Thank you Jaysen for the questions.
Did you have to deal with a lot of rejection? Yes.
I faced a lot of rejections. The rejections I found most painful were rejections from those applications where I felt I gave my 90%. To be honest, I took rejections very personally and would get all bitter about them. In fact, I once wrote a short story about being rejected by a City Law firm (a good decision because it got me into the finals of a creative writing competition).
And if so, how did you handle? What made you keep going?
The first thing I did was to develop a CV of failures. I got the idea of a CV of failures from this article at
https://www.theguardian.com/educati...professor-publishes-resume-of-his-career-lows
I read this article in my first year. At that time, everyone I followed on LinkedIn all seemed like they had never failed in life at one point or another. Also, around this time, my education was in shambles (I mean a 25% in a Contract Law essay type of shambles). So, after I read this article and spoke to some of the Third years in Exeter about their own failures, I accepted that what I was going through was natural and could either end up motivating someone or end up as a story not worth telling because I gave up. So, I guess that the first thing I did was to accept that people fail even though they do not post it on their LinkedIn. I don’t know if this makes any sense.
The second thing I guess I did was to keep on applying and improving my applications. In my second year, I tried to get as much help as possible. Got into SEO London, utilised my Uni Careers services, read Rosie Watterson’s posts, volunteered to pimp my CV, had my application reviewed by family, and used all the good advice you get but never use. Till now it always makes me wonder why I never reached out for help until my second year. By my second year, I was getting better in my applications and getting higher-level volunteering experiences. Then I struck gold, my Skadden application (I developed this app for two months and attended an open day) got me an AC. I also got two VI’s by the end of the year. But then, my Skadden AC ended badly (self-esteem issues) and my VI’s I could not just be asked to prepare. So, I guess the second thing I did was to reach out for help.
By the way, shout out to
@AzanAshai who motivated me by his achievements and his grit. I met Azan at my SEO London AC. He has been someone who has upped my expectations and motivated me in ways he himself does not know.
The third thing was to let people make me persevere:
After I missed my Skadden AC I was like there goes it. Then SEO London hosted this London VC thingy I applied just to be with the herd/banter sakes. Going for it ended up upping my expectations. I discovered TCLA (Jaysen you spoke at the event) and I met this girl who said that if you can get an AC then there is no point giving up in a lowkey way. Also, around this time, I got a mentor in a City law firm. In our first meeting, I felt I had to present a list of firms I was going to apply to, so I came up with a list even though I was like low-key I could not be asked to apply. He also demanded in a low-key way that I continue searching for commercial work experiences even though it was June.
After the meeting, I searched for a couple of experiences and I applied for FT’s legal work experience (I found this experience by some weird odds and got it in August) and other local internships. I was still a bit uneasy about deciding to hope again for getting into a firm through a direct TC app. But then I had to spend summer with my Sister who was breathing fire over my neck to apply so I ended up applying to about 12 TC’s in the course of two months (even though I planned only 4 apps). My sister was 55% my motivation. The other 44% was TCLA, Azan, my mentor and my friends. 1% was me. So, I guess the third thing I did was to let people make me persevere. They made my low self-esteem seem very foolish.
By September, I ended up with two TC offers. I ended up accepting NRF’s offer (fun fact, they rejected me in less than 24 hours when I made my first-year app, and you know that my short story I spoke about earlier, it was about getting rejected from them in my first year). If you want to know, of the 12 apps I made only 4 were successful past the testing stage.
What I’d like to add:
Enjoy the process because things will get better and it is not the question of whether you will get a TC but when you will get a TC (this only applies if you keep at it).
Sorry for getting this in so late. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to expand on.
