Work Experience Blog – Caitlin Padmore
A swarm of butterflies tapdancing while doing the Macarena - How my stomach felt the nightprevious to my first day of work experience at Rollits. Having goneon various holidays in the post exam month and celebratedgraduation aplenty, I was ready but nervous to be reintroduced tomy legal side…..
On the morning of the firstday, I met the four other work experience students in reception whowere also nervous and we exchanged pleasantries. Mark Dixon(a Partner) and Libby Clarkson (a Trainee) greeted us. After anintroductory session and a tour of the office, we were shown to ourseats for the next three days.
I and another work experiencestudent were placed in Private Capital/Property. Myexperience at University with land law was not the greatest howeverthe property work was very different from the dry pages of academiawhich as law students we torturously work through. Indeed, the workin property was interesting and certainly has removed the darkshadow I placed upon anything to do with land law. The threedays were also a great distraction for my scheduled toothextraction on the Thursday- a nightmare for someone terrified ofthe dentist.
Following my painful andcomplex tooth extraction, I spent my time in the Company/Commercialdepartment. Everyone, once again made us feel extremely welcome andat ease when we needed to ask questions on any of the work set. Bythis point, I should mention that the butterflies stoppeddancing. I was given the opportunity to practically applywhat I had learned in studying company law which proved useful.Lunchtimes began to be social as I met the other work experiencestudents and we exchanged thoughts on our up and comingpresentations. The title of our presentations varied from thequestion 'what three things would you take on a desert island' to'How will Nelson Mandela's death affect the state?'
The beginning of the secondweek began with an excursion to the York office where we met thesixth work experience student. At the York office, a traditionalboy's v girls contest arose as we were separately required to do apresentation on marketing. We were informed that the result was adraw (personally, I think the girls won!). I should also addthat we were treated to a lunch at Masons in York. The fishcakeswere scrumptious.
On returning to the Hulloffice for the rest of the week, Dispute Resolution was our newdepartment. The work was constant and differing in every piece setbut all as equally interesting. Moving to the DisputeResolution department signalled that our presentations were uponus. This allowed the tap dancing butterflies to emerge onceagain.
The afternoon of presentationsarrived. The audience comprised of work experience students andvarious Rollits employees. Everyone delivered a fantasticperformance leading us all to leave the room more informed than onentry. The evening of the presentation saw we work experiencestudents mark the completion of our presentations with acelebratory drink- only one of course as we still had a day aheadof us.
On the last day, I reflectedon the great two weeks that we have had. I (and I know the otherwork experience students feel the same) would like to thank Rollitsfor everything over the past two weeks. Conclusively, a descriptionof Rollits in three words; professional, experienced andfriendly.
August2013
This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.