Rejection

When the rug is pulled out from under you… and thrown over your eyes… and someone sets you on fire while you’re in the dark.

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By Georgia Briggs

georgiaBriggsLet me paint a small picture for you:

  1. It’s your birthday;
  2. You have to work on your birthday for the first time in your life, so you’ feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole thing;
  3. You had a superb interview with your Dream Job exactly one month ago and are waiting to hear back;
  4. No, you’re not being cocky, it went really well and one of the interviewers even said “what a fantastic answer, you’re pretty much already in”;
  5. You get an email from your Dream Job;
  6. You did not get the Dream Job;
    … did I mention it was my birthday?

Now I know what your first question is, because it will be the same as my lovely best friends’ question was when I told them, “did they give reasons why?” No, but I could email HR if I wanted to find out, 4 minutes later I had. Haven’t heard back yet.

I wrote an earlier article about how I had the wrong impression about a job interview which I thought went badly, but turns out I got. This would be the complete opposite, except worse, because the Dream Job that you’ve been pining for, for the last 5 years just punched you in the face with its generic email content.

The next question should of course be, how long did I stare at my screen re-reading the email? At least 10 minutes, while I yelled to my mum and her friend to “hold on” without giving any further information as to why. I just couldn’t fathom it, it must be a typo, it just couldn’t be a ‘no’. Needless to say the birthday party hat I had insisted on wearing to make work more fun was taken off.

So what now? (aka when your faith is truly shaken)

My family has one of those “if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be” type mentalities. In fact, when I’ve been getting knocked back for some other jobs recently we’ve all been thinking (and occasionally saying) that clearly I’m not meant to have this job because I’m going to hear back from my Dream Job who will give me a resounding yes and welcome me with open arms. It’s really hard to see the positive side of this knock back. What in the hell could ‘fate’ have in store for me in terms of job prospects (supposedly saving up for a good one) if my Dream Job is a big fat no?

So what do you do, when your Dream Job knocks you for six… I’ll let you know when I know. Apologies for the loose type of ending here, but I seriously don’t know, and really that lack of understanding and almost speechlessness (though not in writing) shows just how lost a\ writer who has a fun “whoopsie daisy” kind of column can be at the moment. Maybe soon I’ll have a top 10 list of “coming to terms with not getting your Dream Job”. Everyone loves a top 10!

 

 

I was taking a law school admissions test in a big classroom at Harvard.

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openmic15-09

“My friend and I were some of the only women in the room. I was feeling nervous. I was a senior in college. I wasn’t sure how well I’d do. And while we’re waiting for the exam to start, a group of men began to yell things like: ‘You don’t need to be here.’ And ‘There’s plenty else you can do.’ It turned into a real ‘pile on.’ One of them even said: ‘If you take my spot, I’ll get drafted, and I’ll go to Vietnam, and I’ll die.’ And they weren’t kidding around. It was intense. It got very personal. But I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t afford to get distracted because I didn’t want to mess up the test. So I just kept looking down, hoping that the proctor would walk in the room. I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional. But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that’s a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don’t want to seem ‘walled off.’ And sometimes I think I come across more in the ‘walled off’ arena. And if I create that perception, then I take responsibility. I don’t view myself as cold or unemotional. And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that sometimes is the perception I create, then I can’t blame people for thinking that.”

[Courtesy of: Humans of New York]

So, it turns out I was wrong… bound to happen I suppose.

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By Georgia Briggs

georgiaBriggsA few weeks ago I wrote a piece, including some very sound advice I like to think, as to what happens when you go to an interview, and it goes terribly. This was loosely (lies, very tightly) based on a job interview I had recently. It was for a nice job, which would tide me over until I found more permanent work, and they were on the same level as me in that regard, happy to have me for a short period, in non-solicitor work, until I found something better suited. Mutual use and understanding of the role. Well, despite the fact that I thought I tanked the interview more than I could have ever imagined, I got the job! WHAT?? I almost fell off my chair when the employer called me and said “we want to offer you the position”. I couldn’t wipe the look of bewilderment off my face, lucky it wasn’t a video call! I had honestly cried my little eyes out for a brief 30 minutes (ish) afterwards at how poorly the interview had gone, apparently, it hadn’t gone that poorly at all!

The lesson here is, you never really know what other people are thinking until they tell you. So keep an open mind towards yourself and the future and never put all your eggs into a basket before knowing for sure.

A friend of mine came down from Wagga and she decided to paint my toenails for me.

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G

A friend of mine came down from Wagga and she decided to paint my toenails for me. She painted them all different colours of the rainbow, one Red, one orange and so on. They looked good. After that when I looked down at my feet they made me feel happy. That was Valentine’s Day 2013 and I’ve painted them in rainbow order since. I remember the date because I had a boyfriend at the time but he wasn’t there. He lived in Wagga and I was in Canberra. I was pretty swept up in him because he was the first guy who told me I was pretty, that I was attractive. I had been with a guy in high school who never told me that, and I got distracted by the fact that someone thought I was pretty. Eventually when that wore off, I realised “wow, we are not that similar at all. This isn’t going to work”. It was a turning point though. I realised I wasn’t nearly as ugly or unattractive to the opposite sex than I thought I was. It is very nice to know.

The unbearable lightness of being a (female) lawyer

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by Arna Delle-Vergini

female lawyer pic

One of the frustrations of being a blawyer (lawyer/blogger) is that, more often than not, one cannot blog about one’s own clients. And yet, that is where all the best stories happen: in and around court. How to get around this? Well, this is this blawgers attempt. To protect my real identity, in this blog I’m going to call myself “Andy”. Oh, and I’ve made up a whole different country too. Just for added protection. 🙂

Once upon a time, there was a land called “Mysonia”.  It was a strange, half-forgotten land, where the quality of people’s lives was predetermined from birth essentially, according to the colour of their hair.  Basically, in this land, if you were born a brunette, you were considered to be a second-class citizen, blondes were first-class citizens and redheads were the ultimate rulers. Gender was irrelevant. In any event, there were rules and regulations about whom one could marry and have children with (as there are in our own country of course) but, since there were so many more brunettes than blondes or redheads, exceptions were allowed. These were rarely happy marriages though, as the brunettes would be routinely treated awfully by their partners and whilst there were laws that protected second-class citizens from being victimized, in practice, it happened all too often and little was done about it. Anyway, a great war broke out in this country and many people, of all different coloured hair, fled. Some fled to the US. Some to the UK. Some to France. Some to Sweden. And some saw fit to flee to Australia.

Our story picks up in Australia where “Andy” a lawyer is briefed to appear in a bail application on behalf of “Felicity” a blonde Mysonian who recently arrived in this country. Felicity had been charged (again) with breaching an intervention order. This was her third breach. She had a history outlining multiple assaults against her partner, Phillipe, who was; you guessed it, very much a brunette. On this occasion, Felicity bashed Phillipe so hard that he had to be hospitalized. After her arrest she made it very clear to the police that she had nothing but contempt for laws that protected brunettes from violent assaults and made it clear that she would repeat her behaviour the minute she was released. This was unhelpful for a bail application but Andy had been doing this for a while and was quite sure he could manage it.

It was 9.15am when Andy first met Felicity in the cells down in the Melbourne Remand Centre. He said a cheery “hello” and began to take Felicity through the remand brief. At one point he noticed Felicity looking at him strangely, but he decided to just continue. Eventually, he realized that the “strange” look was one of anger, possibly even contempt, so he asked Felicity if everything was all right.

“No, it’s not!” she said, with some anger. “They have sent me a prostitute”.

Andy looked around him quickly to see if anyone else had slipped into the interview room. Nope, just him.

“A prostitute?”

“In Mysonia, married brunettes do not work. The only brunettes who work are prostitutes. You are not married.”

Andy looked at his ring finger. “Oh, of course, I’m not married and I’m a brunette so you think I must be a prostitute”.

“You are a prostitute”.

Andy felt that, perhaps, reason might assist in this circumstance and explained: “Oh, no, you see, in this country, brunettes are allowed to work doing all sorts of work and it doesn’t matter whether they are married or not.”

Felicity did not seem at all pleased with this answer. In fact, she became angrier and demanded to know again why they had sent a prostitute in to act as her lawyer. Furthermore, Felicity didn’t believe, even in Australia, that Andy actually could have been a qualified lawyer, rather than a student, so she demanded to see Andy’s ID. Andy produced his ID but Felicity just became more and more enraged. She was starting to yell at this point and white flecks of foam were spurting out of her mouth. Eventually she started banging on the glass: “I want a proper lawyer. I want a redhead”.

Since Andy got paid either way, he was happy to leave Felicity foaming at the mouth in the cells while he organized a lawyer with different coloured hair to come and represent Felicity.  As luck would have it, there was a perfectly capable blonde idling about in chambers, so he flicked the brief to her and then casually made his way home.

As he was driving home he thought about two things. The first was how he might spend the rest of his day. (He favoured sitting at a café reading a book only slightly over sitting in a warm bath reading a book.). The second thought he had was: “what must it feel like to be born into a world that thinks you are superior by nature of your hair colour?” He had some idea of this because, in truth, even in Australia – the lucky country – there was a little of this caper going on. He had had some experience of people who were raised to see themselves as superior. These were people who were treated as smarter and funnier, even if they weren’t. These people were paid more to do the very same work as anyone else; consequently, they were typically wealthier. These people were given more airtime, as if everything that fell out of their mouths was golden when, really they talked as much rubbish as anyone else. These people often believed that they had no advantage whatsoever, but the moment someone tried to challenge them about their advantage, they instantly became very defensive and angry. They would say things like “just exactly who do you think you are?” Because Andy liked himself a lot, he didn’t spend a lot of time with these people but he had spent enough time with them to know that they existed and that, underneath it all, their greatest fear – greater than any other fear – was of being exposed. Their greatest fear was that one day, someone would discover that they were not actually superior after all. Andy couldn’t think of anything worse than living with a fear like this. It made him feel very sorry for them.

Postscript: Felicity was not satisfied with the blonde lawyer either and promptly sacked her. Felicity had come to feel a deep distrust of all Australian lawyers after having met Andy; after all, what kind of country allows brunettes to practice as lawyers anyway? No one will be surprised to hear that Felicity was not granted bail on this particular occasion. 

The alternative entry-level lawyer

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by Charlie du Bois

you__ll_move_mountains__by_hazyoasis-d587gub

So I’m sitting in the middle of my admission at the Supreme Court, thinking of the series of announced congratulatory sentiments, both past and impending. I’m looking at my principal lawyer knowing exactly what he’s going to say to attest to my good character to the honourable judges of the bench, and there is a grand spark of absolute pride that must go through all imminently-admitted attendees. We all nostalgically recall the boundless anxieties and full-blown emotional and mental straining sourced from us and that was sustained by those who know them dearly, and remembering the ball of irritable and twitchy obscenity we all experienced, that at times required the keenest of eyes to discern the studious, odorous and wretched shell before them from the personable and warm person they knew previous.

These incredible hurdles surpassed, and a long seven years behind me (I dawdled to admission, to be quite frank) I did however feel conflicted. I already had a job, I was heavily involved and integrated into one of the more recognisable national firms, albeit, a “TodayTonight-appearing” type of firm, and the position actually allowed for quite a bit of travel to conferences and capital cities around our grand country. And through the slightest of clicks, I would be allowed leave whimsically, just like the ludicrous 4-day weekend I attended in Byron Bay for a basketball tournament this past weekend.

But I’m not a lawyer. Admitted as I may be, practising I am not. I’ve been sent magically into uncharted territory for my firm for a particular area of injury law to pick up business where others have failed before me, contracted as a law clerk to first prove myself as an asset.

I tried my hand at the traineeship gig previously, but like any good broken-hearted scumbag, firm and I “mutually” decided we weren’t right for each other.. …

Alas, I threatened departure!! Yes dear reader!! Your rugged protagonist asserted his youthful and brutal boldness, and in his mightiest of man-vocal (see: Whimper) indicated his desire to leave the city to which he called home for the past 7 years, escaping failure of career and relationship alike (the latter is another story you can read on another blog: “The Beautiful women of Charlie du Bois”).

What resulted was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Different role, different city, with a promise within my contract to cover my admission, practice certification, and employ me as a lawyer on the basis of my performance in this new area.

NOW! “Performance?” I hear you mumble. Yes, a good question, and one that is still present within my vocabulary unfortunately. While I entered into this contract full of vim and vigour, excited to get out of the last capital and into another, a raise and moving costs and pretty little clauses and gym-membership and the rest of it, the Smith v Hughes intention of both parties about what “performance” actually involved has been lost in translation through the turnover of superiors and redefinitions by interested parties, which is many considering the interstate nature of my role. Interesting at this point to also note that while I’m pushing for a career-progression from law clerk, that my work goes largely unchecked as I deal with matters, only calling on my interstate supervisor for matters which are immediately overly complex or confronting.

Another concern being that the principal lawyer I mention above, being the ultimate decision maker about my employment as a lawyer, has the same amount or focus/concern on my position as I do about the
brand of toilet paper I buy, even though I love him and his style as much as he’ll call some brown-nose expletive out on being a brown-nose expletive (see what I did there?).

So what to do in a position like this?

Take advantage.

I have worked my sweet-little-tucus off to build up a now impressive client base, spread the word of this unique area of personal injury law, and have penetrated a market which seems needed someone like me to do the hard yards and find the gold in ‘dem ‘der hills.

I spent six months pre-admission doing the 8am-7pm shifts during the week, taking advantage of the autonomy to announce myself in the legal community in my new city, and really take big strides for my self and my firm. And on my weekends, I’ve tried to use my new money and new singledom (again, see blog “tBWoCdB”) and explore this amazing country of ours.

But is that simply all I want? Is that what I studied 5, nearly 6 years to accomplish? This great role and opportunity, unfortunately for me, means little if it means that all that I’ve set out to become is kept from me during an argument concerning a contractual term. There is still no timeline on when I will be employed as a lawyer in my current firm. I have my own timeline though, and plans from A-F, and hopefully that youthful boldness to plunge into the undertaking of plans B onwards if need be.

Movie Review: Legally Blonde

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by Phoebe Churches

legally blonde

Legally Blonde (2001. 96 MINUTES)
Phoebs’ rating: 6/10
Director: Robert Luketic
Lead Actors: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair
Genre: Comedy/Romance

 

This could have been a very economical review. My brother very pithily provided the following analysis:

Dispelling the blonde=ditzy myth, by playing a ditzy blonde who triumphs anyway by getting into Harvard Law School using videos of herself in a wet bikini, motivated solely by the desire to marry her horrible boyfriend and have his children. I suppose that’s a typical feminist narrative these days.

Yes, really. Spring semester at the University of California sees the Delta Nu college sorority certain that their president, Elle Woods, will soon be engaged to her boyfriend, the apparently adorable Warner Huntington the Third.

Sadly, a wedding is not on the cards. Elle is summarily dumped by Warner and left broken hearted, moping in her dorm room scoffing chocolates. In an insulin-fuelled epiphany (and haven’t we all had them) she realises she can win back her man by the following simple plan.

1) Be admitted to Harvard Law School;

2) Show the ex that she’s a serious intellectual;

3) Get married (the end).

The first step is achieved on the strength of a brilliant 179 LSAT score, a GPA of 4.0 in fashion merchandising and a glittery bikini clad video essay (in lieu of the usual paper version).

OK – so we’re not talking hyper-realism here folks.

This movie is an escape. More importantly, while it is hardly the epitome of a politically correct right on feminist film – it does actually raise a few thought-provoking issues.

Firstly it passes the Bechdel Test: – there are at least two named women in it, they talk to each other and about something besides a man. This is interesting because, the premise of the film at the outset is that Elle implausibly gets into and attends Harvard Law School purely to get back her man. However the story arc fairly rapidly morphs the goal into matters more weighty: – being taken seriously as a woman and issues of class and elitism.

Does it have something serious to say about the law and the legal field?

Yes it does. Despite the protagonist being a woman, a number of female law students and also one female law professor (played by the wonderful Holland Taylor) – the Law School, and even more so the law firm in which Elle finds herself an intern – is steeped in the ethos of male dominance and privilege. She is sexually harassed by Professor Callahan during her internship. She is hated by the ‘lesbian feminist’ for being too girly and by the other women because they presume she is using her sexuality to get to the top.

Of course the film shows Elle does a little of both. She happily gets into Harvard on the strength of the all-male selection committee’s interest in her bikini, yet she won’t sleep with the senior partner in her internship to get a job. Hard choices…

The bind Elle is in is very palpable and for many women, very familiar.

Class and privilege is ‘explored’ through a couple of amusing devises.

Elle is (somewhat hilariously) admitted to Harvard in the “diversity” equity group category.

Actually she is a child of Hollywood ‘new money’ who collides with East Coast ‘old money’ snobbery. Her Harvard peers see her as Malibu Barbie incarnate and her lecturers are simply painted as snobby bullies.

You will learn nothing about the actual law in this movie – however it does provide some interesting commentary on being a woman in the legal profession. Oh come on – whom am I fooling? If you are looking for legal gravitas – this is not your film. If you want a light movie that is alternately entertaining and irritating – this is your film.

Legally Blonde image from IMDB

Wanted: Legal career with passion. Have car. Will travel.

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Q:

Dear newlawyerlanguage,

I have a question for you, maybe a few. I’m 43, just begun studying law last year with an online degree that is purely online. I chose this method of studying so I could fit study around work but I have concerns about how potential employers will view this degree (from Edith Cowan University) and I wonder about the lack of ‘real’ contact with other law students. If I look at other law school sites, they seem to be filled with super ambitious (young) students, mooting, travelling to Sydney for work experience, all primed to fit the corporate world. I’m sure, however, in the real world, there is a great variety of students with ambitions to all types of different legal work, including social justice.

Today I went to my local hardware store and the woman behind the register announced casually (yet authoritatively) after a bit of chat – ‘oh there’s no jobs in law’. I’ve heard this before – it is the ‘worst time to be a law graduate’ etc etc. But I don’t want to give it up, partly because I’m stubborn and refuse to believe that no-one would employ me, but also because I’ve discovered, after the initial shock, that I love studying law. Surely it must be worth persisting? Even if I have to move to Broome?

I guess I would love to know your thoughts on these matters.

Anon

A:

Dear Anon,

Things are certainly looking grim for the profession when the check-out woman at the local hardware store – an authority on many things I am sure, but on legal careers, I’m not so certain – announces that there are “no jobs for lawyers”.

Could have fooled me. Any time you want, log onto Seek, and you will see that in every State of Australia there are hundreds upon hundreds of jobs for lawyers.

Why is everyone panicking then? Firstly, people are panicking because there are more legal graduates each year than there are jobs to go around. They assume that every legal graduate actually wants to work in a law firm. This is simply not the case. I teach a lot in PLT and it never ceases to surprise me just how many students actually don’t intend to pursue legal careers – ever! Many have done combined degrees (e.g. law & accounting) and are happy to continue working in their other discipline, but want to qualify so that they haven’t “wasted” a degree. Others are destined for academia or social justice vocations which may or may not require you to have a practising certificate. Some study out of interest on scholarships. Others, are pursuing law as a second career but still have not made up their mind by the end that that is even what they want to do. In a nutshell, yes there are less jobs for graduates than there are graduates, but there are also many graduates who won’t be putting their hat in the ring any time soon.

The second reason everyone is panicking is because they think that this situation is new. And yet, law graduates have been complaining about lack of opportunities for many, many years now.

One of my favourite quotes is from an anonymous American lawyer who quipped, circa 1990’s, “If the current rate of increase continues, by 2000 this country will have more lawyers than people.”1

More lawyers than people. I love that! I would love to see the day when there are more lawyers than people because lawyers make more sense to me. But, I suspect I will be waiting a while. And you will also be waiting awhile if you are waiting for legal jobs to disappear. It just won’t happen.

What will happen though is the nature of legal services will change. A lot more services will be provided on-line. More and more people will go out into firms of their own – rather than working in mega law firms. Service delivery will look very different to how it looks now. There are advances in technology daily. This is nothing new. Law is (inter alia) an enterprising industry and it will change to keep pace with the needs of the modern day consumer. It’s hard to speculate ultimately how it will all look but I am pretty confident that it won’t result in grand-scale unemployment for lawyers by any means.

The first part of your question really relates to whether or not you will be competitive in the employment market even though you have studied a purely on-line degree. My answer to that is that some workplaces might be influenced by this. But most won’t. In legal recruitment, employers are really looking for raw talent, drive, the capacity to deliver, the capacity to work well within teams (probably the most important quality) and – dare I say it – a passion for the job. Which is the perfect segue to my next point –

If I can make one suggestion to you – and one suggestion only – it is this: you have found something you really love doing. Stick with it! That puts you streets ahead of most of the world’s population who work to survive only. Think about it. You LOVE this! It’s unthinkable that you would give up on it at this early stage. And yes, that may actually mean moving to Broome. The good residents of Broome deserve good lawyers too don’t they?

We need people in this profession who are here because they want to be. Because it is their passion. We need lawyers like you so, for god’s sake, don’t desert us now.

Arna Delle-Vergini

 

1 Taken from Marc Galanter, “More Lawyers than People: The Global Multiplication of Legal Professionals” in Scott L. Cummings (ed.), The Paradox of Professionalism: Lawyers and the Possibility of Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Are You Ever Too Old to be Brand New?

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Q:

Dear newlawyerlanguage

I have a question about starting in the law as an ‘older’ lawyer with no experience.

From your experience, what is th e best way for a person, with no experience in the law to get their first job?

I started law ‘late’ in my late 20’s (yes I know that is not old!). After having a family and moving around the world with my husband for his work I will return to Australia to practise in the next year or so.

I will have completed my PLT and will have studied a Masters of Law (as I stay at home with my young children and love the study).

I am worried about the large ‘gap’ in my CV during which I studied and had a family. Being located overseas means that I can be involved in some aspects of the Law Societies however it is difficult being so far away to make any networks.

I believe that I would be a much better employee now that I am in my mid 30s and have life experiences. I do have past employment but these are in unskilled areas and are now getting dated.

I truly believe that once I get an opportunity at a firm I will be able to prove that I was a worthy choice. My worry though is that it will be difficult to get that initial ‘foot in the door’ given that I know no one. I am not looking for big firms and hope to work in family law or something similar in a smaller firm. I have heard of a friend who is an older lawyer that was forced to move to Alice Springs to get his first law job (not an option for me with a working spouse) and I am scared I have chosen the wrong career (even though I love the law).

Any advice would be appreciated about what I can do to make myself attractive to employers.

Kind regards

CB

 A:

Dear CB

The most difficult barrier to getting a job as mature aged law graduate, I think, is our own unrealistic expectations.  If we think that getting our dream job at our dream firm straight out of law school, is the measure of our worth as a lawyer, then we are hobbled from the start.  If you see the large ‘gap’ in your CV as a problem, then that is what may come across to a potential employer.

You have a family.  You lived overseas.  These things in themselves give you life skills that make you attractive to any employer. Emphasise these abilities.  You are adaptable.  You know all about managing change and working under pressure.  You know, in a real way, the imperativeness of time management. So my first suggestion is to shift gears in your mind about what talents you bring in addition to your formal legal qualifications.

If you sense that any prospective employer has reservations about these parts of your life – ditch them.  You don’t want to work there. Remember that it is illegal for potential employers to ask your age or to enquire about your marital status at an interview.  They can only inquire if you bring these subjects up. Be prepared for shifty ways that potential employers try to get around these, for example “How would you react to being managed by a younger manager?”, or “I see there is a gap in your employment history…..?”.  I’m not suggesting avoiding these questions, but be prepared.  Rehearse these responses. Practise getting across to the person interviewing you that you bring more valuable skills to the position, exactly because you’ve lived and travelled.  Make the link that your life experience is a direct cost benefit for the firm, because you will skill up faster.

Volunteer as a lawyer somewhere, anywhere.  I know of a lawyer in her early 30s that moved down from Queensland and was anxious to find a job.    She volunteered with a local community legal centre.  When the legal centre needed some work on a specific project and she was offered one day a week paid work.  This increased to four days a week.  She excelled at the projects she was given and made some connections along the way.  She has now landed a job in a boutique commercial firm, which is exactly what she wanted.

Have a look at the Law Institute of Victoria practice sections and interests groups and consider going along to the meetings when you return to Australia.  This will bring you up to local legal speed quickly and also provide some peer support and local connections (LIV Practice Sections, Interest Groups and Law Association ).

Spend some time reflecting on the abilities you have because of the choices you’ve made.   The main thing is that YOU have to believe that your personal path complements your legal qualifications.  Value your complete set of skills.   Then let that confidence come through your job applications and in the interview. Reflect also on where you want to work and hold that vision tight. And keep trying.  You may have to take the scenic route to your dream job, but if you are clear in who you are, what talents and skills you have and where you want to be, you’ll get there.

Peggy