Priscilla graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2018. In 2020, she co-founded WomenINVEST, a community and platform which aims to encourage females to empower one another on their investing journeys and in achieving financial independence. She has also actively volunteered with the Young Women’s Leadership Connection since 2017, during which she helped to run flagship events such as the Women-for-Women Hackathon and served as the deputy director of the Membership sub-committee from 2020 to 2021. She is currently an Associate at Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee, specialising in investment funds work.
This Letter is addressed to her 23-year-old self, who has just completed her bar exams.
Dear Priscilla,
You have finally graduated and completed your bar exams.
You are filled with excitement to commence your training in one of the best firms in Singapore. You imagine yourself helping to close million-dollar deals, learning the art of negotiation, and always looking as glamorous and imposing as Jessica Pearson in Suits or Michelle Obama each time she speaks on television.
However, you will soon realise that you will be facing your computer screen 99% of the time (even 100% on most days), cleaning up documents which will truly test how meticulous you are and finding answers to questions you have never come across before. You can barely keep up with looking smart or refreshed for work, let alone glamorous.
When that time comes, keep these lessons I have since learnt in mind.
Strength in seeking help
You will find navigating the workplace really challenging as workplace sensitivities were never discussed at school. Neither have you seen a board resolution before, nor drafted a contract, even though you learnt all about the fiduciary duties of directors in the classroom. The learning curve will be really steep and the workplace will not be as forgiving as school. Remember that no one is obliged to be nice to you at work.
However, speaking up about the challenges you face with peers and trusted seniors will help you to put things into perspective and better understand what to focus your energies on. Your family and peers will be a huge source of strength and support during this challenging time. Do not be afraid to seek help, and listen to your body where needed.
If you are unable to get the best advice or a listening ear from your friends or family, seek help from a professional. Your family and friends mean well, but they will not be as well-equipped as someone who helps people for a living. Professionals can help pinpoint the root causes of negative thoughts in your head and build positive narratives, which will be a useful tool in difficult times.
Passion is meant to be built
Facing voluminous stacks of documents and struggling with legalistic language day in, day out, you will also start to wonder if your passion lies elsewhere. You will wonder if you have taken the wrong degree and whether you should have studied something else instead. You will contemplate leaving the industry.
Thankfully, you will be blessed with the opportunity to move in-house for a period of time later down the road. It will help you better understand the commercial contexts and the significance of the work you do. Furthermore, you will come to realise that passion is meant to be built; it’s not the starting point. Pick up the book “Designing Your Work Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans: it will shed light on how most careers involve work with extrinsic sources of motivation, with many complex interdependencies beyond yourself (such as people, situations, and systems). It takes years of living in the world relating to your career before you can discern whether you really fit.
You will also realise that you can always build other side hustles and hobbies to complement your career or derive happiness from. While it may be tempting to give up other hobbies and passions as you struggle with the steep learning curve at work, try your best to do the opposite instead. While you still put in extra hours for work, it is important to find time to build your other passions. Aside from being a good break from work, you will treasure the feeling of contributing to a greater purpose, especially as giving back and being a part of a bigger purpose have always been important to you.
You have always believed strongly in advocating for female causes. Remember your days with the NUS Investment Society, when you were the only female presence in the executive committee and found it difficult to find female friends to discuss investing concepts with? Well, you will start your own platform and community to encourage females to be financially independent and empower one another in doing so. You will learn so much from the experience of building your own website, recruiting and managing your own team, and stepping out of your comfort zone to host public events that engage your community. You will feel encouraged each time someone says that they found the content shared within the community helpful.
Build your passion at work, but don’t forget to build your passions outside of work and contribute to something larger than yourself.
Picking your poison
You will also soon realise, in the process of building your career, that how happy you are with your job is directly influenced by the extent to which you can find a place that is the right ‘fit’ for you. No job or career is perfect and there will be some aspects of every job that you dislike.
Therefore, you will realise that finding a job or career you are happy with will mean picking your poison (because you never seem to come across anyone who loves every single aspect of their job every single day!). You will reflect on which of the following you will prioritise and which you can forgo:
Work of a nature that aligns with your interests (Do you love doing research or prefer managing teams? Do you prefer working on various projects with different clients or sticking to one client/company? Do you prefer being able to have complete autonomy over what you work on e.g. becoming an entrepreneur?)
Ideal office culture for yourself (Do you prefer a non-hierarchical workplace or are you okay with hierarchical settings?)
Ideal type of people you want to work with or learn from (Do you need to respect your boss both professionally and personally or are you okay with working for someone you don’t necessarily respect?)
Salary to meet your short-term and long-term financial goals
Growth potential of the job/industry
Ideal lifestyle (Are you okay with travelling for work? Are you okay if your work requires long hours? Do you want an opportunity to relocate?)
Your priorities shift as you grow. Find opportunities to re-shape your workplace as your priorities shift. Thankfully, you will go on to make a couple of job switches early on in your career, and get a chance to understand working in different environments and how some things you lose sleep over turn out not to be such a big deal after all once you see the big picture.
While you will be really happy later in-house, you will eventually move back into private practice and to an international firm where you work closely with the team in Sydney. Although you will have less control of your time after moving back to practice (and generally work longer hours), you will be excited at the possibility of perhaps being able to move abroad for work, and thrilled to be able to work closely with colleagues from all over the world, broadening your perspective and enriching your work experience.
Focus on building yourself and money will follow
As a trainee, you will struggle to pay the bills with your allowance. You will no longer have the flexibility to take on as many part-time roles as you did back in school and during the bar exams. In any case, you will go to work exhausted and stressed each day; and you feel worse each time you meet your peers outside of the legal industry who on average make twice or thrice the amount you make.
I want to remind you that this will all be temporary. Keep going and you will soon be rewarded when you gain more skill sets and can contribute more. As your skill sets grow, your income will grow accordingly, and you will have even more time and energy to focus on your growth and how to add value to the clients you meet. Try to avoid the distraction of money and focus on your own growth. I know it’s hard, but nothing is more valuable than your own personal and professional growth. Don’t ever forget that.
Last words
Through the gradual progress you make each day at work and the meaningful job switches you make, you will eventually find yourself loving the culture within your firm and will find going to work a fulfilling and meaningful experience. You will even feel excited to draft perfect documents and facilitate transactions! The learning curve will still be steep, but you will better understand what to look out for. In particular, your firm will offer exciting pro bono opportunities where you can play a part in saving the environment and the world.
Everything may seem bleak now, but keep going and you will see the rainbow at the end of the tunnel, I promise.
Loves,
Pris