Apologies in advance for the long essay but I have benefited from the transparency of so many of you on here so going to do the same ☺️😄:
This was my 4th application cycle + I attended a non-russell group uni + I am a Black woman so deffo heard my fair share of “the big City firms don’t recruit from non-Russell group unis so maybe don’t bother” (even from careers advisors at my uni) to “law isn’t a diverse industry so why not try another industry?”. It also didn’t help that these big firms didn’t attend law fairs at my uni and I didn’t see many people from my uni who joined these firms. So, confidence was something I really struggled with up until a year ago!
Finished uni 4 years ago after doing a master’s in human rights and thought that was what I wanted to do. Did work experience at a well known HR law firm in London and realised it wasn’t for me for a number of reasons but I would say that one of them was the fact that I couldn’t afford to do unpaid internships or low income internships at the time. I also realised there are other ways to get involved in human rights without practising as a lawyer in the field.
Decided to try commercial law and did a couple of applications in my first cycle and got through to ACs at HL and BCLP but got rejected oooppps. Feedback generally was “we thought you came across well + are clearly intelligent but your commercial awareness was poor” in hindsight I also realise that my motivations weren’t strong and I wasn’t really keen on those firms but applied mainly because they were well known 😭😭😭
What followed was a series of rejections and not getting pass the application stage cycle after cycle after applying to firms for similar reasons or for the wrong reasons loool, until this cycle. I just wasn’t sure 😭😭😭
I would say what changed for me this past year was doing my research and applying to firms that I genuinely was interested in for the right reasons rather than ones I thought “i should want to join”.
Honestly, I didn’t know private client work at a top firm was an option + that there were firms who specialised in the charities sector or media etc. until I thought about what I was genuinely interested in and went from there.
Changing my mindset + building my confidence especially via networking and positive affirmations (lool it works, I promise) + attending events and being enthusiastic/engaging + doing things that pushed me out of my comfort zone + doing the work/sharpening my interview technique + knowing my stuff and communicating that well with the right balance between confidence yet a willingness to learn + I would also admit that the maturity that comes with age has helped too with clarity on what I want 😭😭😭 + having some life experience from working!!!
With networking, not every convo or email led to something “big” but speaking with lawyers, from associates to partners, really helped build my confidence back (I remember sending my first message to a partner at one of the boutique media firms in London about a year ago and genuinely being so surprised that he not only responded but offered to speak with me on the phone 😭😭😭) you also realise they are just human just like you loool + being honest with myself about what i wanted out of my career and what I was interested in terms of practice areas and sectors so private client work, charities, media etc. at a firm with a strong commercial practice too. This meant that my applications were more convincing and I approached the entire process with more enthusiasm and confidence.
Anyway, I genuinely believe I got this right when I was meant to and I am really just grateful that I don’t have to do another application or psychometric test or assessment for a while or ever lool! The entire process is so exhausting omg 😭😭😭😭
Sorry for the essay but happy to answer any questions ☺️☺️☺️😊😁
