Summer Vacation Scheme - Belfast | A&O Shearman careers

Experience what it means to be empowered

Our vacation scheme is designed to show you exactly what it’s like to tackle exciting challenges every day and experience global success as part of our friendly, supportive and dynamic culture.

Programme overview

During this one to two week vacation scheme you will be based in our Advanced Delivery legal department and find out more about working at a global law firm.

We offer a vacation scheme for students in the penultimate year of their undergraduate law degree.

What you’ll gain

On this scheme, you’ll be able to gain real and valuable skills you will use and develop throughout your career. You’ll find out more about the firm, our different practice groups and what it could be like to join us as a legal professional once you’ve graduated. You’ll also have a diverse range of events and presentations at your disposal that will show you what it takes to excel at a firm like ours.

Work experience

During the scheme you will get to work alongside associates on live deals and cases, gaining valuable skills to help you in your future career. Alongside this, current legal professionals and the early careers recruitment team will provide you with advice and guidance on interviews, networking and career development.

Growth and development

With us, you will constantly be learning and growing. We offer exceptional professional and personal development, providing training, mentoring and practical support.

All those successful in gaining a vacation scheme place will be paid GBP500 per week and will be considered for a legal professional role upon graduation.

Requirements

There is no one single type of person who succeeds here. Whether you’re determined, curious, resilient or open-minded - whoever you are - this programme is a chance for you to start your journey early and develop your legal expertise.

Programme details

Academic qualifications

We accept applications from penultimate-year law students from all universities.

Our academic requirements are AAB (136 UCAS points) or equivalent at A-Level and on track for/achieved a 2:1 undergraduate degree. We do take into account mitigating circumstances. We accept applications from penultimate-year law students from all universities.

Personal skills

Communication, problem-solving, teamwork, time management, attention to detail, adaptability.

Application window

Applications open: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Applications close: Thursday, December 31, 2026

Scheme dates

Summer 2027; dates TBC

Salary

GBP500 per week

Tips, insights and advice, direct from our team

Application tips for students and graduates

Tips for a successful application and interview with A&O Shearman. Applying for a position at A&O Shearman can be a significant step in your career. To help you navigate the process and increase your chances of success, here are some detailed tips for students, for both the application and interview stages.

Application process

Online application

You will be required to submit an online application which details your work and education history.

Assessment

You will then be sent an email which will contain a link to complete our online experience, which includes situational judgement questions, verbal and numerical reasoning items and two short motivation questions to complete via video. The online experience is untimed and should take around 45 minutes.

You will need to complete your application and online experience ahead of the deadline.

You can read our preparation tips on Situational Judgement Tests or take a practice test.

Interviews

If your application is successful, the next stage will be an assessment day comprising two one-on-one interviews.

The first interview is based on a commercial case study, where you’ll have time to work through a brief and prepare a short presentation to deliver to your interviewer. This will be followed by a discussion on the key points from the case study.

In the second interview, you will be asked a series of questions based on scenarios you may encounter in the role.

Offer

After your interviews, we will review your performance and aim to get back to you with a decision as quickly as possible.

Regardless of the outcome, we’re committed to providing constructive feedback on your interview performance to help you going forward in your career.

A word of caution

There are a number of websites purporting to provide free samples of A&O Shearman application forms and assessment questions, including questions from our online experience. A&O Shearman takes cases of plagiarism and copyright extremely seriously.

We strongly caution applicants against using, or paying for, unofficial sources claiming to provide information on the A&O Shearman application process. We encourage every potential candidate to review our website for details of our application process and a sample SJT.

Questions

If you have any further questions on the A&O Shearman application process, or if you wish to discuss or report such a website, please contact us.

Please note, all applications will close at 5:00pm on the closing date and you must have submitted your online application and completed the interactive assessment by this deadline.