Work Experience Student Review

You spend the majority of your time with a trainee solicitor who acts as your supervisor. They give you different tasks in each department, but most of the time I found myself summarising past cases, proof reading contracts and completing worksheets. Your interactions are mainly centred with your different supervisor but someone else in that office might ask you to do something for them. Also, in the mornings, you may have presentations, for example, how to become a trainee. On Friday, we also completed a mock employment tribunal which was quite interesting. Your responsibilities are mainly focused around completing the tasks for the deadline that your supervisor gives you and completing it to a high standard. The main schedule seemed to be the following; arrive for 9:30 and begin with a presentation, spend an hour with your supervisor before lunch, have an hour lunch break and return to your supervisor until 17:30.

I feel that I have not perhaps learnt any new skills, but I have been able to improve my research skills especially. For example, when summarising a case, you must be able to take a large document and narrow it down to a one paged document. This means that you must be able to eliminate certain pieces of information whilst also remaining detailed and accurate.

I enjoyed the fact that you are able to move around three different departments and get a sample of each. However, I feel that you must be prepared to put in a large amount of effort. I felt that I was chasing my supervisor around a lot asking for work, because if not, you were sat at your desk doing nothing. So I would say, be prepared to prove how much you would like to get involved. I also enjoyed it for the fact that Pinsent Masons is a large corporation and it gives you some insight into what it's like to work for such a large law firm. Therefore, in relation to whether it gives you an idea of what being a trainee solicitor is actually like, this work experience does that quite well. Especially when some trainees give you work that they must complete themselves.

As I've said, I feel that you need to be prepared to chase your supervisor a little and prove how much you would like to get involved. Additionally, obviously, trainees have their own deadlines and tasks they must complete, but at times, I felt more of a nuisance to them than any form of help. However, they obviously made an effort when I was there as they provided us with a conference room that we could spend time in for the entire week and even allowed us to review our CV with our supervisor.

The actual day is extremely organised as there is a set schedule that you follow. But, as I have already said several times, within your time with your trainee, it may not be as organised. It truly depends on who is acting as your supervisor and how much work they have prepared for you.

It was individual to each different supervisor. Some days, I felt that I was very supported as they would correct my work with me and give me useful tips. On the other hand, as I've said, it was easy to feel as if you were in the way and not being extremely helpful. Independence is key.

The first day is rather intense with the management team and the HR team. I started with a simple HR talk that was also acting as 'ice breaker' time with the other students and then we had a health and safety talk with a tour of the office. The office tour was rather fast paced and overwhelming, but people are very open to helping you find your way. Also, the person who was in charge of my time at the office was excellent at replying to your emails and responding to any queries that we may have had.

This is an unpaid work experience so the salary was non-existent and therefore did not meet my costs.

No, there weren't any opportunities during my week. The only thing you could do outside of work hours was prepare for the tribunal and there was a 'Dress Down Day' on the Friday.

Yes

It gives you quite a clear insight into what life as a trainee is like. Also, because Pinsent Masons is such a large, international firm, you had the opportunity to see what it would be like working for a corporation of this size. It also helps you to improve several of your skills. For example, when summarising the cases and answering the worksheets, your research skills may come into use. Pinsent Masons also had excellent research facilities so it was a very good time to improve. You are also working predominately on the computer and using Microsoft Word, and this therefore helps you improve your IT skills, especially practicing how to type up a document in an appropriate format.

The application isn't solely based on your academic credentials, however, as this is a very competitive program, your results may help you set yourself apart from the other applicants. However, I feel that you must also show what other areas of life you excel in, for example, your extra-curricular activities, because usually, they are what truly set you apart from the other students. I would've like to have been told that it doesn't matter if you haven't had any work experience in the legal field before, they will not automatically dismiss you just for missing that.