Rejection Following VS- Where to go from here?

[Anita]

Hi all,

I am not one to post but I just received a call from Graduate recruitment informing me that I will not be offered a TC following an international vacation scheme.

I am completely distraught and not even sure where to start from, I suspended all the applications I was working on to focus on this scheme and hopefully give it all my energy and now it feels like I am back to square one.

This was my first ever scheme and it was the first time I ever made it past the application stage and I am so gutted that it ended this way.

If you have any tips on how to bounce back from this I will appreciate it.

Thank you.

 

[Romiras]

If you haven't already, I would ask for as much feedback as you can get from the Graduate Recruitment team and any people that you've worked with directly on the scheme (although you'll have to make a call whether that's something they'll be receptive to, at least for the latter part).

From there, you have some tangibles as to what you can work on (assuming the feedback isn't nebulous fluff). Also, it would be good to cast your mind to consider where you feel like you could have improved on. You can consider some questions:

1. Were you on time for every 'event', start of the work day, etc?
2. Did you reach out and network and show a real interest in the firm and it's business?
3. If applicable, did you feel like you performed well in both the scheme component and any final interviews they may have had (this will help you find areas to focus on)?
etc

You've already secured a vacation scheme once, so you should have some confidence that you're doing a few things right both with respect to how you write your applications and how you approach interviews. I'm sure you'll find it a lot easier the next time round given your experience.

 

[em311]

@Anita Congratulations on the vacation scheme!! This is such a huge achievement in itself, and the fact that this is the first time you've made it past the application stage speaks volumes on your capability and should not be overlooked!

I completely understand that it is not the news you wanted to hear and it is always hard when you really feel like you put your all into something only for it to not have your desired outcome. As I said before, the fact that you were on the VS proves that your efforts were in no way in vain.

Going forward, I think it would be beneficial to get some feedback from Grad rec and your interviewers so you know what to work on. Take absolutely everything you have learned from this VS and utilise it going forward for your next apps! Having experience and insight into a firm through this VS is really valuable and can make such a difference for your next applications. I understand it may take a little bit to just pick yourself back up, so perhaps just taking a breather from applications and law may help get you refocused when you come back

 

[Anita]

If you haven't already, I would ask for as much feedback as you can get from the Graduate Recruitment team and any people that you've worked with directly on the scheme (although you'll have to make a call whether that's something they'll be receptive to, at least for the latter part).

From there, you have some tangibles as to what you can work on (assuming the feedback isn't nebulous fluff). Also, it would be good to cast your mind to consider where you feel like you could have improved on. You can consider some questions:

1. Were you on time for every 'event', start of the work day, etc?
2. Did you reach out and network and show a real interest in the firm and it's business?
3. If applicable, did you feel like you performed well in both the scheme component and any final interviews they may have had (this will help you find areas to focus on)?
etc

You've already secured a vacation scheme once, so you should have some confidence that you're doing a few things right both with respect to how you write your applications and how you approach interviews. I'm sure you'll find it a lot easier the next time round given your experience.

Hello, thank you so much for your advice. I will reach out to graduate recruitment to discuss my feedback in more detail.

To be honest, I don't think I did so well at the final interview as I was thrown off when I logged in and saw two people on the call when we were told to expect just one person at the final interview.

I will take some time to work on my interview skills and try harder next time.

 

[Anita]

@Anita Congratulations on the vacation scheme!! This is such a huge achievement in itself, and the fact that this is the first time you've made it past the application stage speaks volumes on your capability and should not be overlooked!

I completely understand that it is not the news you wanted to hear and it is always hard when you really feel like you put your all into something only for it to not have your desired outcome. As I said before, the fact that you were on the VS proves that your efforts were in no way in vain.

Going forward, I think it would be beneficial to get some feedback from Grad rec and your interviewers so you know what to work on. Take absolutely everything you have learned from this VS and utilise it going forward for your next apps! Having experience and insight into a firm through this VS is really valuable and can make such a difference for your next applications. I understand it may take a little bit to just pick yourself back up, so perhaps just taking a breather from applications and law may help get you refocused when you come back

Hello, Thanks a lot for your kind words. I took off most of yesterday to think through the experience and you are right, its a great opportunity that I am grateful to have and it will be very valuable in my next round of applications.

I have schedule a call to speak with my trainee recruitment contact just to go through my feedback in more detail and I am hoping that I can identify the key areas I need to work on and start working on them.

 

[George Maxwell]

Hi all,

I am not one to post but I just received a call from Graduate recruitment informing me that I will not be offered a TC following an international vacation scheme.

I am completely distraught and not even sure where to start from, I suspended all the applications I was working on to focus on this scheme and hopefully give it all my energy and now it feels like I am back to square one.

This was my first ever scheme and it was the first time I ever made it past the application stage and I am so gutted that it ended this way.

If you have any tips on how to bounce back from this I will appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hi @Anita,

I am really sorry to hear this. @Romiras and @em311 have given you some great advice.

I know how much investment a vacation scheme takes, so how you are feeling is absolutely understandable.

Two positive steps to take right now:

1. As you have previously touched on, make sure that you take time out and look after yourself. If this only happened yesterday, it is entirely appropriate to give yourself time away from the process of applying. See a friend and chat about anything but law. Taking time out will allow you to take a breath, reflect and come back stronger.
2. Seek feedback. Follow up on this if the firm drags their feet on getting back to you. Feedback is essential to improving for next time. I am sure if you decide that you would like to continue applying (which I really hope you do!), you will progress in your future applications.

I hope that in future you can look back on this and see this as a period from which to build resilience. My knocks were really tough. In October last year I remember feeling pretty lost after a rejection from a TC interview with one of my top firms. However in retrospect, these setbacks forced me to develop into a better candidate and a more resilient, determined person.

We are all here to support you during this process. We will be there when you ultimately succeed. We believe in you! Don't let one firm's opinion define you. Vacation schemes give firms a brief insight and from that they make a decision. You are more than that!

Tagging @James Carrabino for his thoughts 👊

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi @Anita,

I am really sorry to hear this. @Romiras and @em311 have given you some great advice.

I know how much investment a vacation scheme takes, so how you are feeling is absolutely understandable.

Two positive steps to take right now:

1. As you have previously touched on, make sure that you take time out and look after yourself. If this only happened yesterday, it is entirely appropriate to give yourself time away from the process of applying. See a friend and chat about anything but law. Taking time out will allow you to take a breath, reflect and come back stronger.
2. Seek feedback. Follow up on this if the firm drags their feet on getting back to you. Feedback is essential to improving for next time. I am sure if you decide that you would like to continue applying (which I really hope you do!), you will progress in your future applications.

I hope that in future you can look back on this and see this as a period from which to build resilience. My knocks were really tough. In October last year I remember feeling pretty lost after a rejection from a TC interview with one of my top firms. However in retrospect, these setbacks forced me to develop into a better candidate and a more resilient, determined person.

We are all here to support you during this process. We will be there when you ultimately succeed. We believe in you! Don't let one firm's opinion define you. Vacation schemes give firms a brief insight and from that they make a decision. You are more than that!

Tagging @James Carrabino for his thoughts 👊

Thank you @George for soliciting my expertise in dealing with post-VS rejection!


Hi @Anita,

I want to start by saying how sorry I am to hear that you have found yourself in this position. I was rejected from three vacation schemes in the space of three months and every single one was brutal. Spending an entire application cycle building up to those schemes, with confidence that I would be able to convert at least one of them, meant that I just felt completely hopeless when I realised that I had failed to do so. The latter two post-vac scheme rejections came on the same day no less!! I moped around for about 24 hours before I sat down and started looking at upcoming direct TC deadlines.

The day after I received both of those two rejections, I sent off an app that ended up in a TC offer less than a month later. The day after that I sent off another app that ended up in another TC offer! This was all in July right at the end of the cycle. The learning process of getting the vac schemes and subsequently being rejected from them was invaluable in ultimately getting me to a firm that I love. I also got a genuinely interesting and varied perspective of the kind of work that City lawyers do, so I have no regrets about any of these experiences.

Take time to reflect and then realise that you have a huge amount of time remaining this cycle. I submitted ~25 applications in the month of January alone. Of course it would be great to be all done with the process, but I sincerely think that the more work one puts into researching and applying to firms now pays dividends in the long run. You do not necessarily want to default into the first firm that offered you a vac scheme - it is great to have the opportunity to learn from that experience what areas of law you are interested in and which firms you should be looking at going forward.

It is an incredible feat that you got your vacation scheme in the first place, so congratulations!!! Firms will recognise how impressive this is. I went from getting past the application stage ~10% of the time before having a vac scheme on my CV to ~80% of the time once I did. Consequently, you will be in an enviable position when this experience enables you to receive multiple offers in the future and gives you the opportunity to make a reasoned choice abut which firm is best for you! If you got a vac scheme from the first of your applications which passed the app stage, then you must have a natural ability to interview well and pass the other stages. With a lot of time left to make more applications, a vacation scheme on your CV and confidence in your interview ability, you will find yourself in a pretty good position if you draw upon your resilience and keep moving forward

And yes - get feedback! I was not able to do so before each subsequent scheme after my first one; the first scheme simply refused to provide feedback and the other two schemes took place back to back. You have most of the cycle still ahead of you in which you can implement this feedback in both ACs and on your future vac schemes.

The only question I have is what you mean by an 'international vacation scheme' and whether you think this has any bearing on the process? Did this scheme take place abroad for a TC in another country, or was it simply a London vac scheme for an international firm?

Either way, I know that you will bounce back stronger than ever Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions about my experience!

 

[Anita]

Thank you @George for soliciting my expertise in dealing with post-VS rejection!


Hi @Anita,

I want to start by saying how sorry I am to hear that you have found yourself in this position. I was rejected from three vacation schemes in the space of three months and every single one was brutal. Spending an entire application cycle building up to those schemes, with confidence that I would be able to convert at least one of them, meant that I just felt completely hopeless when I realised that I had failed to do so. The latter two post-vac scheme rejections came on the same day no less!! I moped around for about 24 hours before I sat down and started looking at upcoming direct TC deadlines.

The day after I received both of those two rejections, I sent off an app that ended up in a TC offer less than a month later. The day after that I sent off another app that ended up in another TC offer! This was all in July right at the end of the cycle. The learning process of getting the vac schemes and subsequently being rejected from them was invaluable in ultimately getting me to a firm that I love. I also got a genuinely interesting and varied perspective of the kind of work that City lawyers do, so I have no regrets about any of these experiences.

Take time to reflect and then realise that you have a huge amount of time remaining this cycle. I submitted ~25 applications in the month of January alone. Of course it would be great to be all done with the process, but I sincerely think that the more work one puts into researching and applying to firms now pays dividends in the long run. You do not necessarily want to default into the first firm that offered you a vac scheme - it is great to have the opportunity to learn from that experience what areas of law you are interested in and which firms you should be looking at going forward.

It is an incredible feat that you got your vacation scheme in the first place, so congratulations!!! Firms will recognise how impressive this is. I went from getting past the application stage ~10% of the time before having a vac scheme on my CV to ~80% of the time once I did. Consequently, you will be in an enviable position when this experience enables you to receive multiple offers in the future and gives you the opportunity to make a reasoned choice abut which firm is best for you! If you got a vac scheme from the first of your applications which passed the app stage, then you must have a natural ability to interview well and pass the other stages. With a lot of time left to make more applications, a vacation scheme on your CV and confidence in your interview ability, you will find yourself in a pretty good position if you draw upon your resilience and keep moving forward

And yes - get feedback! I was not able to do so before each subsequent scheme after my first one; the first scheme simply refused to provide feedback and the other two schemes took place back to back. You have most of the cycle still ahead of you in which you can implement this feedback in both ACs and on your future vac schemes.

The only question I have is what you mean by an 'international vacation scheme' and whether you think this has any bearing on the process? Did this scheme take place abroad for a TC in another country, or was it simply a London vac scheme for an international firm?

Either way, I know that you will bounce back stronger than ever Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions about my experience!

Hi @James Carrabino,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with me. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to receive those rejections and knowing that you were subsequently able to receive two TC offers is very inspiring.

I spoke with graduate recruitment again today and they were kind enough to go into more detail. Personality-wise, they were very impressed and really enjoyed working with me but mentioned that I seemed very nervous during the final interview and because of that my answers came across as unsure. They also mentioned needing to go into more detail with my answers but I genuinely thought I needed to be brief because the interview started late and the interviewer kept mentioning that she was conscious of time.

I have decided to take the rest of the week off from applications and get back to them next week. I will reflect on everything that everyone has suggested and apply them all during my next round of applications.

It was a scheme at a magic circle firm for international students that studied abroad and was supposed to take place in London but because of the pandemic it was virtual.

 

[AvniD]

Hi @James Carrabino,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with me. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to receive those rejections and knowing that you were subsequently able to receive two TC offers is very inspiring.

I spoke with graduate recruitment again today and they were kind enough to go into more detail. Personality-wise, they were very impressed and really enjoyed working with me but mentioned that I seemed very nervous during the final interview and because of that my answers came across as unsure. They also mentioned needing to go into more detail with my answers but I genuinely thought I needed to be brief because the interview started late and the interviewer kept mentioning that she was conscious of time.

I have decided to take the rest of the week off from applications and get back to them next week. I will reflect on everything that everyone has suggested and apply them all during my next round of applications.

It was a scheme at a magic circle firm for international students that studied abroad and was supposed to take place in London but because of the pandemic it was virtual.

Hi Anita! Very well done on securing your vacation scheme and finding the courage to seek support here on the forum- it's really impressive 👏 👏 👏

I think you're doing absolutely the right thing by taking time away from applications to reflect and recuperate. I hope your faith in your abilities and hard work is reaffirmed after this break and that you come back to making applications with a fresh perspective and energy.

I know how hard it is to get onto vacation schemes dedicated to international students (I am from India and there are quite a few schemes directed towards Indian students), and you should be so incredibly proud of yourself. Going forward, firms are going to view your vacation scheme as nothing but a testament to your abilities, and this break should help you grow from this disappointment and demonstrate to them how you've taken on your feedback and learnt from your reflections to improve till you achieve your goals.

Please feel free to tag me in your posts here on the forum if you ever have any questions about your applications and I'll try my best to support you. You've got this 💪

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi @James Carrabino,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with me. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to receive those rejections and knowing that you were subsequently able to receive two TC offers is very inspiring.

I spoke with graduate recruitment again today and they were kind enough to go into more detail. Personality-wise, they were very impressed and really enjoyed working with me but mentioned that I seemed very nervous during the final interview and because of that my answers came across as unsure. They also mentioned needing to go into more detail with my answers but I genuinely thought I needed to be brief because the interview started late and the interviewer kept mentioning that she was conscious of time.

I have decided to take the rest of the week off from applications and get back to them next week. I will reflect on everything that everyone has suggested and apply them all during my next round of applications.

It was a scheme at a magic circle firm for international students that studied abroad and was supposed to take place in London but because of the pandemic it was virtual.

@Anita, I am very happy to open up about my own experiences and I am so glad if it allows you put things in perspective and realise that this rejection is not failure, it's just one of the bumps in the road to success - when you finally get that offer you are waiting for, it will be all the more rewarding as a result!

You have made the right choice by taking the week off. You earned it! Reflect on just how impressive it was that you got your vacation scheme and trust me and @AvniD when we tell you that you will find things easier now that you have a vac scheme under your belt. The feedback is useful so keep it in mind, but also don't overanalyse it. Just continue to be yourself and there will absolutely be a firm that will appreciate you for you!

I am very grateful for @AvniD offering her perspective on this from the position of an international student as I imagine that can add further insight than I am able to give.

Either way, all of us at TCLA are here for you in your training contract journey! Have a wonderful holiday

 

[hopefullylaw2000]

Hi Anita! I completely understand how youre feeling as I was in a similar situation this summer having been rejected post-vac scheme from my dream firm! The first thing I did was spend 2-3 days in bed/moping and surrounding myself with my family and friends, when I spoke to them about what I was going through, they were able to be there and support me throughout all my mood swings!!
Secondly, I reached out to graduate recruitment (I had an assigned person) and asked for her notes on my feedback so I could digest them better. My feedback was similar to yours in that I didn't perform as well as they would have liked in my final interview. However, going forward this has helped tremendously as I realised in that interview, me not being able to explain some key things about legal principles was a massive learning curve that I needed to overcome. Additionally, grad rec also were able to tell me where I was strongest throughout the vac scheme. From what you have said (about it being your final TC interview) I get that it is extremely difficult to bounce back from, especially if on the actual scheme you performed really well!
Going forward, I would recommend you take some time out to reflect on the vac scheme, what you learnt from it and how you feel you can use it to go forwards! Also, I realised that there was a specific bit of law I 100% wanted to be able to explore in my training contract, and that has 100% benefited my applications and where I focus my attention on going forward!
Also congrats on getting to the scheme in the first place!! They're extremely difficult to get onto and this will reflect really positively on you going forward! If you want to talk about it / talk through any thing please feel free to message me