In April, Michelmores welcomed several academically gifted students from Exeter College as part of the REACH Academy to join us for a 3 day ‘taster’ experience of those considering a career in law. Michelmores’ HR team put together an excellent timetable, jam-packed with workshops, departmental talks, lunches and sessions dedicated to working within the students’ allocated team to give a comprehensive impression of life as a solicitor.
I was asked to be a ‘buddy’ to Samantha Taplin, an AS Level student at Exeter College, and my role was to be Samantha’s point of contact when working in the Technology Media and Communications / Intellectual Property (TMC / IP) team.
Over the last three days I have taken part in work experience here at Michelmores. When I received an e-mail from the REACH Academy at Exeter College saying that there were five places available for students to participate I thought it would be a great opportunity to get first-hand experience in a law firm, as well as helping me to decide whether or not being a lawyer was a career I would want to pursue.
After being sent the e-mail saying that I had been accepted I was excited but also a little anxious at the thought of working with highly qualified lawyers in a successful firm. However, on arrival the staff were very friendly and made me feel like they were glad I was there rather than a burden to them. On the first day a networking lunch was set up for us with the buddies who had been put in charge of looking after us for the three days. This was a nice way to get to know our buddies in a more relaxed environment outside of the office.
I spent the majority of my time doing jobs within a department that I was assigned to with my buddy to guide me. I was working in Intellectual Property which is a type of law that I’d never even heard of previously and so the work that I was given during my three days helped me to gain knowledge of this area and get an insight into the work that some of the people in the office around me were doing.
Outside of this there were also a few workshops with experts from some of the other departments who came and spoke to us about what they did and how they got to where they are now. This was great because it meant that we could learn more about the work done here at Michelmores outside of the departments we were working in. We were also informed on the steps needed to become a lawyer and were given tips for interviews and applications.
Overall I have really enjoyed my time here at Michelmores and this has definitely been an experience I am glad to say that I have had. I have learnt a lot from a variety of people and I would certainly recommend it to anyone thinking about a career in law.