Hi everyone!
My name is Afraz, I’m a future trainee at
Travers Smith and I’ll be supporting
@Abbie Whitlock and
@Andrei Radu as a Community Assistant over the festive period.
A little bit about me. I previously graduated with a Law degree from the University of Salford in 2020 with a 2:1 and although I loved my time there, it was unfortunately my clearance option after I received BCC at A Level (but hey, I got an A in general studies). As you can probably gather already, my legal journey was not as clear-cut as moving from one stage to the other. There were (as I’m sure has been the case for many of you) a lot of challenges, hurdles, and constant rejection – which for me, felt like it was made worse by what I had to offer academically.
However, resilience is truly a powerful thing. Following a break from the TC process, where I spent a year working in graduate recruitment with
Clyde & Co, ending my tenure on delivering my own vacation scheme, I sought out new ways to enter the legal field and this started with
Slaughter and May’s Innovation Competition. For me, this removed the need to “apply” for something and instead showcase my capabilities first-hand, and ultimately, I won (and the prize was £1,000 and a 1-2-1 week-long internship with various talent across the firm). I would say this achievement snowballed my success, as it has since led to my joining the University of Oxford for an AI research project, the role of an innovation specialist paralegal at
Freshfields and most recently an in-house position with Blackstone.
As such, I wanted to join TCLA to help and give back to the community that I too once turned to for support when I began doubting myself. Your journey may look different from everyone else’s, but that doesn’t mean you won’t reach the same destination.
Aside from your general queries, I would also say I am in a strong position to answer queries on:
- Navigating the process with what some may consider less “desirable” academic grades and institution backing.
- Understanding what firms are looking for in an application, assessment centre and vacation scheme and general office etiquette.
- Understanding how the process really works – to place a humane touch on what appears to be a very robotic and mysterious process.
- Generally how to build on your work experience to bulk up your CV and skillset.
- How to be the best version of you in any interview.
If you have any questions, on the above or anything more generally that think I could help with, please let me know.
LET’S GET YOU SOME TC’S!!!!
. A candidate is not “lucky” if they make it with average grades but it takes a lot of hard work, part time roles, work experience, street smartness, etc and maybe 10% luck to get a vac scheme or tc. I say this because that is how I got my legal work experience year at a top silver circle firm.
