Summertime Success - Balancing a Productive and Relaxed Summer

Gaining valuable experience, building your CV, and developing key skills that will allow you to overcome the competition this summer.

You've finally finished exams, eager to return to the comfort of your home and sit back, put your feet up, and relax. After all, those long 8hour days of revision were draining and you of all people deserve a break. This is what many students do post-exams, and it is a perfectly acceptable way to spend the summer holiday (being exactly that, a 'holiday' after all). But for me and you, we are different. We will undoubtedly take the time to relax this summer, yet also see it as an opportunity to capitalise on productive and personally developing activities, that will give us the edge over our fellow students when we return to our education. And so, I thought I would share some of the best ways to get involved in the legal and business world, many of which I will be engaging in as you peruse this very article!

• 1) Summer Schemes 
  With a long application process, thousands of applicants, and gruelling day-long interviews, the image surrounding summer schemes is enough to repel a range of students. However, I can assure you the reality of this, and the range of benefits, offer a far greater incentive.
  
  Regardless of whether you are a Sixth-Form student, taking a gap year, or even entering into your final year of university, firms all across London have begun to offer a range of schemes tailored to each stage of your education. By literally 'putting your foot in the door' of these firms, they offer great opportunity to better understand the culture of individual work-environments, whilst also building upon your interpersonal and communication skills hugely through the week.
  
  Having personally completed a one week scheme in sixth-form, and soon to begin another first-year scheme in London and Amsterdam, I continue to reap the rewards of these commitments and feel they have made me a more relaxed and able individual in the office environment. From skills sessions and partner mock-interviews to shadowing/engagement in real ongoing work, these schemes take the core experience of an open day and maximise it to offer a deeper understanding of the work and life of a trainee. I will write a blog devoted purely to summer schemes later this month, and a link to a previous scheme by the LSMP (Legal Social Mobility Partnership) can be found here. 

• 2) Open Days
  Unlike a summer scheme, open days run throughout the year and are usually much easier to get a place on. While they do not offer the insight of a full week-long scheme, this does not mean they are of no use as a starting point to explore a variety of firms, as the quick one-stop-tour is surprisingly useful for showing the firm's location, work ethic, structure and practice areas.
  
  By attending open days at a range of firms, you are better able to pick a firm that is suited to you as an individual, and that matches your ambitions within your career. Magic Circle work hours aren't for everyone after all, and only by attending a variety of large and niche firms can you truly understand this for yourself. This will hugely benefit you in interviews too, as when asked the expected question: 'why us?' you can truly justify your answer due to your range of experiences with other firms both small and large; standing out above the limited experience of your peers.

• 3) Magistrates/Crown Court I am often quick to assume that those of you reading this blog will, like myself, want to join the commercial world of business and law, as opposed to criminal law or the BAR. However, it is was only through visiting my local courts of law that I made this decision myself, and thus I encourage all of you to do the same.

Without a doubt, this is the easiest way to build an understanding of another practice area of law, whilst also adding to your CV and showing a genuine interest in both the academic study and career of law. A magistrates court is like a church, open for all to enter and completely free of charge (with added security measures, metal detectors and the occasional press)! The brilliance of visiting a magistrates court is that by simply turning up you will be able to view criminal proceedings, and decide whether this interests you. Trust me, with some of the drama that occurs in court, I think you will be at least amused!I enjoyed my first day visiting a court so much that I stayed through 7hours of proceedings, and was even invited to talk with the prosecution, defence and magistrates as the day came to a close. Spending 8 days in court that summer, the theatre of the proceedings acted as both education and entertainment throughout my holiday.

• 4) Business Books and Blogs
  From the Financial Times to SLAB, 'Eve Was Framed' to 'Letters to a Law Student', there is a large offering of digestible information available online that offers a nice diversity from the draining historical and theoretical legal textbooks that so many of us are burdened with!
  
  I like to think that SLAB offers an engaging and relaxed approach to building a greater understanding of the legal world. However, SLAB does not offer current reporting of commercial events, and for this, the Financial Times and FT Online are great resources. While it may present a challenge for first-time readers, alienated by the jargon and complex language, with some persistence these provide a valuable learning tool and stand you well in interview environments. To further build upon commercial awareness, I would recommend a series by Chris Stokes; breaking down the complexities of modern business and making the language more accessible to all.
  
  Unfortunately, binge-watching 'Suits' doesn't always offer the realistic understanding of the commercial world that so many students fail to possess, so start reading!

The options I have covered tend to all experience levels, and everyone, regardless of previous experience, should be able to benefit from one to two of these methods. So go out and enjoy your summer, but perhaps devote a few days to gaining more legal experience. A day in the magistrate's court provides an exciting break, and a great way to escape the chores left at home by your parents! 

Christian Hughes.