It’s the day after graduation; I have my degree… my ‘agbalɛ’ as Ma would call it. I’m bursting with Case Law, Statutes and White paper law [I could go on, but I won’t]. Nights of cramming with Red bull and those famous rice and kippers are all resolved into one day.
I now sit with one hand in a bowl of fufu and light soup, reflecting on the advice of my lecturers,
‘‘ A Law student has to be proactive from the word ‘go’’’
Before I had even graduated, having fully absorbed this notion, I had applied to several Law firms, however, here I was, sitting in Ma’s front room waiting on ‘the call’. It never came.
[What’s ‘the call’ you ask?] Any Law student, or graduate would know, it should go something like this…
‘‘Good afternoon, we received your application and it has been successful”
More realistically, six weeks later, I was very much acquainted with the armchair in Ma’s front room and had concluded that my ambition to become a Lawyer was a distant one.
Fast forward five years and I am still yet to receive ‘the call’. Nevertheless, far away from that cosy armchair in Ma’s house, I am rated as a ‘determined’, ‘resourceful’ and ‘fearless’ legal candidate.
[In addition to being a great morale booster] these are all proof that aside from a degree and relevant training course, the key to landing that dream job [in any field] is experience and networks.
[I repeat experience and networks]
I have learned the hard way that ‘the call’ is an undergraduate myth and proactive doesn’t always mean scatter gun applications to all the firms in and around the ‘magic circle’.
They say it’s not what you know, but who you know… That day after graduation, I wish I had known that it’s not what you do, but how you do it and who you do it with!
Related articles
- Law Graduate #2: How to find out about Training Contracts (thelegal1001.wordpress.com)
- So you want to be a Lawyer (http://l2b.thelawyer.com/1005707.article)
Kofi's Law 
Impressive!
Thank you 🙂