Winter vacation schemes: get your skates on to secure some work experience for the festive season

If you’re anything like the student law society representatives we met last week, many of you will have barely touched the ground since term began. With law fairs, lecture timetables and reading lists to tackle, application forms for vacation schemes and training contracts seem like a lifetime away. However, complacency is a law student’s worst enemy – deadlines are closer than you think and we would be remiss to advise you otherwise.

Non-law students who are seeking a vacation scheme in particular should keep a keen eye on the winter placement application closing dates. Many of these programmes are designed for those from a non-law background so it’s vital not to miss out on the opportunity to meet firm’s graduate recruitment team and develop a better understanding of where you might want to eventually work.

We list all work placement deadlines on the basis of information provided by the recruiting organisations themselves, with filters available to see the specific winter, spring or summer deadlines. The following firms are currently accepting applications for their winter programmes:

31/10/2014

• Allen & Overy LLP (final year undergraduates and graduates)
• Berwin Leighton Paisner (penultimate year law students, final year non-law students and graduates)
• Herbert Smith Freehills LLP (final year undergraduates and graduates)
• Jones Day (final year undergraduates, postgraduate students and graduates)
• Norton Rose Fulbright (final year undergraduates and graduates)

01/11/2014

• Simmons & Simmons LLP (final year undergraduates and graduates)

02/11/2014

• Stephenson Harwood LLP (open to both non-law and law students)

07/11/2014

• Hogan Lovells (final year and graduate non-law students)

09/11/2014

• Shearman & Sterling (London) LLP

10/11/2014

• Linklaters LLP (final year undergraduates, postgraduate students and graduates)

14/11/2014

• Dentons (final year non-law students)

15/11/2014

• Ashurst LLP (non-law and law finalists, graduates and career changes)
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

21/11/2014

• Bristows

Best of luck – and remember to use MyLocker to speed up your application writing.