friendly and understanding, my fellow participants are also a really warm and nice bunch. The programme mixes the educational but also more enjoyable aspects really well, it never felt patronising but also never felt inaccessible. The programme has been excellent all around, even with the challenges of covid and virtual work experience it still managed to be enjoyable and engaging

The work experience was really well organised. The pre-programme was designed to make sure we were ready for the work experience programme when we went into it. The programme itself was well organised with plenty of breaks but a range of engaging content that even with the challenges of a virtual programme I always felt engaged. The coordinators were also extremely friendly and approachable if you had any challenges with the programme.

We learned a lot about the company culture. The trainees and volunteers really were honest about working at Clifford Chance, they didn't try to sugar coat the difficulties and it became quite clear that they provided a really inclusive and open workspace. In my personal interactions with the coordinators as someone with health issues, they were really understanding and their commitment to accessibility was clear

Before the work experience, I really wasn't sure about whether I wanted to pursue a career in law. The work experience both helped me to decide the sector I wanted to pursue but also showed me the different pathways within the legal sector and made commercial law a really appealing pathway with its various different opportunities and firms like Clifford chance seem really great places to work

The Clifford Chance team pay your expenses for travel, and if necessary your accommodation, for everything that involves any travel to London which is really helpful if you live far from London as I do. If you partake in the ACCESS Spark programme you also receive payment for the time you partake in the experience. The virtual experience did not include payment.

There were plenty of opportunities to network with both fellow participants, trainees and lawyers from Clifford Chance. Both during the programme and at the social events organised towards the end of the programme. There were also opportunities to connect on social media and the volunteers were more than willing to answer any queries outside the programme so really meaningful connections were made

Yes

Clifford Chance is a really inclusive and accessible company, the ACCESS scheme goes beyond any simple work experience programme and the company really does invest in your whole development whether you end up with them or not, they really do care about your progression and are really accommodating no matter your background or needs

For Clifford Chance, you really want to be demonstrating your commercial awareness, they are aware that this may be your first time applying for a legal scheme like this one so just showing that you are trying to engage with material like business news is really useful. They also really care about your transferable skills, as someone from a non-law degree background it is really useful being able to demonstrate that your background has skills useful for law, although you may realise through the programme that your transferrable skills are more useful than you originally thought.