When I was in my final year of law school, I wasn’t sure if I should do an LLM afterwards — it’s a huge investment, and I didn’t know if it could help me with my future employment.

Yet, doing an LLM after graduation turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my legal career. Had I not done that, I would not have started my legal career in London and worked at one of the biggest global law firms.

Getting a training contract in places like London is easier said than done - yet, the good news is whether or not you are an international candidate, law firms are essentially looking for the same skills and competencies. Unfortunately, there is little support out there for foreigners entering the London legal market, and therefore I have seen many bright international students struggling with writing good applications.

My training contract journey was a rocky path of detours. I was hampered by my initial unfamiliarity with the interview, my limited visa conditions and a lack of understanding of the application process. As someone coming from a completely different country and background, I felt like I have to spend twice, if not triple, the effort of others. But what my story shows is that your starting point doesn’t matter, what matters is where you end up.