Chapter 1435: Chapter 1011: Full-time Mother’s Counterattack 19
When a panel of interviewers sat before her, her age made her a target for criticism. The look of disdain was too real, real enough to pull her out of the vain online world back to reality.
She was honest, saying it wasn’t easy for her to make it from a vocational school all the way up, and though she was older, her children were now grown and didn’t require as much attention. She could fully return to the workplace; even as an intern, she would work diligently, and if asked about travel, she would resolutely agree.
But even in such circumstances, opportunities still went to classmates who weren’t as capable. Despite winning scholarships year after year, despite being excellent, her nearly thirty years of age caused her to lose many chances.
After four consecutive interviews at firms, she was turned away, even as an intern, making her uncertain about her future.
She was accepted to the Law Department of China University of Political Science and Law, but when people saw her age, they dismissed everything.
It seemed that once women reached the age for marriage and childbirth, they became undesirable.
Fresh graduates were discriminated against for lack of experience, and after several years of persistence to earn a promotion and a raise, they faced marriage and childbirth. Once leaving the workplace for a child, their position would be replaced, each position fits one, making a return incredibly difficult.
This is why many women, despite holding graduation certificates from prestigious universities like 985 and 211, end up staying at home with children.
However, as long as they wish to return to the workforce, there are still opportunities. It’s not completely impossible, but it requires luck.
The bigger the company, the stricter the requirements. Qi Qi initially considered large, well-known law firms, but after being rejected, she started to look at smaller and medium-sized firms, mainly finding them by address through apps, sending her resume to one after another. The ones she liked didn’t choose her, and those she didn’t like were interested in her. After about half a month of back and forth, she finally found a firm that seemed promising in terms of environment, company culture, and attitude.
It’s all Qi Qi’s fault for usually being laid-back on the internet, sometimes showing up with no makeup, while wearing makeup during live streams, but her attire is always casual.
In such interview settings, she didn’t dare to wear luxury clothes or carry branded bags, opting instead for more affordable clothing.
After successfully passing the interview, she officially entered the internship phase. A week after joining, several large firms called her, despite subtly rejecting her earlier. Why contact her again after a week?
Until their opening line: "So, you’re [Qi Qi], the one with over ten million followers on Douyin?"
This was her screen name after changing it to Qi Qi, but many liked calling her Brother Qi, Seventh Princess, anyway, the love from loyal fans had long moved her through online streaming.
Qi Qi calmly retorted: "So what if I am or not? I’ve given you my professional resume. You rejected me because of my age, so why are you calling me now? Is it because you found out I’m the internet celebrity Qi Qi, so you’ve changed your minds?"
This retort left the HR staff speechless, unsure of how to respond, and she didn’t want to give them the chance to answer, bluntly stating.
"Sorry, I’ve now found a suitable internship. Please don’t call again!"
The phone Qi Qi used for interviews was the previous owner’s number, in case of information leaks, so if it got out, she wouldn’t worry. Most of the time, it’s in half-shutdown mode, taken out for graduation project submissions and internships.
The number she used for work was known only to those she was close with, plus she had a private backup number.
This was experience learned from her time as a star, and she never used her main account to make comments online, always a secondary account.
She never responded to any comments from internet celebrities nor left comments under others to avoid negativity.
Interning at a law firm wasn’t about fearing being busy but fearing having nothing to do.
Qi Qi was someone who could endure hardships; otherwise, she would not have achieved what she has today.
There’re an estimated ten thousand law firms of all sizes in Beijing.
Another thing is if they assign you work and you don’t do it well, it could be embarrassing.
However, such issues rarely occurred with Qi Qi. Initially, she started with tasks like serving tea, passing water, printing materials, and delivering documents.
So during the internship, you definitely shouldn’t dress too formally, like wearing high heels or suit pants, as they’re inconvenient.
At Xingchen’s company, tasks like printing files, copying documents, binding punch documents, ordering meals for staff, she found herself adept at these early on upon joining, as these are crucial steps to get familiar with company procedures, which cannot be skipped.
Thus, as an intern, she smartly had her mentoring lawyer introduce her to everyone in the office, especially the administrative staff, those in charge of stamps, access cards, typing, and copying. Knowing them means you can boldly ask for help, and the sweeter you talk, the more you learn.
Lawyers are very busy, always on calls, with clients in and out of the office hurriedly. If business questions come up, you won’t find an appropriate opportunity to ask, fearing to disturb, leading you to ask junior assistant lawyers who’ve been practicing for less than three years, exploring issues together, so even if mistaken, it doesn’t feel too embarrassing.
But in less than a month, she realized this wasn’t working because they weren’t professional enough. Whenever possible, she went to the mentoring lawyer because others weren’t the evaluators of the work, they couldn’t possibly cover all gaps, and if misunderstood or misremembered, wouldn’t that lead astray?
