Why do you care about how I did in school?

Gambling used to be my thing. Nope not in that way, but from a legal pov.

As I worked for bet365 during my studies, & it's where I discovered in-house, it makes sense that it was the first industry that I considered working as a lawyer within.

So when a role comes along in one of the largest UK casino companies, I jump at the chance. The more I learn about it, the more excited I become. I mean I REALLY want this role. At this point they could probably offer me a salary lower than others and I'd still take it.

It's the day of the interview. I travel to a different city to meet with the GC and a member of the HR team.

It was instantly very formal. Waaaaaay more formal than I'd expect for in-house, especially for a company like this.

Ok, let's adapt and see how we go.

Enter the CV based questions, but with a heavy focus on academics. The fact that I'd had 3 years in-house experience by this point didn't seem to be of importance. What was important you ask?

Apparently...

how my experience at school helped me to become a lawyer today.

I mean I didn't want to be rude, so at this point I didn't laugh. I wouldn't have laughed because it was funny, far from it, but more out of awkwardness that I was actually being asked this question.

I'm applying for a qualified legal role at 25 and you ask me about what I was doing when I was 13?

I'm not sure that working out how to spend my time in isolation productively would have gone down well as an answer.

I knew that a job offer wouldn't follow. But from the bottom of my heart, I can safely say that if one did, I wouldn't have accepted it. We just didn't gel, and as much as I wasn't what they were looking for, they weren't what I wanted from an employer either.

Now maybe I was triggered because I'm not wasn't an A* student. Or maybe I should have just explained that I turned my early academics around, obtained a First in my degree and had graduated a postgrad and a masters since. Thankfully I didn't feel it necessary to fight for the role, nor did I want to further the emphasis on results.

Does my stakeholder give a sh*t about whether I had 6 stripes on my tie when I was in school, or whether I was born with an ambition to be a lawyer? Unlikely. They care that I'm a good communicator, that I have emotional intelligence and that I have a growth mindset.

Ask me to demonstrate those things in an interview, & let's leave this heavy emphasis on academics behind.