Massive congratulations on your four offers! Amazing! Do you have any thoughts on the reasons (if you're happy to share) for your post-VS rejection last year and what you want to do differently this year?
Thank you! Yeah there were definitely a few reasons for last year's post-VS rejection so I'll go through them here:
- The main reason the firm gave was that I lacked office experience so basically although the feedback was positive, they could tell that I didn't really know what it would be like to work in a law firm and I think they were perhaps a bit worried that I idealised it and didn't quite know what I was getting myself into. I showed a huge interest in pro bono and ESG activities but perhaps not enough in the things I'd be doing day-to-day. So I think with that, obviously it has been hard to get office experience this year, but the TCLA stuff on how law firms operate as a business and networking with as many trainees, associates etc. has been really useful to gain an insight into what it's actually like.
- Secondly, I don't think I was massively confident with it being virtual. I'm normally very sociable but because it was online I became a little bit too passive and really got on with my trainee buddy yet didn't get to know that many people across the firm. This was obviously a big mistake and proves that you get out of it what you put in, especially with it being online. A fair bit of the vac scheme was done in big UK-wide Teams meetings too so I was perhaps less comfortable speaking up in that environment, but have gone out of my way to do that recently so it should come easier this time round.
- In the work I took quite an academic approach and therefore didn't always give the client what they were really after. So this time I'll definitely remember my audience and be concise to make sure I'm actually adding value. I started volunteering at Citizens Advice in September so I think that direct client contact will really help.
- Also, I guess to be honest I was quite complacent as I knew the firm recruited the vast majority of trainees from the VS so I wasn't massively proactive in always putting my best foot forward, I maybe just assumed it would come through. But again, I think this is something that is more easily done when it's virtual. And it was a 3 week online scheme so it was harder to keep the motivation remotely for that period of time, but now I've experienced that rejection the motivation will definitely be there!
The experience was a positive one though and I certainly feel more ready to secure a TC now whereas before I think it would have been pretty lucky. Hope this helps!