Freshfields post-AC pfo. Gutted tbh, as I've not even made it past the application stage for anywhere else and I'm in my final year of uni. My family don't have the money to self fund the SQE, my parents are retiring as well so I don't have the privilege of leeching off them for 2 years so I'm honestly really scared for the future
I am so sorry for this and I can understand how stressful this situation might be for you. What I would say is to not give up right now, as much as this rejection might be quite soul-crashing (also given the fact that it was your only assessment centre), I would say that it is important for you to ask for feedback, reflect on it and learn from it.
Additionally, I can totally relate to not being able to rely on your family financially, so what I would say is that you should still work hard for the direct training contract applications opening really soon as you might have a chance (I have many classmates in my PGDL class who managed to get their training contracts thanks to this route being their first application cycle, and some only applied to one firm only) do it is totally possible!
Moreover, I would encourage you to apply to paralegal jobs or jobs in other sectors as this will give you the chance to have different job offers for next year and you will not be struggling as much financially. I was in your same situation even if I had a vacation scheme under my belt at that point, I started applying to direct training contracts and other jobs whilst I was waiting for the results because I could not afford to not have a job or plan by September.
Additionally, I would include some tips on how to deal with rejection and how to prepare for assessment centres that I wrote some time ago hoping they will be useful to you:
If a partner brings up your commercial topic on your application form in an interview and you didn’t have the answers/hadn’t looked at the story again since applying 3 months ago is this a bad thing? Would this affect the outcome? @Jessica Booker @axelbeugre Any insight? :)
www.thecorporatelawacademy.com
https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ns-discussion-thread-2023-24.8037/post-156677
I hope this is helpful and good luck with everything!