For anyone finding themselves exasperated with the VS/TC process, especially those who are still in uni who may not know this, I just want to let you know that private practice training is not the be-all-end-all. Opportunities to qualify in-house are at unprecedented levels, and the paralegal market is booming. There are also a thousand different roles adjacent to the law, some of which pay near as well and offer similarly interesting work (and a better work-life balance). In the past few weeks I've had 4 conversations with recruiters about compelling long-term alternatives to private practice training, and more interesting, well-comped paralegal gigs than I can count.
It's easy to get pigeonholed into thinking private practice is the entire world, or at least thinking 'I would like to cut my teeth in private practice for a few years' - and that's fair, honestly I still kind of think that which is why I'm still applying to firms. But there are opportunities I never imagined - some of them in industries I never knew existed - and honestly some of them are really cool.
This isn't to dissuade anyone from going all-out or sticking to it as long as necessary to bag that sweet sweet biglaw TC - I know we're all here because we're invested in having legal careers. But I know, for me at least, it's immensely reassuring to realise there are *options*, whether they're stepping-stones to the biglaw gig or career paths in their own right.
Wagmi