KC ambassador Louice Woods shares her thoughts on the recent ‘Preparing for Winter Vacation Schemes and Career Planning’ webinar.
On Monday 14th September, KC hosted a free webinar called, ‘Preparing for Winter Vacation Schemes and Career Planning’ alongside The Legal Line Up. The panellists included Host of the Legally Speaking Podcast, Robert Hanna, and co-founders of The Legal Line Up, Matthew Berrick and Adam Leigh who are both future trainee solicitors.
The main takeaways from this webinar include:
- How to apply for vacation schemes whilst at university,
- How to get the most out of vacation schemes,
- And how to figure out whether a firm is the right fit for you.
The main advice given for managing applications alongside university modules is to treat applications as another module. This means that you dedicate time each week to an application question. This means that there should be close attention to detail to avoid common pitfalls such as grammatical errors and incoherent structure.
The panellists touched on how to get the most out of vacation schemes. Both Matthew and Adam suggested tailored networking. This could be through discussing your interests with your trainee buddy and asking them to direct you to colleagues working within that particular area. It could also be through contacting members of other departments directly on LinkedIn. Vacation Schemes are a great way to network and ask questions to find out more about the firm. It is important to be proactive and engage throughout the vacation scheme.
Figuring out whether a firm is the right fit for you is the main aim of a vacation scheme. As Adam mentioned, vacation schemes are a two way street for both yourself and the firm. The panellists also mentioned numerous other opportunities to get involved with firms. This included open days, first year schemes, graduate schemes and presentations. By attending these schemes, you are given an opportunity to network and make a lasting impression on members of the firm.
The webinar concluded with a Q & A session, with questions regarding how students can improve their commercial awareness, how students can become involved in extracurricular activities, how students approach application questions and how non- law students can stand out with little to no legal experience. The panel answered the questions concisely but comprehensively. To improve commercial awareness, it was suggested that The Business Update was followed, as this provides daily Business and Legal news. The Legal Line Up is also releasing an application guide in the next few weeks.
I am really looking forward to implementing these new techniques when applying for vacation schemes this year.
If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording here!
