My Training Contract Journey

[futuretrainee202X]

Update:

After a very quick turnaround, I was offered a TC at Slaughter and May. I've been thinking hard about NRF vs Slaughter and May over the weekend so that I can make an informed decision quickly when they give me an outcome. Here's my thought process:

Office and Location
The trainee I met at Slaughter and May told me that this did not matter. An office is an office. I disagree. An office is going to be where I spend a significant part of my week and its layout often gives an insight into the way in which people work.

• A fully open-plan office is something I don't really like. Whilst I appreciate why this style of working is used, and I appreciate what is trying to be achieved, I don't like the lack of privacy.
• Individual offices are also something I don't like very much. Whilst it allows for privacy, I don't think it facilitates an environment in which it is easy to foster a sense of teamwork. I prefer this to open-plan offices and hot-desking, however.

Slaughter and May has individual offices, but trainees sit with their supervisors, which would be ideal during a training contract. Norton Rose Fulbright had offices with 4-6 desks in them, which is a fantastic long-term working environment to me. For me Norton Rose Fulbright has the best balance for me to create a good working environment. I also think that Norton Rose Fulbright's location is superior as it is much easier for me to travel there.

Work
I can't really complain about the work at Slaughter and May or Norton Rose Fulbright. They are both doing top of the range work. I suppose the main difference is in the type of work that is being done. At Norton Rose Fulbright, there is a strong sector focus and a lot of this is to do with the energy industry. In comparison, the corporate work at Slaughter and May is stronger than NRF, and they have a multi-specialist approach. This is more practice area based (e.g. financing which includes all elements of this: asset finance, project finance, bonds etc). I find it difficult to choose which I prefer. Both options give me the opportunity to have a wide range of experiences on a training contract.

People
I was told by an ex-Slaughter and May partner that I should choose the firm where I got along with the people better. I actually really liked the people at both firms, but I think there is a difference between liking people and being on the same wavelength as other people. I think I was on the same wavelength as the people at NRF, as I didn't have to try particularly hard with them socially. Whilst I liked the people at Slaughter and May, I felt like I had to try a little bit more.

Due to the above, I have decided that I will definitely be signing with Norton Rose Fulbright! Both firms are excellent, but I think NRF is the better firm for me, and I am ecstatic to be joining them!

Thanks for following my journey!

Huge congrats on the two offers! It sounds like you've had a long and hard think over the weekend about what suits you best. So happy for you

 

[j.s.cox]

Update:

It's been just over a month since my last update and I've been very busy!

Mentoring
This has really started to pick up and I am enjoying it a lot. At first I didn't feel qualified to be giving advice, but having talked to a few people I realised that I have learned so much through the past two cycles of applications. I have so much knowledge that I take for granted, but I know not everyone has had this privilege. Some people I have talked to remind me so much of myself, and it is exciting to be in a position to help them. To keep this thread useful for other forum members, I thought I could give a piece of advice each time I update this thread. I'll post it at the end of each update.

Personal Projects
I'm making real headway with BSL. It's such an expressive and useful language. Hopefully I'll be able to complete a qualification in it by the end of this year. If not, I'll still have managed to open my world a bit wider.

I am also teaching the children I nanny to crochet as they asked to learn. They each have a project they are working on which has encouraged me to pick up the habit again. I'm going to start making crochet toys again and donating them as it's something I really enjoy.

As a semi-professional rower, I am also preparing for a big racing season ahead. Training has amped up and I am excited to see what results I can produce this year with my teammates.

A Final Bit of Advice
For today's advice, I thought I would touch on mitigating circumstances. It seems like an almost insignifant part of the application process, but I know from experience the level of stress it can cause. Sometimes, you may have faced unimaginable difficulties that have deeply affected you, but you feel like you are apologising or making excuses when you write about your mitigating circumstances.

If you find yourself in this situation, I recommend treating the difficulties you have faced as impersonally as possible. Give an overview of your challenges and the impact they have had on your grades, rather than giving your personal life history. As a maximum, I would recommend spending no more than 100-200 words describing this. Sometimes this is not enough space to fully explain yourself. If this is the case, you are almost always able to phone up the Recruitment Team to discuss your circumstances further. This helps your mitigating circumstances appear like a factual account supporting your application.

You can also put a positive spin on mitigating circumstances by demonstrating the skills of resilience, determination, and adaptability you gained when overcoming or getting through those circumstances. This can be done on your main written application form if the style of the application form allows it. This enables you to thoroughly discuss your challenges, whilst demonstrating that you are an appealing candidate.

When I used the advice above (given to me by one of my mentors) in my applications, I also found that my confidence levels around applications changed. I realised that I would be an asset to any law firm that I joined, This attitude change really helped to improve my applications and overall performance during the recruitment process.

Thank you for following my journey!

 

[j.s.cox]

Update

It's been a moment!

Mentoring
As well as the individual mentees I had taken on, I joined "The Mentors Collective" initiative or TMC for short. It's a really fantastic initiative which I very much recommend. There is a document which outlines the names of all the mentors, their experiences, strengths, and weaknesses. It also has a link to their availability for mentoring sessions. It is then up to the group of mentees to book a slot with a mentor who will best serve them. This means that I have been able to help more people than I thought possible. Some mentees have booked regular sessions with me, whilst others have booked a one-off sessions to help them go over specific issues and difficulties they are having. So far, I have helped a few mentees who have gone on to achieve some of their goals:I

• One person got a vac scheme at Slaughter and May which they converted into a training contract.
• One person got a vac scheme at Mishcon de Reya which they converted into a training contract. They were even offered an early start this September over other people who applied to start earlier.
• One person got two vac schemes, one at Womble Bond Dickenson, and one at Bevan Brittain. They are waiting to hear back about whether they managed to convert to a training contract at either firm.

I'm really proud of the positive impact I have made by focusing on sharing my knowledge with people who may not have had access to that knowledge before.

Nannying (plus some advice)
I've found this to be incredibly useful to my personal development. Whilst I had babysat before this year, I had never had to look after children for this amount of time before. I work every afternoon with them and I completely underestimated the level of responsibility that I would gain doing this job. To be honest, it's more than a job. These kids are so important to me and they have taught me adaptability, resilience, and patience among other skills. These are such transferrable skills, and I really believe they will help me when I start working at NRF. To anyone who thinks that their current job is completely irrelevant to legal sphere, I would urge you to examine the transferable skills you have gained.

Next Year...
Next year is going to be intense. I was lucky enough to be accepted into Leander Club, the feeder rowing club for the GB Rowing Team. I'm excited to see what I can do here and how I can improve on my rowing journey! I am also doing my CCP (masters) at BPP Holborn (the SQE1&2 with a dissertation). It's going to require some travelling, but NRF have been fantastic at helping me arrange my study timetable so that I can realistically row and study.

I have been following the SQE forum on TCLA and realised that BPP won't teach all the subjects assessed on the SQE as they expect you to know it all already. Whilst I did study them on my PGDL, I realised that I need to do a lot of revision before my course starts in September. I have already created a revision plan and have started consolidating my notes. Due to the paid work I have done this year (nannying plus some admin jobs) and the fact that I have been able to live at home with minimal outgoing costs, I am lucky enough to be able to purchase several different revision materials. I think I will see which ones I find useful and do reviews of them to help other people. Once I have finished my SQE, I will also be happy to share all the notes I used. Hopefully this will be useful to others on this journey.

Thank you for following my journey!

 

[Jane Smith]

What a wonderful description. Glad you made the choice of firm that suits you (and I write that as an older lawyer who used to be at the one you rejected - they are both good firms). Good luck on the SQE course.

 

[j.s.cox]

Update:

SQE 1:
I took the SQE 1 in January 2024 and I'm pleased to say that I passed in the 1st quintile! I must say that it was one of the toughest exams and exam preparation periods I have ever experienced. I was absolutely convinced that I had failed. I don't think that the BPP preparation materials were very good, but I do think that having done the PGDL set me up very well in the exam. I think those who had done a law degree instead found the style of questions and revision a little more difficult to get their heads around. I definitely felt more stress for these sets of exams than any others I've ever done and half the battle was just being able to concentrate for full time. By the 4th hour, trying to absorb what the questions were saying and the meanings of each possible answer was very taxing for me. Mainly, I'm pleased I passed because the idea of taking the exam again makes me feel a bit unwell, not to mention that I could have lost my TC if I failed! My advice for people taking the exams:

• Get the Revise SQE books. These were instrumental in my success and more thoroughly (yet also more succintly) explained the principles we needed to know for the exam better than any other materials I came across. They were also significantly cheaper than many other materials. I think you could probably self-study with these books and pass the SQE 1.
• Figure out what revision method works for you and don't worry about how other people are doing their revision. I know that a lot of people spent a lot of time going over flashcards and notes, but personally I found doing hundreds of practice questions far more useful and efficient for my revision. Neither method is wrong and in an exam as hard as this, it's not worth changing your preferred study method because someone else says so.
• At least once before the exam, practice a full practice paper to get used to the timings as this is half the battle with this exam. Again, I recommend the Revise SQE exam preparation papers as these not only simulated the questions in the exam most accurately, they also had a full explanation of why each answer was correct. They also cross-referenced each question to the place you could restudy the information in the main Revise SQE books. The other good source was the QLTS practice papers, but be aware that these questions are a bit harder than the exam and they may not allow you access to the FLK 2 exam without being on their course.

Rowing:
Rowing at Leander has been absolutely incredible. I don't think I'd ever get the experiences that I've had at this club anywhere else. I'm looking forward to the summer racing season, but I have to admit that it has been very difficult to balance full-time rowing with full-time education. Luckily my firm has been very supportive with helping me to arrange classes to be mainly in the afternoon. It means that I can row from 7am-12:30pm and then go straight to London for classes. I end up getting home at around 8pm, so I've had to be strict with my work timetable and scheduled time off to ensure that I don't burn out. Ultimately I believe this will help me develop my organisational skills in my career, but for now it is pretty exhausting.

Mentoring:
I have been really conscious of continuing this despite my busy schedule. I have found it so rewarding to see how I've been able to help people. Whether they have secured positions or not, the best part of this volunteering experience is seeing how people have developed and improved throughout the application process. The legal applications process is already inaccessible and I'd argue that the SQE (despite its aims) is also inaccessible. I really love being able to help improve the accessibility of a legal career.

Thank you for following my journey!

 

[j.s.cox]

Update:

SQE 2:
I took the SQE2 in July/August 2024 and I'm very pleased to say that I passed in the 1st quintile! This exam was a lot tougher than I thought it would be and I underestmated how important the FLK aspect of the exam would be until I started my revision. This meant that I mainly focused on FLK revision in the lead up to SQE2. I am confident that this is the reason for my success. My advice is:

• Focus on the FLK that you need for this exam. Personally, I made a checklist using the SRA's website and I used this to check that I had covered every aspect of the FLK that I could be examined on. Unlike SQE1 where it was possible to tactically avoid revising one part of the FLK to ensure overall success, that does not work for SQE2 as you may be given an entire question on the area you didn't revise. I have attached the checklist I used to this post.
• Ensure you are familiar with the documents you could be asked to draft. In particular, the documents that may require free-hand drafting such as:
  • Board minutes.
  • Witness statements.
  • Particulars of claim.
  • Defence statements.
• For advocacy and interviewing, ensure you are comfortable with how you will structure your responses and practice these.

Seat Selection
I recently had to submit my seat selection for the first seat of my TC at NRF. The preferences I submitted were:

1. Asset Finance (Banking Seat).
2. Project Finance (Banking Seat).
3. Corporate Regulation (Corporate Seat).
4. Aviation and Shipping Disputes (Dispute Seat).

I'm also excited and hopeful about doing an international secondment in my second seat which is one of the reasons that I have picked banking seats as my top choices!

Rest
I won't pretend that this year has been easy. I have balanced:

• Full-time SQE studies (City Consortium Programme at BPP).
• Full-time rowing at Leander Club.
• A part-time job with another rowing club.
• Weekly volunteer mentoring including with The Mentor's Collective and Grow Mentoring.

It was a very difficult year and I spent most of it on a knife's edge between managing things well and burning out spectacularly. I was busy from 6am-10pm every day and honestly, it was pretty horrible. I was so busy that the only time I had to eat lunch was on the train between rowing and classes, which I was inevitably a few minutes late for each time, despite running on both ends. I also had to leave the country unexpectedly for a month due to family illness (that became a family death). I'm pleased to say that I managed to do it, but I certainly didn't thrive. Although I did well at each invidual focus, I think I would have performed even better and enjoyed myself more if I had stuck to just one or two.

The main thing that helped me manage this all was scheduling in rest. I didn't just write "rest" in my very detailed schedule, I would specify exactly what I was going to do (e.g. read x book, or watch x tv show). This stopped me from doom-scrolling, or wasting any of my precious rest time (30 mins/day before bed). I think this is the main way I prevented burn-out.

After the SQE 2 exams and rowing season were over, I was at a loss with what to do with myself. I had been so busy, and then suddenly I had free time! I was lucky that I had 6 months before my TC started whereas a lot of my CCP cohort were starting their TCs in a matter of days after our exams. I considered what I wanted to do in those 6 months. Initially, I thought I would just stick with rowing, but as anyone who has done the sport knows, high-performance rowing takes up time and energy, and is pretty stressful in itself. I decided I needed to recover from the year that I had chosen to put myself through and I booked a trip to the Dominican Republic.

I've now been in the Dominican Republic since September and I can honestly say that it is the best decision I have ever made! The time spent relaxing in the sun with no high expectations has been so restorative. I am still remote working as a paralegal to fund my trip, but I feel more like myself. Even my parents have commented on how much healthier I look. I think that this period of rest will enable me to hit the ground running during my TC. I have also learnt from the last year not to overdo things, which will be invaluable when starting the TC. I know I will be most successful when I don't spread myself too thinly, so at least for my first 6 month seat, I am going to focus on my TC with 1 hour set aside each week for mentoring. The rest of my free time I will ensure I use to actually rest and recuperate.

My biggest takeaway for anyone reading this is that you should ensure that you do not forget about the importance of rest when making applications, doing the SQE/GDL/LPC, or starting work. You will only thrive and enjoy yourself if you give yourself the space and time to do so.

Thank you for following my journey!

 

[nkem]

Update:

SQE 2:
I took the SQE2 in July/August 2024 and I'm very pleased to say that I passed in the 1st quintile! This exam was a lot tougher than I thought it would be and I underestmated how important the FLK aspect of the exam would be until I started my revision. This meant that I mainly focused on FLK revision in the lead up to SQE2. I am confident that this is the reason for my success. My advice is:

• Focus on the FLK that you need for this exam. Personally, I made a checklist using the SRA's website and I used this to check that I had covered every aspect of the FLK that I could be examined on. Unlike SQE1 where it was possible to tactically avoid revising one part of the FLK to ensure overall success, that does not work for SQE2 as you may be given an entire question on the area you didn't revise. I have attached the checklist I used to this post.
• Ensure you are familiar with the documents you could be asked to draft. In particular, the documents that may require free-hand drafting such as:
  • Board minutes.
  • Witness statements.
  • Particulars of claim.
  • Defence statements.
• For advocacy and interviewing, ensure you are comfortable with how you will structure your responses and practice these.

Seat Selection
I recently had to submit my seat selection for the first seat of my TC at NRF. The preferences I submitted were:

1. Asset Finance (Banking Seat).
2. Project Finance (Banking Seat).
3. Corporate Regulation (Corporate Seat).
4. Aviation and Shipping Disputes (Dispute Seat).

I'm also excited and hopeful about doing an international secondment in my second seat which is one of the reasons that I have picked banking seats as my top choices!

Rest
I won't pretend that this year has been easy. I have balanced:

• Full-time SQE studies (City Consortium Programme at BPP).
• Full-time rowing at Leander Club.
• A part-time job with another rowing club.
• Weekly volunteer mentoring including with The Mentor's Collective and Grow Mentoring.

It was a very difficult year and I spent most of it on a knife's edge between managing things well and burning out spectacularly. I was busy from 6am-10pm every day and honestly, it was pretty horrible. I was so busy that the only time I had to eat lunch was on the train between rowing and classes, which I was inevitably a few minutes late for each time, despite running on both ends. I also had to leave the country unexpectedly for a month due to family illness (that became a family death). I'm pleased to say that I managed to do it, but I certainly didn't thrive. Although I did well at each invidual focus, I think I would have performed even better and enjoyed myself more if I had stuck to just one or two.

The main thing that helped me manage this all was scheduling in rest. I didn't just write "rest" in my very detailed schedule, I would specify exactly what I was going to do (e.g. read x book, or watch x tv show). This stopped me from doom-scrolling, or wasting any of my precious rest time (30 mins/day before bed). I think this is the main way I prevented burn-out.

After the SQE 2 exams and rowing season were over, I was at a loss with what to do with myself. I had been so busy, and then suddenly I had free time! I was lucky that I had 6 months before my TC started whereas a lot of my CCP cohort were starting their TCs in a matter of days after our exams. I considered what I wanted to do in those 6 months. Initially, I thought I would just stick with rowing, but as anyone who has done the sport knows, high-performance rowing takes up time and energy, and is pretty stressful in itself. I decided I needed to recover from the year that I had chosen to put myself through and I booked a trip to the Dominican Republic.

I've now been in the Dominican Republic since September and I can honestly say that it is the best decision I have ever made! The time spent relaxing in the sun with no high expectations has been so restorative. I am still remote working as a paralegal to fund my trip, but I feel more like myself. Even my parents have commented on how much healthier I look. I think that this period of rest will enable me to hit the ground running during my TC. I have also learnt from the last year not to overdo things, which will be invaluable when starting the TC. I know I will be most successful when I don't spread myself too thinly, so at least for my first 6 month seat, I am going to focus on my TC with 1 hour set aside each week for mentoring. The rest of my free time I will ensure I use to actually rest and recuperate.

My biggest takeaway for anyone reading this is that you should ensure that you do not forget about the importance of rest when making applications, doing the SQE/GDL/LPC, or starting work. You will only thrive and enjoy yourself if you give yourself the space and time to do so.

Thank you for following my journey!

Your life is like a movie, seriously. Congrats on everything. We would love another update! its been 6 months!!

Also the corporate and banking assessments you did in your vac scheme, was that because you were in 1 of those departments? or does everyone do those assessments regardless of what department they're completing their vac scheme.

and how do you recommend preparing for those in advance, especially for non-law students!

 

[j.s.cox]

Update:

Thanks @nkem for giving me the nudge to write another post!


Dominican Republic
As mentioned in my previous post, I headed to the Dominican Republic post-SQE. It was a very long journey as I was living in the middle of a rainforest next to a beach in the middle of nowhere. I learnt how to ride a scooter, live like a local, and (most importantly) relax. I made friends with my neighbours in the small village I lived in, found my favourite beach bar in the world ('Mosquito'), and did things I didn't think I could do. I could write a whole post just on my time there, but let me focus on the law.

Whilst I was in the Dominican Republic, I had a job as a corporate paralegal for a UK firm working remotely. My boss was amazing and allowed me to work normal Dominican hours instead of waking up very early. I learnt so much! It was just my boss and me, so I got a lot of responsibility and was able to run smaller deals by myself. This prepared me very well for my TC as I had to get over my fear of emailing and phoning clients pretty quickly. The other thing I learnt was that I don't really enjoy corporate law that much. Perhaps it would be different in a bigger law firm but my brain did not feel excited whilst I was at work. On the bright side, it means I'm not that fussed if I don't sit in a corporate seat during my TC.

NRF Induction and Training
Now on to the part I have been dreaming about and waiting years for: THE START OF MY TC!!

I was very well rested by the time I got to the induction as I had spent so long away. My TC cohort, however, looked dead behind the eyes as they had finished SQE2 just a few days before. It made me so glad that I had been able to relax for a few months. The induction was very thorough and the highlight for me was getting all the new tech (laptop, mobile, headphones) and my key card. We learnt a lot about NRF as a business, as well as being prepped to be successful trainees.

Training continued well into our seats and it was very comprehensive. I felt like it gave me enough knowledge to get my footing in the team without mollycoddling us. It also meant that expectations of us were much higher. The knowledge lawyers run a lot of the sessions and I absolutely love the knowledge lawyers in my team!

The TC Begins
So which seat did I get? I got BT10 (aka Asset Finance) - my top choice! The team mainly focuses on shipping and aviation, but whilst I've sat in this seat I've also worked on cars, IT equipment, FPSOs (floating oil rigs), and deep-sea cables. One of my partner supervisors also historically helped to fund the pizza ovens at Wetherspoons.

I've found that one of my top areas of value for the team is running signings. Our Newcastle Office is fantastic at supporting with DocuSign signings, but it is the trainee's responsibility to:

1. Draft signing instructions;
2. Collect all signatures and chase up if needed'
3. Compile documents digitally (being aware that deeds and agreements are treated very differently);
4. Collect any hardcopy originals;
5. Date documents; and
6. Compile hardcopy originals and send out compiled copies.

Another area of value has been for me to proofread, which I've realised I'm quite good at. I print off the document in question (with apologies to the environment) and go through it line by line with a pencil and tabs for a first run-through. I then use some of the tools and AI the firm has to mop up anything that might have slipped through the cracks. As well as helping associates, this gives me the chance to literally read documents start to finish and understand a deal better which is very valuable to me.

Shipping v Aviation
As mentioned above, my team mainly works in shipping and aviation and are ranked Band 1 for both, so this really is the bread and butter. They are similar in a lot of ways, but also completely different.

Aviation is very fast-paced and has some odd quirks such as only being able to complete a deal when the aircraft is in the correct airspace. This has led to some interesting closings where we have had to try and close three times on the same day because the funds had not arrived by the time the aircraft had left the right airspace. This also means that a Refund Letter is a very important document to have drafted and signed. NRF works on deals with the likes of EasyJet, Air India, LATAM, SAS, and the IAG (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus). More often than not, we work on the lender side, but we do also act for a few airline operators as well. One of the most interesting things I have worked on is a JOLCO (Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option). If you're interested in this, I highly recommend looking it up but in essence, it's a lease where the borrower can achieve 90-100% LTV (loan-to-value) due to the Japanese tax system. It's quite a lot more complicated than that, but this is journal of my TC journey, not a law lesson.

Shipping is also great and you will also see some JOLCOs here. So far, I've worked on lighthouse ships, cruise ships, and yachts from newbuilding to refinancing. I've been able to work with shipyards, lendors, and borrowers. I would say that shipping is much slower-paced than aviation, with a lot more variety. It also has some interesting oddities such as 'flagging' a ship. This is essentially where the ship is registered. Popular Flag States include the Marshall Islands, Liberia, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands to name a few. These will all have their own rules for registration, so you will end up working with local counsel pretty closely.

Workload
The workload for asset finance varies greatly due to the transactional nature of the seat. It means I have had some very late nights as well as days where I literally didn't do any billable work. This may be difficult for someone who like consistency. On average, I would say that I leave between 6:40 and 7:30pm. NRF has got a great flexible working policy and the members of BT10 really utilise that, so sometimes if I know it's going to be a late night and I have a lull in work, I go home earlier and work from there. I have heard that the winter months are lot more consistently busy, but the summer months are a bit more up and down. Trump's tarriff announcements also didn't help work come through!

Culture
As I've mentioned in other posts, I really thrive in the culture at NRF. My trainee cohort is amazing and I love the other trainees I've met at the firm. BT10 is also such a great team! We have drinks in the office every Thursday paid for by the partners, and we have regular social/client events which it is great to attend.

So far, my favourite event has been our Aviation Away Day. This is where most of the partners and senior associates working in aviation from around NRF's offices congregated in the London office for two days. There were sessions giving updates on applicable laws and trends in aviation, interactive sessions helping to improve interactions with clients, and plenty of time to socialise. I felt so lucky that trainees were invited to attend. I got on really well with some of the partners from New York, an associate from Tokyo, some associates from Warsaw and some associates from Munich. It was such a great opportunity to network with other people from across the globe at the firm and was a real testament to why our team works so seamlessly together. One of the best bits of the Aviation Away Day were the short videos each office made giving an insight into their office, their people, and what they want the other offices to know about them. It felt like a productive way to tell each other how we can work better together.

Next Seat
We are almost at that time to start choosing our next seat choices again. I'd quite like to do an international secondment, but I'm not sure what's on offer yet. My plan is the following:

1. International secondment (Project finance in Singapore if possible)
2. International secondment (Project finance elsewhere, or a different Singapore seat)
3. Project finance (Banking Seat)
4. Aviation and Shipping Disputes (Dispute Seat)

Overall Feeling
I have to be honest, when I went into the TC I was expecting it to be really hard because that's what everyone told me it would be like. I was prepared for monster hours, feeling tired all the time, feeling useless, and struggling with feedback. I am pleased to say that my experience so far has not been like that at all!

I think, perhaps, my previous experiences have really set me up for success here. The hours I did when balancing rowing, studying, and work were so much worse than what I do now. Leaving the office at 7:30pm feels dreamy, especially when I know nothing more is expected of me when I go home. I am surprisingly comfortable with getting things wrong because I'm only just starting, so I want to learn more. That follows into how I receive feedback. I know I'm going to get things wrong, so when people tell me I'm wrong, I just try to learn from it. I definitely learnt that from rowing where the feedback from well-meaning coaches could often be quite cruel. This feedback is tame in comparison and much easier to take.

The other thing I've found is that I really don't have imposter syndrome at all. I feel almost arrogant saying that as it's something I just expected I would feel, but I don't. I worked hard to get where I am and I deserve to be here. That's not to say there wasn't some luck involved - there was. There are other people who also deserve to be here but due to bad luck, they're not. That doesn't mean I don't deserve to be here, though. I do. It also doesn't mean that I'll suddenly get complacent. I will continue to work hard and be deserving of my place here, I just won't allow any doubt to creep in that I shouldn't be here. Most importantly, I will keep reaching a hand down the ladder to help other people get a role they deserve.

My brain is excited by the work I'm doing, and I love coming to work every day. I'm really living my best life at the moment and I hope it continues.

Thank you for following my journey!

 

[j.s.cox]

Your life is like a movie, seriously. Congrats on everything. We would love another update! its been 6 months!!

Also the corporate and banking assessments you did in your vac scheme, was that because you were in 1 of those departments? or does everyone do those assessments regardless of what department they're completing their vac scheme.

and how do you recommend preparing for those in advance, especially for non-law students!

Thanks for reminding me to do another post!

Everyone did the corporate and banking assessments. They will have to do them regardless of Vac Scheme or Direct TC route. I don't think you can really prepare for them other than being very good at writing quickly and succinctly and staying calm under pressure.