Rejected after VS, spirit broken and motivation zero

[SK2021.22]

I am a career changer. I worked extremely hard since September to get a place on a VS. I know that's not a lot of time - some people apply for several years before they get a VS. But I did get a VS and I did my absolute best to ensure I shine. I read up more about the firm history than I know about my own family history. Since I am a career changer, I had to start from scratch about how the legal recruitment process works and the strategy to succeed. I invested a lot of time, effort and emotion into this - and balanced it along with my work (which means working through the night).

However, I failed to convert my VS to a TC. I got some wishy-washy feedback which wasn't convincing at all. TCs were offered to some participants that said exactly one sentence through the entire VS, asked no questions and were honestly unnoticeable. I have a strong feeling it could be because I need visa sponsorship and with Omicron tearing through the UK, budgetary constraints would incentivize them to choose a British national instead of someone on whom they need to spend 5000 pounds just to onboard. I don't want to sound like a sore loser but I genuinely cannot believe I was that bad, especially since I've been in the workforce for many years and can objectively assess my performance to a decent degree. It has completely destroyed my motivation. I have a work deliverable by tomorrow and cannot focus.

Help!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Good candidates can often be unsuccessful converting their vacation schemes to training contracts. I honestly doubt that it is down to either of the reasons you have stated though.

£5k is nothing to most commercial law firms, and if visa costs was something they had to consider, it’s unlikely they would have taken you on a vacation scheme student. In addition, firms tend to actually be busier/have good revenues levels during challenging times due to counter cyclical work, and so I really don’t see Omicron being a deciding factor here.

I’d also try to not compare yourself to other candidates in the way you have suggested. You haven’t seen every vacation scheme student’s interaction with everyone. Although they may not have asked questions in sessions you attended, you don’t know the quality of their other interactions with the firm’s employees.

Finally, it can just be down to “fit”. It might be the firm felt that you weren’t quite what they were looking for or that they couldn’t really offer you what you were truly looking for. That can often seem “wish-washy” when it comes to feedback, but “fit” is often a really important factor. Finding the right people for the firm often means turning down good candidates who will just be better suited to other firms. That doesn’t mean you are a bad candidate, it just means this particular opportunity wasn’t right.

 

[Alison C]

I am a career changer. I worked extremely hard since September to get a place on a VS. I know that's not a lot of time - some people apply for several years before they get a VS. But I did get a VS and I did my absolute best to ensure I shine. I read up more about the firm history than I know about my own family history. Since I am a career changer, I had to start from scratch about how the legal recruitment process works and the strategy to succeed. I invested a lot of time, effort and emotion into this - and balanced it along with my work (which means working through the night).

However, I failed to convert my VS to a TC. I got some wishy-washy feedback which wasn't convincing at all. TCs were offered to some participants that said exactly one sentence through the entire VS, asked no questions and were honestly unnoticeable. I have a strong feeling it could be because I need visa sponsorship and with Omicron tearing through the UK, budgetary constraints would incentivize them to choose a British national instead of someone on whom they need to spend 5000 pounds just to onboard. I don't want to sound like a sore loser but I genuinely cannot believe I was that bad, especially since I've been in the workforce for many years and can objectively assess my performance to a decent degree. It has completely destroyed my motivation. I have a work deliverable by tomorrow and cannot focus.

Help!

I am a career changer too, and I know, it's rough out there!

I would say, don't despair. This isn't about a job, it's about a match for a whole new, much better career and life. That's what you are looking for, not just a random 'yes'. Like the house that falls through or the relationship that doesn't work out when your heart is set on it, you will be able to see with hindsight that something far better will open up.

You are using a lot of past tense verbs - "I failed, I invested, I worked...". By all means, leave 'failed' in the past but the others, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's just beginning. Which is part of the reason that you chose this pathway.

Believe me, I'm right with you in finding it difficult to grasp why I'm not the hot property I know that my work experience should make me, but that's the business of law. You weren't 'that bad' you just didn't get that firm to see that you were right for them, and frankly, if they don't want you, you certainly don't want them. The right firm is going to have the imagination to see that you are right. It is just not happening as quickly as you are used to.

Some context I have gleaned: the cogs in the legal industry are only just beginning to groan into action when it comes to actual diversity and inclusion rather than these principles just being about an initiative. I've been astonished by the number of 'working groups' they all have on different 'diversity strands' - you could write a sitcom about it. I built a career in an industry where difference is seen as part of the diamond-faceted glory of life, and where it is celebrated and developed. This is quite different from the threads of the legal industry, which has been slow to catch up in seeing the tapestry of gorgeousness (and a sparkling balance sheet) that can be created from different approaches. There has been no need for firms to recruit from the wider marketplace, and they aren't used to reaping the benefits. For the most part, unless you are ticking various boxes, your 'diversity' won't be something that they THINK that they want to 'include'. For all the talk of workplace enrichment, many of the firms still seem to want anything other than what they already know, or some slightly more box-ticky version of it. Which is fine. Back to the mantra: if they don't want me, I certainly don't want them.

So just keep picking yourself up, getting back on your trusty steed and keep moving on. Just deliver on the day job tomorrow, and keep on churning out the applications. Play that numbers game! You are clearly doing quite a lot right.

And failing all that, the upside of the SQE is that you can qualify without being forced to go a standard route - I'm not necessarily advocating this but it's out there, in a way it wasn't a few years ago.

Bon courage!! You can and you will!!

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

I think the thing you should remember is that every person who gets a place on a VS is a great candidate, that means you are, but also everyone else on the scheme too. Pretty much everyone there deserves a TC with a firm, most people will go on to have great careers. Absolutely nobody said you’re bad. Once you’re through to that stage I don’t think visa sponsorship is an issue at play, it’s so tiny compared with what they invest in candidates.

You can’t compare yourself to other candidates because you didn’t see their private interviews, their written work, or the contributions they made when they were one on one. There are people out there who might not strike you as impressive immediately because they are more of the quiet, thoughtful type who make limited but great interventions.

You worked really hard to be there but so did everyone else, don’t be hard on yourself or downplay the work involved for anyone. People on that VS with you might have been applying for years, or paralegalling or paying expensive law fees to try to create this opportunity.

It can come down to tiny margins, or be a case of zero issues with you but someone else just has a bigger tick. It’s a marathon not a sprint, take a bit of time to be upset but then look back on what you learnt and how you can utilise that to make yourself an even better candidate. It’s a tough process and it’s not meant to be easy! You’ll have knock backs, don’t focus on these too much, focus on the overall direction.

PS: I remember writing a similarly “done with it all” post on here and then like a week later getting good news somewhere else, you wouldn’t believe how quickly I didn’t care about firm 1 anymore! You’ll barely even remember this in the future.

 

[Kubed]

While I can understand the disappointment and frustration you must be feeling at the moment, I think it will be important to reflect on the scheme, your approach to it and the feedback you received once you have had a chance to digest the news. As others have said, the reasons are unlikely to do with visa concerns or Omicron at the VS stage.

One thing I would add to what others have said is that being the loudest in the room is not necessarily a deciding factor - while it's obviously important to contribute and be engaged, a big part of being in a workplace is having an ability to listen and encouraging others to participate when possible. Additionally, asking fewer good questions is better than just asking questions for the sake of asking. In some ways, a vac scheme is supposed to be a simulation of how you would operate as a trainee (as far as that is possible in a short space of time when you're trying to impress) and fit into the firm's culture so I would focus on that.

 

[TCinpipeline]

When I read your subject heading, the first thought that came to my mind was "good for him for nailing a VS"! As Jessica said we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to other candidates but to make you feel better, I haven't secured one acceptance on an application form yet (not for want of trying a few so far) let alone a VS, interview, etc. I am a mature candidate and I have had people comment that since I work in a law firm I should find it easy to find a TC but that doesn't necessarily give me a better foot in the door than others. For one, I don't have the greatest academic grades and I have heard (@Jessica Booker will correct me if I am wrong) but one paralegal I knew applied for a TC in her own firm and they expected her to have a better understanding than someone not working in the legal industry when they asked her a commercial awareness question in her TC interview. Unfortunately she failed on that question but passed the other questions. We are all on our own personal journey.
I welcome the new route to qualify as I think the legal world needed it being one of the industries that is still elitist to a degree and is slow to make any changes. Good luck!

 

[anxiouslawyer]

I know it's hard to think of it this way right now, but having gotten onto a vac scheme itself is a fantastic achievement! It definitely means you are good enough to get a TC, it just happens that it wasn't this particular firm. Firms always recruit more vac schemers than they have places available, and unfortunately that means there will be people who don't convert their VS into a TC for whatever reason. But having a VS on your CV will make it much easier for you to land another VS or even a direct TC.

I would also add on that being "noticeable" isn't always the best predictor of success on these things. Of course you should be engaged and take an interest in the firm, but some people just aren't the best when it comes to speaking in big groups but that doesn't mean they're not as capable or showing engagement in other ways. It's hard, but try not to compare yourself to your fellow vac schemers and focus on what you can do to address the feedback and bag it the next time around.

 

[James Carrabino]

I noticed this thread from last month and I wanted to add something I had posted elsewhere in case it is helpful to you!



I want to start by saying how sorry I am to hear that you have found yourself in this position. I was rejected from three vacation schemes in the space of three months and every single one was brutal. Spending an entire application cycle building up to those schemes, with confidence that I would be able to convert at least one of them, meant that I just felt completely hopeless when I realised that I had failed to do so. The latter two post-vac scheme rejections came on the same day no less!! I moped around for about 24 hours before I sat down and started looking at upcoming direct TC deadlines.

The day after I received both of those two rejections, I sent off an app that ended up in a TC offer less than a month later. The day after that I sent off another app that ended up in another TC offer! This was all in July right at the end of the cycle. The learning process of getting the vac schemes and subsequently being rejected from them was invaluable in ultimately getting me to a firm that I love. I also got a genuinely interesting and varied perspective of the kind of work that City lawyers do, so I have no regrets about any of these experiences.

Take time to reflect and then realise that you have time remaining this cycle and most of the direct TC applications open in spring/summer! Of course it would be great to be all done with the process, but I sincerely think that the more work one puts into researching and applying to firms now pays dividends in the long run. You do not necessarily want to default into the first firm that offered you a vac scheme - it is great to have the opportunity to learn from that experience what areas of law you are interested in and which firms you should be looking at going forward.

It is an incredible feat that you got your vacation scheme in the first place, so congratulations!!! Firms will recognise how impressive this is. I went from getting past the application stage ~10% of the time before having a vac scheme on my CV to ~80% of the time once I did. Consequently, you will be in an enviable position when this experience enables you to receive multiple offers in the future and gives you the opportunity to make a reasoned choice abut which firm is best for you! If you got a vac scheme from the first of your applications which passed the app stage, then you must have a natural ability to interview well and pass the other stages. With a lot of time left to make more applications, a vacation scheme on your CV and confidence in your interview ability, you will find yourself in a pretty good position if you draw upon your resilience and keep moving forward

And get feedback! I was not able to do so before each subsequent scheme after my first one; the first scheme simply refused to provide feedback and the other two schemes took place back to back. You have most of the cycle still ahead of you in which you can implement this feedback in both ACs and on your future vac schemes.

Either way, I know that you will bounce back stronger than ever