How was the scheme structured and how did your work change over time?

Jones Day’s vacation scheme is structured to reflect the experience of the firm’s training contract, particularly the non-rotational structure and emphasis on ‘walking the floors’. Walking the floors refers to the expectation that you walk around the office, knocking on office doors to introduce yourself and seek opportunities to get involved in live work directly from lawyers. Every vacation scheme candidate is sat in a shared office with an associate mentor, which was a great way to develop a base and grow a relationship with a specific individual within the firm. Despite this, you’re expected to seek work from a range of people and practice areas during the scheme, alongside completing a variety of tasks.

Throughout the scheme, we attended several networking events involving the firm’s main practice areas, helping us build relationships with the lawyers, learn more about their work and open up opportunities for future tasks. Alongside this, there was a negotiation exercise and a ‘work bank’ task. These scheduled events and tasks were mostly during the first week as by the second week, we were expected to have built connections and be completing live work sourced from Jones Day lawyers.

How did the office environment shape your experience of the scheme?

The office environment at Jones Day is overwhelmingly positive and greatly enhanced my experience of the scheme. Walking the floors was initially a daunting prospect. However, I think everyone on the scheme was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and supportive people were towards the vacation scheme candidates. We found that even when lawyers didn't have any work available, they would still take the time to chat with us and keep us in mind when opportunities arose.

In addition, we built positive relationships across Jones Day, often leading to further tasks and opportunities later in the scheme. For example, a short research task I did for one partner led to my invitation to multiple internal and external meetings, and an exciting range of follow-up work that provided a reassuring sense of responsibility and value during the scheme. This further enhanced the realistic insight into the non-rotational system trainees at Jones Day experience.

What’s one thing you learnt about the firm during the scheme that you couldn’t have learned from research alone?

One aspect about Jones Day that stood out to me, which I couldn’t have learned from research alone, was how noticeable its ‘One Firm Worldwide’ culture was. While many law firms detail the connectedness of their offices and lawyers on their websites, Jones Day’s everyday work truly fulfilled that motto.

A particular moment that stuck with me was during an internal meeting when a question was raised regarding business in the US. One of the partners immediately requested that I email US colleagues to ask this question. I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the people at Jones Day are with requesting help from international colleagues, as well as by the speed and helpfulness of the US team.

What skills did you develop during the scheme and when did you notice yourself using them?

Despite the short nature of the scheme, I developed a range of legal skills through completing live legal work, ranging from proofreading and drafting documents to using Harvey, one of Jones Day’s legal AI tools.

I was initially apprehensive coming from a non-law background, however, completing live work from the first day meant that I quickly began to pick up and develop the necessary skills. In addition, all candidates during my scheme became more confident in introducing themselves to lawyers across the firm and communicating with them, whether to ask for new work, request help or simply have a chat.

What’s one specific thing you did during the application or scheme that you think made a real difference to your training contract application?

One thing I intentionally focused on throughout the application process and scheme was maintaining positive energy and personality. It’s been highlighted to me by current lawyers that, while our competence to complete legal work is assessed during a vacation scheme, our character and ability to work positively with potential future colleagues is also highly valued. During the scheme, I made a conscious effort not only to produce the best work that I could, but also to build relationships with individuals at all levels of Jones Day, aiming to bring a positive, collaborative energy and connect with people as individuals, not just through the legal role they fulfilled.