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I am a fresher at a Tier-1 firm, in a city away from home. I relate to all your points in such a manner that it feels like I have poured my heart out through your words. I was at a very bad space in the past few months with the 3 above mentioned issues plaguing my thoughts. I would point out my way of tackling the issues and coming out happy and well.
1. Friends - Even though I had some close friends from college coming down to the same city, it always becomes difficult to be on the same time-cycle. You could be getting done with work at 8:30PM while they'll be slogging off till 2:00AM, and vice versa.
- Even they are human, and would want to enlarge their social circle while you might not gel along well with the new set of friends that they might have. Hence, you look for new people to make friends with.
2. Making new friends - Becomes increasingly difficult when you don't have time to socialise. However, you can try going on heritage walks to monuments and take a cycle tour with strangers (many websites organise it); go on hikes, treks or try Bumble/Hinge for a different purpose (not recommended but can work).
And as for flatmates, you can only be accommodative and pray that you max out on luck. PS: Try not living with lawyers, and more specifically someone in your same firm.
Ciao.
P.S. I’m excluding workplaces which are extremely toxic that any experienced person also won’t stay back.
Friends: Shifting to a new city is difficult. You don’t know people there. Also if you do know some people or have some friends, they usually stay in different parts of the city and it’s not possible to meet them on regular basis or stay in touch. So, staying as an A0 ends up being extremely lonely experience, unless the friends are in the same building/ society.
Flatmate: Now if you have to share a room/ flat with strangers, it gets quite difficult to find compatible Flatmates. If you end up with someone shit and if you’re stuck due to lock-in periods, the one place you come back to relax gets taken away from you. Living becomes hell. You can try to keep by yourself, but again that becomes extremely lonely.
Emotional support: Working in a law firm is generally stressful and there will be days which will feel like a punch in the face. In case you have someone close you talk to on a regular basis, or you live with your best friends in the flat, then it becomes manageable to live as you de stress with them. However, if you live alone or away from friends, working all the long hours, dealing with constant stress and anxiety and still getting back up to go to office is going to make your burnout faster, and make you quit.
Only if all 3 things are well established, is it easy for an A0 to stay back and perform well at your job.
One Conclusion is - students from newer NLUs or colleges with low placements are at a massive disadvantage because they have a smaller peer group to support them when they shift to a new place. This inherently discourages the more brilliant ones who managed to land a job to sustain in the demanding line of work because the key support structures are missing.
Happy to know if others have noticed any other pattern which can help incoming A0s survive.