Hi
@floral.tcla I will first of all say that you are definitely taking the right approach in asking for and reflecting on feedback. I know how disappointing a post-AC rejection can feel, and showing this attitude in the face of it is no small feat. My advice on how to act on the feedback is the following:
1. For succinctness: I think you should avoid the trap of thinking that every single experience you reference has to be explained in a fully-fledged STAR-structured manner. For some important experiences that may be the case. But if you reference three or four different experiences in one answer, you can see how this could lead to both an information overload and an inefficient use of your airtime. To improve on this front, I would advise you to practice reformulating answers to fit different time limits. For instance, say you have a 'Tell me about a time you demonstrated teamwork skills' answer that normally takes you around 3 minutes; the, practice trying to formulate a 2 minute and 1 minute version of that answer. This will teach you to discern essential from non-essential information and express yourself more concisely when you need to. In order to judge whether there is a need for you to reduce the length of your answers in the interview, try to both ask yourself: (i) how is the interviewer responding to my answers, do they seem to be engaged throughout, or do they seem to become impatient after a given point?; and (ii) how much of the important ground has been covered up to this point, and how much time is there left to be asked other questions?
2. For technical exercises: in my opinion basic legal knowledge is definitely an advantage. What I would advise you to do is the following: (i) try to research and understand some basic concepts in contract law (offer/acceptance, consideration, frustration, etc); (ii) research the most important terms that go into an M&A transaction (warranties and indemnities, conditions precedent, disclosure schedules, NDAs, governing law clauses etc); and (iii) take a look at and practice trying to spell out the meaning of provisions from documents such as SPAs and Equity Term Sheets.
3.
For building rapport: I can definitely empathize with your difficulties in building rapport with someone you have never met before and in a circumstance as stressful as an AC. However, I think this is also a skill you can work on. Of course, different people will have different inclinations and talents, and some find it easier than others to navigate new types of social situations; but this equally applies to any other ability. I am also a quite introverted person by nature and I never particularly enjoyed the dynamics of trying to build a connection with lawyers in a networking context. Nonetheless, I recognized this as something I could become better at. As such, I put myself in as many such situations as I could at firm events and did my best to learn from people who I saw were able to do this with more ease. As time passed and to a great extent without me even realizing it, I found I had become a lot better at it.
It's a relief especially to hear that it is possible to build up networking skills as an introvert. Good luck with everything!
