As the lockdown continues in the UK, the legal industry has started to make changes to the way it continues its recruitment process, whether this is through delaying vac schemes until it is safe to conduct them or changing their format altogether.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP have announced that their its London office summer vacation schemes will proceed this year on schedule, remotely. It will host four virtual vacation schemes, each lasting for one week.
David Herlihy, our Graduate Recruitment Partner announces, ‘Our teams have worked creatively to ensure that the schemes will continue to provide a meaningful opportunity for candidates to learn more about our firm, people, culture and work. We are committed to keeping our talent pipeline strong.’
There have already been other changes in this season’s recruitment cycle with a few firms starting to change their strategy. Burges Salmon have announced that they are cancelling their general applications for the 2022 intake and will only be recruiting from their vacation scheme candidates for that round. Additionally, Russell-Cooke have ‘paused’ their graduate recruitment for the 2022 intake year entirely.
Other firms may follow suit, particularly those with generally small trainee intakes. But, the news from Skadden shows that innovation in terms of vacation scheme format makes continuing recruitment possible in what may be a new normal way.