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Aspiring Lawyers - Applications & General Advice
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Share your interview nightmares, sticky situations and stories!
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<blockquote data-quote="AvniD" data-source="post: 93804" data-attributes="member: 17155"><p><strong>Nightmare Part I</strong></p><p></p><p>I woke up early on the day of my interview energised and excited for the 3-month long application process that led up to this day to finally culminate. Made coffee, had a nice breakfast, laid out my outfit neatly and sat down to practice some questions when I heard a loud bang from outside my flat. It had been raining very heavily (please see Google images of monsoons in India to get an idea 😅) and my mind instantly darted towards thinking that something had gone wrong.</p><p></p><p>I peered out my window, only to see a thick plume of smoke rising from my electricity box. I ran downstairs to check it out and realised that water had seeped into the box and blown a pretty massive fuse (sorry if this is technically incorrect language-apologies to those who are electrically proficient!). By the time I came back up to my flat, I realised that since the fuse was blown, the electricity in my flat got cut and that I had no internet three hours before one of the most important interviews of my life that also happened to be virtual 😭</p><p></p><p>As you can imagine, I started panicking pretty badly and basically stopped functioning because this was an important day in my life and there was a pretty big chance of it having gone completely to sh*t. Thankfully, my mother stepped in for me and called a few electricians on an emergency basis, one of whom responded with just a couple of hours to go for my interview. He was such an angel for me that day because he decided to venture out to a close-by market in the rain, buy a replacement fuse and fix the electricity box as he knew it was an important day for me. I know I would not have been successful at that interview had he not swooped in to save the day and I will be eternally grateful to him! 😇</p><p></p><p>While the electrician was hard at work, I began to come out of panic mode and resume being a functional human being and came up with a few alternate places I could go to in case the internet didn't come back on, like my mum's office or my grandma's place. Thankfully, as we were debating the viability of venturing out to these places in the rain, the light came back on and the router started blinking its many lights- all with 50 minutes to go for the interview.</p><p></p><p><strong>Nightmare Part II</strong></p><p></p><p>My mum, the electrician and I secured his precious handiwork with many layers of tarp so that water would not get into the fuse box again and with about 20 minutes to go for my interview, I ran back up to the flat, dried myself, flash-changed into my suit and assumed my place in front of my laptop screen, going into my interview thinking that surely, nothing else could go wrong now 😅</p><p></p><p>Since my worst nightmare about my interview had come true, I went into my interview feeling pretty calm- the drama of preceding hours had worn my nervousness away. I was getting through each stage confidently and everything was going well till the case study interview. I had 30 minutes to prepare and as I went into opening the file containing the case study, I realised that half of it was not loading. On top of that, I had not noticed that my charger had decided to give up on charging my laptop midway and that it was currently at 9%. I quickly spoke to grad rec about the file, while pleading to the laptop charger gods to be merciful towards me as I fiddled with the charger.</p><p></p><p>With 15 minutes to go for the interview, I was finally able to see the whole case study and get my laptop charger working. Since I essentially had only been able to use half the allotted time to prepare, I realised that I had to let my interviewers know what was going on, wing a lot of what I needed to say and learn the parts I hadn't been able to read while presenting my analysis. Somehow, my strategy worked and my case study went off extremely well- I'm guessing it probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was quite familiar with the topic that we were discussing, thanks to my intensive 2-month law internship with a private equity law firm that had concluded quite recently.</p><p></p><p>I waited two excruciating weeks to hear about the outcome of my interview, thinking that the electricity drama or the charger drama or the case study file drama had surely cost me the role, but was relieved when I eventually received the call informing me that I had made it 🥳</p><p></p><p><strong>Reflections</strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In hindsight, I wish I hadn't shut down completely when faced with an adverse situation and am incredibly grateful to my mum and the sweet electrician for saving the day!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I am also grateful for these 'nightmares' because they taught me how to think on my feet and deal with unforeseen circumstances and high-pressure situations.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">ENSURE YOUR CHARGER IS WORKING!!!!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I liked the way I clued the interviewers into why I had to prepare in a rushed manner- it made me more relaxed and helped me approach the case study in a more focused manner because I'd addressed the elephant in the room.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No matter how hard you try, there will always be more things out of your control than in your control and you have to be able to look at the picture going into an interview. Yes, it's important. Yes, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But no interview is the be-all and end-all of your career and even if it doesn't go your way, as long as you stay in the game, there will always be more chances and opportunities in the future.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AvniD, post: 93804, member: 17155"] [B]Nightmare Part I[/B] I woke up early on the day of my interview energised and excited for the 3-month long application process that led up to this day to finally culminate. Made coffee, had a nice breakfast, laid out my outfit neatly and sat down to practice some questions when I heard a loud bang from outside my flat. It had been raining very heavily (please see Google images of monsoons in India to get an idea 😅) and my mind instantly darted towards thinking that something had gone wrong. I peered out my window, only to see a thick plume of smoke rising from my electricity box. I ran downstairs to check it out and realised that water had seeped into the box and blown a pretty massive fuse (sorry if this is technically incorrect language-apologies to those who are electrically proficient!). By the time I came back up to my flat, I realised that since the fuse was blown, the electricity in my flat got cut and that I had no internet three hours before one of the most important interviews of my life that also happened to be virtual 😭 As you can imagine, I started panicking pretty badly and basically stopped functioning because this was an important day in my life and there was a pretty big chance of it having gone completely to sh*t. Thankfully, my mother stepped in for me and called a few electricians on an emergency basis, one of whom responded with just a couple of hours to go for my interview. He was such an angel for me that day because he decided to venture out to a close-by market in the rain, buy a replacement fuse and fix the electricity box as he knew it was an important day for me. I know I would not have been successful at that interview had he not swooped in to save the day and I will be eternally grateful to him! 😇 While the electrician was hard at work, I began to come out of panic mode and resume being a functional human being and came up with a few alternate places I could go to in case the internet didn't come back on, like my mum's office or my grandma's place. Thankfully, as we were debating the viability of venturing out to these places in the rain, the light came back on and the router started blinking its many lights- all with 50 minutes to go for the interview. [B]Nightmare Part II[/B] My mum, the electrician and I secured his precious handiwork with many layers of tarp so that water would not get into the fuse box again and with about 20 minutes to go for my interview, I ran back up to the flat, dried myself, flash-changed into my suit and assumed my place in front of my laptop screen, going into my interview thinking that surely, nothing else could go wrong now 😅 Since my worst nightmare about my interview had come true, I went into my interview feeling pretty calm- the drama of preceding hours had worn my nervousness away. I was getting through each stage confidently and everything was going well till the case study interview. I had 30 minutes to prepare and as I went into opening the file containing the case study, I realised that half of it was not loading. On top of that, I had not noticed that my charger had decided to give up on charging my laptop midway and that it was currently at 9%. I quickly spoke to grad rec about the file, while pleading to the laptop charger gods to be merciful towards me as I fiddled with the charger. With 15 minutes to go for the interview, I was finally able to see the whole case study and get my laptop charger working. Since I essentially had only been able to use half the allotted time to prepare, I realised that I had to let my interviewers know what was going on, wing a lot of what I needed to say and learn the parts I hadn't been able to read while presenting my analysis. Somehow, my strategy worked and my case study went off extremely well- I'm guessing it probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was quite familiar with the topic that we were discussing, thanks to my intensive 2-month law internship with a private equity law firm that had concluded quite recently. I waited two excruciating weeks to hear about the outcome of my interview, thinking that the electricity drama or the charger drama or the case study file drama had surely cost me the role, but was relieved when I eventually received the call informing me that I had made it 🥳 [B]Reflections[/B] [LIST] [*]In hindsight, I wish I hadn't shut down completely when faced with an adverse situation and am incredibly grateful to my mum and the sweet electrician for saving the day! [*]I am also grateful for these 'nightmares' because they taught me how to think on my feet and deal with unforeseen circumstances and high-pressure situations. [*]ENSURE YOUR CHARGER IS WORKING!!!! [*]I liked the way I clued the interviewers into why I had to prepare in a rushed manner- it made me more relaxed and helped me approach the case study in a more focused manner because I'd addressed the elephant in the room. [*]No matter how hard you try, there will always be more things out of your control than in your control and you have to be able to look at the picture going into an interview. Yes, it's important. Yes, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But no interview is the be-all and end-all of your career and even if it doesn't go your way, as long as you stay in the game, there will always be more chances and opportunities in the future. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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