Vacation schemes
In an ever-more competitive market, vacation schemes are becoming an increasingly important piece of weaponry in the battle to get a training contract.
As well as helping you get a foot in the door, vacation schemes are one of the best ways to find out what being a lawyer is actually like, to get a sniff of the truth behind the Denny Crane and Ally McBeal fictions. Also, it’ll help you out no end when it comes to your CV since “vac schemes are definitely one of the best ways to demonstrate a commitment to the profession.” Once you’ve done one, you’ll have a way to back up claims that you knew law was your destiny from birth, your only true love, the thing you always wanted to do 60+ hours a week, etc. We recommend trying several vac schemes so that you can find your groove – are you more suited to national, regional or international firms? Which practice groups do you like best? Who’s got the nicest biscuits? Will you actually like being a lawyer?
Below are a few vac scheme FAQs, along with our advice on how to get the best out of time spent with a firm. The quotes all come from people who undertook schemes in 2009.
No secret here: our handy-dandy table over the page tells you what places are available and when to apply. Timing your application is important: certain schemes are frequently targeted at final-year non-law grads or penultimate-year law grads, which can leave other students frustrated. You’ll generally find full details of exactly how to make your application on firms’ recruitment websites. As competition for training contracts gets more intense, it’s no surprise that competition for vac scheme places is too. It doesn’t help that firms are cutting back on their programmes at the moment – making them shorter, accepting fewer people and closing deadlines earlier. This isn’t to say that firms don’t value vacation schemes – in fact, they are increasingly relying on them as a recruitment tool. City firm Nabarro, for example, takes “nearly all” its trainees from people it saw on its vac scheme. Where firms have cut back it is generally due to the economy. Many don’t want to hire as many trainees in 2010, and they also need to trim their recruitment budgets. Expensive summer schemes for students are among the first things to go.
Obvious conclusion: you’ll need to put as much effort into vac scheme applications as you do into training contract applications. For some tips on how to do this refer to our feature on making successful applications. The strongest applicants always manage to secure a clutch of offers, and a few become ‘serial schemers’, perhaps tempted by the money on offer, which can be as much as several hundred pounds a week at City firms. Don’t despair if you can’t secure a place, however; it doesn’t mean you’ll never get a training contract. Try and build your CV up in other ways – say with voluntary work or other legal or commercial experience – and then have another stab at vac scheme applications.
Even if you navigate the vac scheme obstacle course perfectly, don’t get complacent. “After doing well on the vac scheme, one guy didn’t prepare enough for the interview and didn’t get the job.” You have to ace it at every stage.
“It’s like an assessment centre that never ends. Well, at least not for a fortnight or so.”
Vac schemes differ as much as the firms themselves. In some cases, your time will be structured down to the minute with talks about the firm and the training contract, followed by tasks, then coffee with the partners, then more tasks. Other firms might expect you to muck in on some real work or ask you to shadow someone for a few hours. Talking to people who’d recently been on vac schemes, we found that firms usually fall into one of two categories…
Some firms will:
- Try to razzle-dazzle you
- Set loads of assessment tasks
- Not give you much real work
- Structure the vac schemes tightly
- Put on lots of talks
- Not provide much senior contact
- Have you socialising with trainees
Other firms will:
- Organise fewer social events
- Set you more real work
- Put on lots of talks
- Give you more exposure to senior staff
- Have you socialising with a broader range of people
- Set some assessment tasks
Which type is better? In terms of achieving the end goal of a training contract offer then neither. In terms of finding out what the role of solicitor is really like then it’s probably the second type of programme that will score points.
When on a vac scheme, become an anthropologist. Observe your environment and its inhabitants; figure out the social structures, the hierarchies, the shared beliefs that bond people (if indeed there are any). Watch how the trainees fit in with all of this. Eavesdrop. You’ve got to be on your guard though because they know you’re there, and some of our sources did end up concluding: “It can be an artificial exercise – you see what they want you to see.” Anthropologists call this Observer Bias. Your aim is to peer beyond the mask at the living, breathing, sweating entity behind it. Is it really such a ‘diverse, approachable environment where employees have a great work-life balance’? How come that trainee’s got bags under her eyes? And where’s all that yelling coming from? Talk to people and try to find someone who’ll candidly tell you their thoughts minus the promotional psychobabble.
Try also to get a feel for how different departments work by reading as much as you can. A starting point would be our solicitors'practice area features. It’ll help you figure out what sort of work might suit you best and will enable you to ask intelligent questions of your supervisors. Intelligent questions pave the road to success, so lay as many down as possible without becoming annoying.
Vac schemers are often given research to do as a way of evaluating their abilities; expect to be given some specifics to look into before reporting back to solicitors with your findings. You might also be asked to shadow someone, helping them out with their workload. This is an excellent opportunity for you to find more out about the firm while proving yourself at the same time. You might even get to go to client meetings or visit court. Last, but certainly not least, are the mini-assessment tasks, designed to test your ability to present, argue and work as a team. “Don’t be over-assertive, but don’t fade into the background either. Remember to ask other people what their opinions are – you have to look like a team player.” Some tasks we heard about: advertising pitches to faux-potential clients, mini-transactions and business scenarios.
While you’re busy watching everyone else, don’t forget that they’re watching you, watching them, watching you. This recruitment lark is a delicate dance, so attune yourself to the characters around you and follow their lead. More than anything else, people will be trying to see if you ‘share the firm’s Core Values’. Ultimately, ‘professionalism’ should be your watchword. This is a job interview, even when you’re eating lunch in the canteen. Don’t be late for work. Switch off your mobile phone when in the office. Thinking about browsing the BBC website in a slack moment? Why take the risk? If you’re given an Outlook account, don’t go sending scurrilous e-mails to your mate. Don’t ever say an unkind word about anyone to anyone – be it partner, assistant, trainee, support staffer or fellow vac schemer. Even if everyone else is bitching, don’t get sucked in. Quite apart from the fact that gossiping is a shabby practice, staying above it all will ensure you’ll get a reputation for being (a) professional and (b) a nice person. Both are useful to have.
Coming for a quick drink? Bankers, lawyers, doctors and even priests all know how effective alcohol can be when it comes to greasing the wheels. But the trick is to drink the right amount – remember the Bishop of Southwark? Don’t make a fool of yourself. Even when ensconced in a snazzy club, those mental notepads will still be out. So, gauge the situation, anthropologists: is the firm boozy or abstemious?
Now that we’ve got you all tense by telling you that it’s all really serious and Your Future basically hangs on a thread, here are a few final tips: Be yourself, remember your manners, take a handkerchief, smell good, clean under your nails and show enthusiasm.