Daniel Ingle completed a vacation scheme at Howes & Percival in July 2018. He studied law at the University of Oxford.
Insider report Howes Percival LLP
What did you do while on the vacation scheme? The scheme was only a week long, but there was a lot packed into that period of time. We were assigned to different seats for each of the first four days – mine included property and litigation. In each seat we were set a task, then after completing it we assisted members of the team with their work. On the last day, we were set a negotiation task and also attended a charity social event with clients of the firm, which involved classic ‘school sports day’ activities. What did you feel that you gained from the placement? I got a good idea of what the firm would be like to work for and the experience also increased my confidence in being able to perform in law firm environment. Which were the most enjoyable - and most challenging - aspects of the scheme? One of the highlights was the negotiation task on the last day. The vac schemers were given a contentious issue and split into two groups representing the different parties. It started off with each party trying to demonstrate why the other was to blame for the problem, but developed into a really constructive discussion about how to find a solution. The most challenging aspect for me personally was resisting the temptation to rush tasks in my eagerness to get them completed. The experience helped me learn to slow down and check my work. Did the scheme end with a training contract interview or some other kind of further recruitment process? The scheme itself ended with the negotiation exercise and a couple of months later there followed a day of training contract interviews. Having completed the vacation scheme, I felt more confident and at ease during the interview day because I had met most of the interviewers before. Is there one key thing that you took away from the experience that you would pass on as advice to others? Although you need to focus on the work, my main advice is to also get involved with the other activities at the firm as much as possible and try to be outgoing. For example, one of things that I think helped me make a good impression on the scheme was that during the charity sports event on the last day, I volunteered to help a client’s team in some of the events, which showed a willingness to step forward and also gave me the opportunity to talk to the clients more.
No of scheme places 24 Location of schemes Leicester, Northampton, Norwich Length of schemes 1 week Dates of schemes
June 2020 July 2020 Closing date for applications 31 March 2020
Application procedure Online application form
For full contact information and details of Training Contract, see the firm’s full entry in the main directory on p361
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