With training contracts in scarce supply, the vacation scheme is gaining increasing importance. Friederike Heine talks to City law firms about how to get one – and make the most of it

In a recruitment landscape where training contracts are increasingly hard to come by there are tales abound of students relentlessly working their way through countless application forms in a desperate attempt to start on the path to a career in law.

The best way to get a foot in the door is, of course, work experience. However, it will come as no surprise to students that vacation schemes are in equally short supply.

SJ Berwin, for one, reduced its vacation scheme offering from three schemes throughout the year to two and reduced the number of students it offered places to from 50 per scheme to 40. "In line with many other law firms, we have made attempts to cut costs, and vacation schemes have not been exempt from this," says recruitment partner Bryan Pickup. "However, this has simultaneously allowed us to improve our vacation scheme offering – the smaller the number of students, the more intense the experience."

Field Fisher Waterhouse, which used to offer placements to more than sixty people a year, now provides only 20. "The reduced number of places is indeed a daunting prospect for students, especially since the number of applications we receive is increasing year on year," says senior human resources (HR) manager Sonia Cooke. "However, the students who do gain a place on the scheme get more face-to-face time with senior management, which significantly increases their chances of securing a training contract."

Since the onset of the recession nearly three years ago, HR directors have been inundated with applications for work placements. Cooke explains: "We heard through the grapevine that the increasing number of applications was primarily due to people being turned away at investment banks. In this fragile economic environment, students are looking for security in their future profession and the legal sector is viewed as such."

According to Linklaters recruitment partner Mark Middleton, students should be aware that in the current economic environment, standards are high and competition is fierce. "A vacation scheme is essentially an extended interview," he says. "It is a chance for us to see how candidates handle themselves in a professional environment and whether they are able to adapt according to the tasks at hand."

Many partners themselves cannot believe how tough it is to get in the door now, admitting that students may not even be considered without the right A-level grades, a good 2:1 and a gleaming resume full of relevant work experience. However, there are ways for applicants to set themselves apart.

The application process

For most firms the selection process for a vacation scheme is almost as rigorous as for a training contract. Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer requires candidates to complete an application form and an online verbal reasoning test. This is followed by a written exercise, an analytical interview and a more general, face-to-face interview. DLA Piper, meanwhile, puts its vacation scheme applicants through an assessment centre.

Some firms do offer places based on an online application only – which is why it is vital to make it stand out. "Law firms are looking for people who have lived," says Field Fisher's Cooke. "Further to the academic credentials, they are looking for candidates who have travelled – preferably self-funded travel – and those who have worked not just in the legal sector but anywhere that requires transferrable skills. Candidates also stand out of they have shown leadership skills at university or elsewhere."

Freshfields trainee recruitment manager Jess Booker agrees: "I cannot emphasise enough how important personality is during the recruitment process. Recruiters get rather bored with generic responses – I'm always impressed by people who have done interesting holiday jobs outside of the law."

Make the best of it

Vacation scheme structures vary from firm to firm, but essentially students will share an office with a junior lawyer or trainee. Although some firms give candidates a level of choice over which department they will sit in, they may not be able to accommodate everyone's wishes.

At Freshfields, for example, students spend three weeks in just one department. Students on vacation schemes at Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper and Weil Gotshal & Manges spend each week in a different department.

Hogan Lovells training partner Ruth Grant comments: "Given the complexity of the work handled and the amount of time students will get to spend in a department, it is unlikely that you will get a huge amount of responsibility – typical tasks may include legal research, note-taking at a client meeting and proof-reading."

Firms will supplement this with seminars designed to give students a better insight into the type of work they handle, along with skills workshops to help with training contract applications. "The type of work you handle and the level of responsibility you are given will depend on your willingness to learn and the quality of your output," says Linklaters' Middleton. "If you tackle every task, even the more mundane ones, with enthusiasm and to the best of your ability, then you are more likely to be trusted with more interesting and challenging jobs."

During the scheme, it is important to show knowledge of the firm. Has it acquired any big name clients, won awards or done anything else newsworthy recently? A bit of background information will show a keen interest in the firm and the field you want to work in. It is also good to be informed if the firm has had any recent setbacks so as not to make any faux pas.

The key to making the most of a vacation scheme is to view it as an opportunity to experience the working culture of a law firm before committing the foreseeable future to a career as a City solicitor. There will be mundane tasks and long, long hours, but liking the environment you work in is vital in order to make this commitment.

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Case study: Hannah Smith Willis – Field Fisher Waterhouse

"Field Fisher Waterhouse is a mid-size firm which attracts the same calibre of work and clients as many of the larger City firms. It was this fact, coupled with their excellence in intellectual property (IP) and technology which drove me to apply for the firm's vacation scheme.

"Rather unusually, Field Fisher places you in one department for the full two weeks: I was placed in commercial IP. This system allowed me to get much more involved with the work that I was given and enabled me to really get to know everyone in the team. I was given varied tasks including a piece of research on IP ownership rights which a partner later used in a client call. I was also pulled into a deal closing with the media team, which provided a real sense of contribution and a great adrenaline rush.

"Interested in the firm's expertise in sports law, I asked to accompany a partner to a BBC interview regarding ambush advertising at the World Cup. Not only was I granted this request but my supervisor was overwhelmingly supportive of me pursuing interests and finding out as much about the firm as possible while I was there.

"The largest single task during the vacation scheme was a mock pitch presentation that the students had to prepare and give in groups. Researching the pitch and performing our tender in front of the business development team, which included a senior corporate partner, was quite daunting, but a good way to experience life as a commercial solicitor."

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Case study: Alim Amershi – Hogan Lovells

"The firm's ambition to be a truly international law firm appealed to me, as this aspiration was in conjunction with my desire to work on the most complex and groundbreaking cross-border deals.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the scheme and the diverse structure of the programme played a big part in that. Over the three weeks, there was an excellent variety of formal skills sessions and informal interactive workshops, which enabled me to learn about the firm itself as well as about the qualities needed to be a successful lawyer.

"At the beginning of the scheme we were informed that during the final week we would have to present a pitch in groups to a number of partners. At first, this was particularly daunting, not least because we had been assigned to talk about an area of law that we knew little about; becoming familiar with the technicalities of this area of law and then presenting ourselves to be experts in this field was a significant challenge. Each member of the group developed a considerable understanding of our chosen topic by the end of the three weeks, which resulted in us winning a prize for the best pitch.

"The main advice that I would give, in terms of preparation, is to ensure that you have kept yourself up-to-date with any recent deals that the firm has worked on since your vacation scheme application and any current headlines in the legal press about the firm. This knowledge is not essential, but it will stand you in good stead when you are on the scheme."

For more, see:

• Career Clinic: How can I make the most of my vac scheme?
• Career Clinic: Why can't I get an interview for a vac scheme?