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Hours

• "The hours are long – but it is what I expected! A good day is 9.30am – 7.30pm. I'm not a fan of early mornings so I appreciate the gentle start. I've done some all nighters, but that's typical of the department. I reckon I average 45 hours a week. Maybe more." -- First year trainee
• "I'm in finance therefore the hours can be up and down. When I was working long hours I got very frustrated and miserable, however, now I'm working normal hours I am really enjoying it. The average is hard to therefore guess at, as it will be constantly changing." -- First year trainee
• "I work about 50 – 55 hours a week in my current seat (tax) which I think is fine." -- First year trainee
• "I normally arrive at 9.30 and leave around 7. This can vary drastically, but on average the hours are about what I expected. This massively depends on the department, and some people have periods where they don't get much sleep – but on the whole this is an exception and is recognised by the partners through time in lieu and other goodies." -- First year trainee

• "At the moment, I probably average 40 – 50 hours per week, which is less than I expected. I will occasionally have a late night/late week, but overall the hours are relatively civilised." -- Second year trainee
• "The hours you work at the firm very much depend on which department you sit in. The work level is also quite unpredictable, some weeks working completely flat out and others sat twiddling your thumbs." -- First year trainee
• "This will depend on the seat, e.g. the hours on a secondment or in real estate are generally good whereas in a corporate seat trainees/associates can often be expected to work very long hours." -- First year trainee
• "This varies massively depending on which department you work in. I regularly worked 70+ hours per week in corporate, but in my other seats I have tended to work a fairly normal week of about 40 – 50 hours." -- Second year trainee

Salary

• "I think it's about average for a City firm of this size, and for a firm which does not require a ridiculous amount of hours." -- First year trainee

• "Seems to be the standard market rate for a mid-size City firm." -- Second year trainee

Perks

• "The O2 box – when it's not used by clients the tickets are offered in a free draw across the office." -- First year trainee
• "Usual stuff including gym membership, free dinner after a certain time, taxis home, etc. There is also the chance to use the firm's box at the O2 every now and then – and sometimes there are goodies that come in from clients, e.g. a special Olswang screening of the King's Speech before release, tickets to premieres and to X Factor, etc." -- First year trainee
• "We had a private screening of The King's Speech before it was released." -- First year trainee

• "End of month themed drinks, an active sport/social scene, the number of green/CSR initiatives is very impressive, and although I was away at the time, I believe that Libby Savill brought both her Oscar and the Directors' of The Kings Speech into a Q&A session." -- First year trainee
• "I have been taken to quite a few Business Development events with clients as part of our restructuring and insolvency team, which is lovely as it has made me feel like I'm considered a valuable part of the firm. I am also going to a post completion drinks event tomorrow with the banking sector." -- First year trainee

Fun Facts

• "We have a trainee dodge ball team!" -- First year trainee
• "I guess the cookie thing is pretty well known... jelly beans in the meeting rooms? Probably also quite well known... cupcake Fridays?" -- Second year trainee
• "We just got our first honey bees on our first floor roof!" -- First year trainee

• "When designing the current offices, employees were given the chance to vote for which company they wanted the firm to rent the ground floor retail space to – it went to Starbucks." -- First year trainee
• "We have a partner with an Oscar." -- First year trainee

Pluses

• "The friendly atmosphere and exciting environment." -- First year trainee
• "The people are fun and approachable and the clients are, on the whole, pretty interesting, as is a lot of the work." -- Second year trainee
• "The opportunity to work on great projects for cutting-edge media clients." -- First year trainee

• "Clients, people, and level of responsibility." -- First year trainee
• "Very friendly and generally supportive. Interesting work." -- First year trainee
• "Some of the people here are exceptionally good at what they do." -- Second year trainee

Minuses

• "Hours are still tough at times, pay could be better." -- First year trainee
• "It is becoming increasingly corporate by the day." -- First year trainee
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• "My legal interests are broadly commercial, but if you're desperate to be a media lawyer you might be better off at a more niche firm." -- First year trainee
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