I'm applying for HL BaSE Legal Learning Hub and I've come across a question asking me about a notable personal achievement. I'm highly torn on what I should use for this. There are three major things I did over the past few years that I think are all good for their own unique reasons, but simultaneously also have their respective downsides. They are as follows:
1. Months of research, co-ordination and writing to finally produce a report featuring quantitative analysis of certain regulatory data for a number of financial institutions, which I then co-presented to two executives (including the CEO) at a quite large fintech startup. This involved sifting through a lot of disclosures, doing a lot of other research and doing some number-crunching. The end-product was great and the startup was very happy with it.
Pro:
Quantitative, quantifiable and financial. It overlaps somewhat with what the firm does and is the longest and most complex of the three. This was, on a personal level, also my favourite experience and the one that I'm most inclined to use here.
Con:
Too impersonal. It might come across as trying too hard to sound professional at a stage when I'm obviously not. I also really feel like they want something more "human" as it were.
2. A month or so of preparing and researching for an event with an associate from a major law firm (not HL) and a very senior figure at a large fintech company.
Pro:
Quantifiable (event attendance, timeframe, etc.) and focused somewhat on an area that is interesting to the firm. I was quite proud of this one as well.
Con:
At the end of the day, it's just one event and in terms of scale not the most groundbreaking one at that. It's not like I prepared a massive conference or something. About 60-70 people ended up coming (which I think is a pretty good number, esp considering the time of year this was held during) and it lasted about two hours.
3. A student journal I launched back in high school (outside the UK) and managed for a year (editorial, recruiting, co-ordinating writer meetings, etc.)
Pro: Feels the most "human" and personal.
Con: Too old and too low-level. Everyone has one of these experiences I'm fairly sure. I get that it's all about "how I sell myself", but I really feel that there'd be no way to sell this compared to some really damn impressive things I'm sure most other candidates have done. I feel like the previous two examples would be way better to use here.
What should I go with here? Which of these three sound most like an appropriate answer? Note that all three had a personal impact on me and I was quite proud of each of them.
Thank you!
1. Months of research, co-ordination and writing to finally produce a report featuring quantitative analysis of certain regulatory data for a number of financial institutions, which I then co-presented to two executives (including the CEO) at a quite large fintech startup. This involved sifting through a lot of disclosures, doing a lot of other research and doing some number-crunching. The end-product was great and the startup was very happy with it.
Pro:
Quantitative, quantifiable and financial. It overlaps somewhat with what the firm does and is the longest and most complex of the three. This was, on a personal level, also my favourite experience and the one that I'm most inclined to use here.
Con:
Too impersonal. It might come across as trying too hard to sound professional at a stage when I'm obviously not. I also really feel like they want something more "human" as it were.
2. A month or so of preparing and researching for an event with an associate from a major law firm (not HL) and a very senior figure at a large fintech company.
Pro:
Quantifiable (event attendance, timeframe, etc.) and focused somewhat on an area that is interesting to the firm. I was quite proud of this one as well.
Con:
At the end of the day, it's just one event and in terms of scale not the most groundbreaking one at that. It's not like I prepared a massive conference or something. About 60-70 people ended up coming (which I think is a pretty good number, esp considering the time of year this was held during) and it lasted about two hours.
3. A student journal I launched back in high school (outside the UK) and managed for a year (editorial, recruiting, co-ordinating writer meetings, etc.)
Pro: Feels the most "human" and personal.
Con: Too old and too low-level. Everyone has one of these experiences I'm fairly sure. I get that it's all about "how I sell myself", but I really feel that there'd be no way to sell this compared to some really damn impressive things I'm sure most other candidates have done. I feel like the previous two examples would be way better to use here.
What should I go with here? Which of these three sound most like an appropriate answer? Note that all three had a personal impact on me and I was quite proud of each of them.
Thank you!
