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<blockquote data-quote="Julian Ng" data-source="post: 13542" data-attributes="member: 1041"><p>I recently received a TC offer from a leading international law firm in the City after 25+ TC/vac scheme applications over three recruitment cycles. </p><p></p><p>The journey definitely had its challenges along the way. I completed a winter vacation scheme with a top US firm in 2017 that felt incredibly promising but ultimately did not convert into a TC offer. The following recruitment cycle I sent off 10 consecutive applications without receiving a single interview invite. </p><p></p><p>TCLA has played such a key part in my eventual success and I'd love to share a bit about what I learnt along the way. Having reflected on my journey I've decided to focus on aspects around mindset/attitude rather than technical aspects of the recruitment process such as commercial awareness/application technique (which are incredibly important too!). </p><p></p><p><strong>Building resilience and a growth mindset </strong>- one thing that really helped me persevere through each rejection was building a growth mindset. It took me a while, but I eventually got to a place where I wasn't as phased by a rejection email. I began to see each stage of the application process – whether the form, psychometric exercise, interview or AC – as an opportunity to learn and develop skills that would help me be a more effective trainee in the future. Of course, having that individual mindset is easier said than done and I found building a strong network of friends and peers really important here. As time passed I learnt to be more open about my failures and disappointments with fellow law students friends who understood the TC hunt grind. I also found the TCLA forum – and this very thread! – really helpful in terms of realising I wasn't alone in my journey. Lastly I also really want to credit the Trainee Talk podcast as an excellent resource for building resilience: I'd particularly recommend Episode #8 on building confidence and Episode #9 on the principe of 'sweat equity'. </p><p></p><p><strong>Becoming more teachable/coachable. </strong>One thing the TC hunt has really taught me is to learn to ask for help. That's been especially clear this last recruitment cycle as I benefited so much from reaching out to two career counsellors at BPP and to Jaysen for application help. This has been invaluable in terms of helping me write better applications and learning to give more structured and confident answers at interviews/ACs. I will shamelessly plug the value of a TCLA Premium subscription too: there's some excellent material in the commercial classes and having Jaysen review my application forms has really helped me improve my writing over time. Looking back – and it pains me to admit this – I was guilty of having a rather stubborn lone-wolf mentality with some of my earlier applications and I wasn't as receptive to getting feedback on my applications. It took me many rejections to get to a point where I was more teachable and this was definitely a blessing in disguise. I've learnt that it takes a village to succeed and I definitely want to bring that lesson into my future career. </p><p></p><p><strong>Be conscious of your limiting beliefs. </strong>This may come across as very self-help-y but I do think there is merit to understanding your limiting beliefs (i.e. narratives about yourself that are actually creating artificial barriers to success) and not letting them box you in. As a personal example: it took me a while to come to a decision that commercial law was what I wanted to pursue and throughout my time at university I found work experience in other sectors e.g. charities, a government legal department. Rather than being insecure about whether this showed sufficient interest in commercial law, I reflected hard on these experiences and learnt to explain in an interview how these experiences actually helped me understand what was unique about a training contract in the City. Similarly, rather than being insecure about whether my status as an international student would detrimentally impact my applications, I learnt to talk about my international experience in interviews and also took confidence from success stories from other international students. </p><p></p><p>Big shoutout once again to TCLA! Thank you Jaysen for setting up this forum where candidates can find inspiration, encouragement and advice from each other! And thanks to those who've shared their stories on this forum: they really helped me persevere!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Julian Ng, post: 13542, member: 1041"] I recently received a TC offer from a leading international law firm in the City after 25+ TC/vac scheme applications over three recruitment cycles. The journey definitely had its challenges along the way. I completed a winter vacation scheme with a top US firm in 2017 that felt incredibly promising but ultimately did not convert into a TC offer. The following recruitment cycle I sent off 10 consecutive applications without receiving a single interview invite. TCLA has played such a key part in my eventual success and I'd love to share a bit about what I learnt along the way. Having reflected on my journey I've decided to focus on aspects around mindset/attitude rather than technical aspects of the recruitment process such as commercial awareness/application technique (which are incredibly important too!). [B]Building resilience and a growth mindset [/B]- one thing that really helped me persevere through each rejection was building a growth mindset. It took me a while, but I eventually got to a place where I wasn't as phased by a rejection email. I began to see each stage of the application process – whether the form, psychometric exercise, interview or AC – as an opportunity to learn and develop skills that would help me be a more effective trainee in the future. Of course, having that individual mindset is easier said than done and I found building a strong network of friends and peers really important here. As time passed I learnt to be more open about my failures and disappointments with fellow law students friends who understood the TC hunt grind. I also found the TCLA forum – and this very thread! – really helpful in terms of realising I wasn't alone in my journey. Lastly I also really want to credit the Trainee Talk podcast as an excellent resource for building resilience: I'd particularly recommend Episode #8 on building confidence and Episode #9 on the principe of 'sweat equity'. [B]Becoming more teachable/coachable. [/B]One thing the TC hunt has really taught me is to learn to ask for help. That's been especially clear this last recruitment cycle as I benefited so much from reaching out to two career counsellors at BPP and to Jaysen for application help. This has been invaluable in terms of helping me write better applications and learning to give more structured and confident answers at interviews/ACs. I will shamelessly plug the value of a TCLA Premium subscription too: there's some excellent material in the commercial classes and having Jaysen review my application forms has really helped me improve my writing over time. Looking back – and it pains me to admit this – I was guilty of having a rather stubborn lone-wolf mentality with some of my earlier applications and I wasn't as receptive to getting feedback on my applications. It took me many rejections to get to a point where I was more teachable and this was definitely a blessing in disguise. I've learnt that it takes a village to succeed and I definitely want to bring that lesson into my future career. [B]Be conscious of your limiting beliefs. [/B]This may come across as very self-help-y but I do think there is merit to understanding your limiting beliefs (i.e. narratives about yourself that are actually creating artificial barriers to success) and not letting them box you in. As a personal example: it took me a while to come to a decision that commercial law was what I wanted to pursue and throughout my time at university I found work experience in other sectors e.g. charities, a government legal department. Rather than being insecure about whether this showed sufficient interest in commercial law, I reflected hard on these experiences and learnt to explain in an interview how these experiences actually helped me understand what was unique about a training contract in the City. Similarly, rather than being insecure about whether my status as an international student would detrimentally impact my applications, I learnt to talk about my international experience in interviews and also took confidence from success stories from other international students. Big shoutout once again to TCLA! Thank you Jaysen for setting up this forum where candidates can find inspiration, encouragement and advice from each other! And thanks to those who've shared their stories on this forum: they really helped me persevere! [/QUOTE]
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