Emilia Gray attended the Summer 2018 vacation scheme at Ashurst and will start her training contract at the firm in March 2021. She studied law at the University of Warwick.
Insider report Ashurst LLP
What did you do while on the vacation scheme? I spent a week and a half in two different departments – global loans and corporate and the tasks I did were really varied. I helped to draft various documents in both departments, was set research tasks by my supervisor and even helped a trainee with a really interesting pro bono project. However, on one of the days I also ended up going to a charity fundraiser event, which was a barbecue and a football tournament with the World Cup games that day being played on a big screen. On another day we went to a local community centre and helped tidy up the gardens and children’s playground as part of Ashurst’s corporate social responsibility scheme. So the whole scheme was very varied, which I felt enabled me to gain a really good insight into the firm. Which were the most enjoyable – and most challenging – aspects of the scheme? The most enjoyable aspect for me was definitely the people – which is what had drawn me to the firm in the first place through my role as the firm’s brand ambassador in 2017. On one of the panel events during my scheme, a partner described the firm as “taking its work seriously but not itself” and I think that really hit the nail on the head for me. People at Ashurst are incredibly good at what they do, but they’re also very approachable and down to earth. In both departments I sat in so many people of all different seniority popped in to introduce themselves and I was even invited to celebratory drinks after work when someone made partner. This meant that whenever I was stuck on something, I felt I could ask for help – which was a really important factor for me when considering a firm I wanted to train at. The most challenging part I would probably say was some of the work. What I did really like was that I was given real work to do – one of the evenings my supervisor sent the trainee in our office home early and I stayed a little longer to help instead. However, this meant that sometimes the work was quite challenging. Everyone was so accommodating though: my supervisor sent me many different e-seminar videos to help me further my understanding of the work we were doing, and trainees offered to get coffees with me and would check how I was doing. Did the scheme end with a training contract interview or some other kind of further recruitment process? Yes, you have a final partner interview after the scheme. My interview took place around two weeks after the scheme. I preferred this, as it meant I felt I could really throw myself into the scheme and get fully immersed, without worrying about the fact I had my interview at the end of the following week. Is there one key thing that you took away from the experience that you would pass on as advice to others? I would say be a ‘yes-person’ for the experience! The schemes can appear quite daunting but if you try and put yourself out there – say yes to the coffee offers, pop in and introduce yourself to people, etc, you’ll actually end up feeling more comfortable in the long run as you’ll realise everyone is really nice and approachable.
No of scheme places 60-70 Location of schemes London Length of schemes Winter: 1 week Spring: 1 week (first-year scheme) Summer: 3 weeks Remuneration (per week) Spring: £275 Winter and Summer: £400 Dates of schemes Winter: December 2019 Spring: April 2020 Summer: June 2020 July 2020 Closing date for applications Winter: 3 November 2019 Spring and Summer: 5 January 2020 Application procedure Online application accessed via the firm’s website at www.ashurst.com/en/ careers For full contact information and details of Training Contract, see the firm’s full entry in the main directory on p282
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WORK EXPERIENCE
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