BEST RECRUITER – US FIRM IN THE CITY
understanding of the way more senior lawyers handle complex issues. “When I first started at V&E, I was sitting in energy transactions and projects and got involved in a particular matter,” recalls Lucy Preston, a second-year trainee. “I’m still working on it now, more than 18 months later and it’s been very interesting. When you work on a case long term, for example, you see partners make decisions and often you wonder at the time why those decisions were made. It’s only later, when you see the full picture as the case develops that you come to understand their reasons. It’s difficult to understand things in a vacuum. The more experience you have of working through the whole process, the more you understand the decisions that are made, you can react more quickly and engage with matters more. It’s been really beneficial, in fact, invaluable for me.” Of course, the process doesn’t only favour the trainees, it also helps the firm to ensure it gets the maximum return for its efforts – especially given the relatively small size of this century-old US firm’s London office. “We don’t take many trainees on and we really invest in those that do come here,” claims Sarah Stockley, previously a V&E trainee and senior associate, and now a member of the graduate recruitment team. “That is not just financially, but in all aspects of their training. The ideal result is for them to remain with the firm: to become associates and then make partner. We want to start that process very early on – so, we say: ‘this is what we’re like, warts and all, either you like it or you don’t.’ I think it is far better for us to be honest from the start than for someone to come here and realise that it’s not quite what they thought it was going to be.”
The preferred method for recruitment is via the vacation placement scheme, which – as
mentioned above – is also designed to offer an authentic taste of the V&E life and find those who savour it. To obtain a place on the scheme, the first stage is the now ubiquitous online application form. While everyone knows that most applicants apply to multiple firms, Lucy stresses how important it is to avoid generic answers. “It is very obvious in an application if you have copied and pasted answers,” she points out. “Conversely, it’s also obvious when you have put a lot of effort into an application. What I found helpful was to sit down and ask myself what I was really looking for in a firm using the Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook , LawCareers.Net and other similar resources. By the time I had that shortlist it was clear that only four or five firms would fit the bill. So I wrote totally bespoke applications for each of them. By the time I did the one for V&E, which was my preferred choice, I was well practised.” The myriad application forms are whittled down to between 50 and 60 candidates who get invited to attend an interview, conducted by Mark, Sarah and another member of the graduate recruitment team, Emilie Stewart, who is also an associate in the firm’s finance department. At interview, it is helpful to demonstrate that you know the sort of work the firm does and how that fits into the relevant industry markets and the wider business world. “You don’t need to reach the most polished business conclusions,” suggests Lucy, “but if you can create a starting point for a conversation, it really stays with interviewers. It stands out when we meet the people on open days and vacation schemes that have done their
We really wanted to create a training contract that would allow trainees to feel they were not actually trainees but junior lawyers from day one
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