For me, it’s watching the apprentices and trainees grow in ability and confidence throughout their training and then reaching the point of qualification. It’s a great moment to see how far they’ve come and to know that I’ve been part of their journey.

Yes – Weightmans runs a summer vacation scheme, which is a paid, in-person placement lasting one week in June. We’ve opened applications to include first-year students as well second and third years. What I really like about this scheme is that it’s separate from our trainee recruitment process, so it gives students a valuable chance to learn more about the firm and gain meaningful experience.

There’s a really good mix of work on the Weightmans vacation scheme. Candidates will take part in training sessions during the week on areas like commercial awareness and finance. They’ll sit in sessions delivered online from our lawyers, and receive practical guidance on CV writing and completing applications, as well as taking part in a mock assessment. They’ll also spend time in different teams, sitting alongside lawyers, trainees, apprentices and even partners in the firm, so they can get a good feel for the work we do and the people they could be working with.

We’re looking for people who are focused, passionate and committed to delivering an excellent service to our clients and somebody who aligns with our values and purpose. What’s important to us is potential rather than prior experience. We know not everyone has had the opportunity to gain work experience, especially in law. Instead, we look for applicants to provide a well structured and in-depth answer to the main question on the initial application form.

The Weightmans graduate programme has been designed to support trainees through the Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE1 and SQE2). Our successful trainees will be guaranteed a place to study towards the SQE1 and SQE2 at BPP University Law School. As we recruit two years in advance, trainees can choose to prepare for the SQE1 on a full or part-time basis before joining us where they’ll then gain qualifying work experience. Trainees will then sit SQE2 when they’ve gained some on-the-job experience with the firm. The examinations and preparatory courses are fully funded by Weightmans for candidates who are successful in securing a position as trainee solicitor.

We’re committed to building an inclusive workplace culture that truly values diversity and promotes equal opportunities in line with our purpose of ‘see the possibility’. Across the firm, we have dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion strand leaders and champions, which includes many of our apprentices and trainee solicitors who play an active role in shaping this culture. Our champions and strand leaders work hard to organise training and events throughout the year to raise awareness and help to drive meaningful change. From a recruitment perspective, we’re focused on making our roles as accessible as possible, ensuring that everyone has the chance to join us.

The most common way that candidates let themselves down in their applications is by not providing a well structured, in-depth answer to the small essay question on the initial application form. When reviewing applications, we use a strict marking criterion, which considers things like:

• whether the answer is relevant to the question;
• the quality of punctuation, spelling and grammar; and
• whether the candidate has followed instructions (ie, word count).

Our advice to candidates is to take their time with the question – I always recommend treating the question like a piece of coursework and, if possible, get someone to proofread before submitting.

We ask candidates not to use AI tools when completing their applications. What we’d like to see is their own ideas, motivations and potential coming through. When candidates use their own words it helps us get to know them better and ensures that should they get through to the next stages of the application process, they can speak confidently about their application. Our advice to candidates is to take their time while completing the application.

Yes, we run online interviews as the third stage of our recruitment process. This process consists of an online interview and presentation with a partner and a member of the early careers team. If candidates are successful at this stage, they’ll be invited to an in-person assessment centre at one of our offices.

The assessment centre is the final stage of our recruitment process and lasts up to three hours, completing two activities – a group exercise and a written exercise. In the group exercise we assess how people interact and approach a problem together. We’re looking at how students work in a team, influence others and work together to achieve an outcome. The written exercise is in exam conditions and the topics will vary each year, but we’ll be assessing how you process information and construct an answer.

We want candidates to feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible –  to help with this, we deliver an online briefing session and written guidance to go through the assessment centre in detail and to answer questions as best as we possibly can.

We attend a range of law fairs throughout the autumn – this is always a busy, but exciting time for us as we visit universities across the country. Our main objective at these events is to meet students face to face, answer their questions and give them an insight into Weightmans. While we’re there to promote the firm and our programmes, we feel that law fairs are a great opportunity for us to really get to know the students, hear about their aspirations and goals and to share advice. For students, it’s also an excellent chance for them to learn more about our firm, the different pathways we offer and to ask us any questions.

For anyone interested in a career at Weightmans, I’d recommend coming along to one of the many events we attend or host, such as law fairs and open evenings. These are a great way to meet our people, ask questions and get a good feel for the firm. To make the most out of the experience, it’s a good idea to do some research beforehand and, if needed, have some questions prepared. This will help you work out whether our values and purpose of the ‘see the possibility’ programme align with you and whether you can see yourself building a career here.

Parks and Recreation – I’ve rewatched this series more times that I can remember.