We typically run three vacation schemes – one week-long scheme in spring (usually the week before the week in which Good Friday falls) and two two-week schemes in the summer (usually the second and third weeks of June and July). These take place in our London office.

While we don’t exclusively recruit our trainees from our vacation schemes, they’re a key part of our recruitment process. Most years, the majority of our training contract offers will go to those who’ve spent time with us on a vacation scheme. That said, we recognise that not everyone is able to complete one, so we have a direct training contract application route too. 

The vacation schemes are very much a two-way process and I’d always recommend applying via this route if you can. It gives us more time to get to know you and understand what you’d bring to the firm. Equally, it gives you more time to get to know us and make a more informed decision on whether you see HFW as the right place to start your career. Participating in a vacation scheme gives you the chance to find out about a law firm's culture, the people and the work you might be doing, beyond just reading a website or brochure. They also give you the chance to shine in different ways, rather than everything coming down to just one or two interviews.

Participants on our vacation schemes get fully involved as part of the team from day one. We want you to get a good understanding of the work we do at HFW and what it’s like to be one of our trainees. You’ll be given real tasks and will participate fully with all aspects of the work in the group in which you sit. You’ll be working alongside our current trainees, one being your allocated 'buddy', and given a level of responsibility that’s appropriate for the stage you’re at in your studies.

In addition, there are talks organised to help you learn about the different areas of the firm and what it’s like to train with us. There are two assessed exercises as part of the vacation scheme, which are designed to give you an overview of the work we do as well as allowing us to assess your skills.

HFW has fully transitioned to the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) route for qualification. Our first intake of trainees who’ve studied SQE1 and SQE2 started with us in August 2024 and all future trainees will be taking these exams before they start their training contracts. We’ve worked with The University of Law, which provides our SQE preparation courses, to tailor elements in its SQE Plus course so that it’s relevant for HFW – we want all our trainees to benefit from this learning and to start their careers on an even footing.

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is very important to us at HFW. We’re committed to recruiting diverse talent and creating an inclusive working environment in which all our people can reach their full potential. We’re proud of the achievements we’ve made to date as they show the firm is taking action and effecting change; however, we know there’s much more work to be done and we’ll continue to make improvements in our approach.

We have a board level sponsor for D&I and our approach comes from the top. We also have a D&I committee that approves, monitors and reviews progress against our D&I strategy with progress being reported to the board quarterly.   

To engage our people, we have a series of D&I networks and focus groups covering: gender, mental wellbeing, LGBTQ+, race and ethnicity, social mobility and family. These networks provide a link between our employees and the D&I committee, with the chair of each network representing their members on the committee. This ensures that the diverse lived experience of our employees influences and informs our D&I programmes.

This all feeds in to how we do things in the early careers team. D&I's importance at HFW comes from the need to attract the best talent, no matter their background, and also because our clients demand action from us on D&I. We work with external providers to ensure our recruitment processes are inclusive. 

We recognise that AI is a useful tool that candidates can use as part of the process. It shouldn’t, however, be relied upon entirely. If you’ve used AI to generate an answer to one of our questions, it’s highly likely someone else will have done so as well. If you just copy and paste it into your application without reviewing and adapting it then the chances are your answer is going to sound very similar to others. It’s very easy for us to identify common structures and phrases when reading several hundred application forms that have been generated by AI. In the previous recruitment season, we definitely saw an increase in application forms where we felt we were reading pretty much the same thing over and over. This doesn't necessarily help you stand out or reflect you as an individual. It’s no different really to the old days where you’d read something and think "this sounds familiar" and then realise it had just been copied and pasted from something we’d written on the firm's website. I’m not saying don’t use AI at all, just consider how you use and how much you rely on it. Use the information out there as a starting point but then make sure your answers reflect you.

Tailoring your application form to the firm is important and this can only be done through thorough research. We want to see that a candidate understands what sets HFW apart from our competitors. You don't have to know everything about us or have expert knowledge of our sectors, but we expect you to know the type of work we do, how we differentiate ourselves and who some of our key clients are. Where possible, it’s important to highlight the elements of the firm that align with you so that we can understand why you want to join us specifically. Just name dropping a case or a client without providing an explanation as to why they interest you doesn't really add to your application.

Yes, we run assessment centres for both our vacation schemes and training contracts. These consist of a written exercise, a Watson Glaser critical thinking test, a group exercise and an interview with one or two of our associates. We’re still running our assessment centres virtually, one reason being that we believe this helps candidates who are unable to travel to our London office due to time or cost constraints. For those applying via the direct training contract route, the final stage partner interview would be in the London office to give you the opportunity to meet people in person and get a feel for the place.

Do your research! HFW is a great place to start your career but we won't be right for everyone. Find out about the type of work we do, our key clients, where our offices are and what life as an HFW trainee is like. For example, if you want to work at HFW, it’s important to understand that litigation work, travel and spending time overseas during your training contract are essential parts of the job. It’s fine to rule law firms out based on your research – the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have your shortlist of where you plan to apply and the better quality your applications are likely to be.

I try to exercise regularly as this allows me to look after my physical and mental health as well as unwind from work. One of my favourite activities is spinning. I love the fact that for an hour I can fully lose myself in the class and my mind can't really be distracted by anything else. I’m lucky enough to have found a great venue near me on a farm where the instructor is also a DJ, so I get to indulge some of my other passions as well – animals and great dance music!