r/uklaw • u/Greedy-Error522 • 13h ago
Not offered feedback after being rejected for an NQ role
It was an oversubscribed role but I asked for feedback and it’s been 3 weeks and I still have not received a reply. I had many positive conversations with partners who indicated they’d like me back, as well as some really good feedback. I’m a bit blindsided (hence why I asked for feedback). Is it rare for NQs to ask for feedback or..? I’m a bit puzzled as to why I’ve just been abandoned
2
u/lika_86 12h ago
Internal?
14
u/Greedy-Error522 12h ago
Yes which makes it worse. I spend 6 months with these people and they can’t even give me a 5 min phone call.
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u/lika_86 12h ago
Do you have a trainee partner or similar? They're usually pretty invested and might be able to have a word to prompt them.
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u/Greedy-Error522 12h ago
Yeah, it got brushed off as ‘well if they didn’t give you feedback shouldn’t that give you comfort that you didn’t want to go there anyway’ which is like, not the point lol
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u/CunT-CandY__ 11h ago
Why would that be comfort 🧐
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u/Greedy-Error522 11h ago
As in, why would you want to qualify into a team who doesn’t even bother giving feedback
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u/RevolutionaryKey698 12h ago
What stage were you at? How many other applicants were there?
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u/Greedy-Error522 12h ago
It was oversubscribed for sure. But even if it’s a call to say that, that would be better than just ignoring me.
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u/HedleyVerity 56m ago edited 8m ago
Two different things. It is rare for future NQs to ask for feedback after that (normally because the “no” is the important bit to them, not the reasoning why, and also because they sometimes know why they aren’t being retained).
The other side is political. Departments sometimes fuck up by making positive noises to too many potential qualifiers, then suddenly realise/the market means they suddenly realise they don’t have anything like enough qualifications spots. Thats before you get into really political stuff (one partner is more insistent that their trainee gets to qualify back, other partners are less bothered or maybe a trainee’s principal isn’t even a partner so lacks that clout or maybe another candidate has flipped back and forwards multiple times between groups). It’s a bit embarrassing for the department and obviously not in their interests to tell you that so they’re more likely just to say nothing or just vaguely make noises about it being a competitive group of qualifiers.
Have you spoken to graduate recruitment?
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u/Content_Cockroach_19 12h ago
Sometimes, unfortunately, they’d rather just not tell you anything negative and let you think it’s all positive. Other times, it’s genuinely because it was oversubscribed and there were better candidates who did more hours or sucked up more. In a similar situation to you but the department I wanted wasn’t hiring at the time!