Sian

Yesterday sucked. Two disappointments, one law assignment and no sleep at night.

I must have been punished for praying to the Ti Gong only when I needed him. Don't mistake me for being religious — I don't believe he existed the rest of the time. Anyway, UBS chose another candidate instead. Great. Their loss.

It is really ironic how a friend couldn't get into an internship with a Big 4 firm because his resume is too good. He was asked why he wanted to go for an internship with a Big 4 when he could apply for banks with his resume. According to him, the stronger candidates lost out in the end.

I understand how firms would want to hire for the long term, and so might prefer poorer candidates with fewer opportunities that are likely to stick around longer. But if that's how they look at hiring, then all they're getting are just so-so people and everything will be just... so-so. And where do people like my friend end up if for some reason they can't get into banks? When one is not exactly the best, but not just average either, one gets stuck somewhere in the middle and it sucks since you put in effort in return for peanuts. In fact, being the worst is marginally better. Because slacking doesn't require effort.


Didn't get any reply from INSTEP either so my chances of going for exchange is almost nil right now. I guessed going for the summer exchange last year reduced my chances of getting chosen.

How can one compare the two experiences? One is six weeks, the other is six months! I say we get equal opportunity for both. They didn't tell me that I have lower chances for INSTEP if I went Hong Kong. But I guess even if I were to choose again, I would still have gone for the summer exchange. I met some great friends there and the experience was almost life-changing.