The grades got them in. The offer still has to be won.
Founder-led Private Careers Advisory for families whose son or daughter has the credentials, but is not converting them into elite-firm offers.
Led by Hassan Akram. Parent or sponsor welcome.
Named with permission. Documented evidence held on file.
Strong candidates rarely fail for lack of ability.
They fail because nobody has worked out which part of the process they are losing, and the firms never say why. More preparation does not fix that. Knowing what is actually wrong does.
Find the failed stage
Where is the process breaking?
The Diagnostic starts from the failed stage and works back.
Not getting interviews.
- CV and written applications not converting
- Online tests or video interviews screening out
- Evidence not earning a reader's attention
Getting interviews, not progressing.
- "Why this career?" answers not landing
- Commercial fluency or technical depth below the bar
- Answer structure breaking down under follow-ups
Reaching finals or schemes, not converting.
- Assessment centres not converting
- Final rounds and partner interviews stalling
- Schemes not converting to an offer
Strong education, weak strategy.
- Strong grades, target university, real ambition
- The process is being misread, not the candidate
- Time pressure compounding cycle by cycle
Outcomes vary and are never guaranteed.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Training Contract offer
A Training Contract offer from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, extended after the firm completed its own selection process.
A paid Private Careers Advisory engagement. The offer email is held on file and is reproduced here.
This is one record of many. The track record extends across elite corporate law, with documented Private Careers Advisory outcomes at White & Case, Freshfields, Ropes & Gray, Sidley Austin and Baker McKenzie, alongside anonymised offers at further US and Magic Circle firms.
“The best decision we made for our son.”
Three engagements, three different selection problems.
Karam Kahlon
Morgan Stanley, Global Capital Markets
Private capital, secondaries
About this evidence.Every outcome above arose from a paid Private Careers Advisory engagement and is held on file, named with permission or anonymised at the family’s request. Outcomes vary and are never guaranteed. ECS is independent and unaffiliated with any firm or university named here. Outcomes reached on the public frameworks alone are classified separately on the track record.
"The strongest career strategist I have encountered - anywhere in the world."
Kristin Irish. Former Head of Campus Recruiting, UBS Investment Bank New York. Former Deputy Director of Career Development, Yale School of Management.
Independent endorser - not a client of ECS.
One principal. A structured practice around him.
You are buying one person’s judgement, with a proper practice behind it. Three things carry it.
Ten thousand applications reviewed from the hiring side. More than one hundred documented outcomes on file. Capacity limited to roughly thirty engagements a year.
Founder-led diagnosis
Hassan Akram identifies where the candidacy is actually losing, before any work is scoped.
Written, tracked execution
The plan, the assigned work and the feedback are written down and tracked against the live recruitment calendar.
Real-process rehearsal
Applications, interviews and assessment centres are prepared against the actual firms and formats being targeted.
The plan is a document, not a conversation.
Ten days before a Magic Circle assessment centre, one client received a written preparation plan built around his profile and that firm's format. Below is its shape: ten days, each with a theme, each requiring timed written work, a group exercise drill and interview practice to camera. Every day, all three. That is the level of specificity an engagement produces.
- Day 1Foundation Day
- Day 2Structure Under Pressure
- Day 3Commercial Depth
- Day 4Delivery and Composure
- Day 5Depth and Follow-Ups
- Day 6Integration Day
- Day 7Pressure Testing
- Day 8Speed and Precision
- Day 9Full Dress Rehearsal
- Day 10Sharpening and Mindset
Structure only, from an anonymised historical client work sample. The document itself is not published: it is walked through personally, with the family, once ECS has diagnosed the candidacy. No outcome is claimed here.
The same decision looks different from each side.
Three steps. No step is skipped.
- 01ApplyWe review the candidate’s profile, target firms and current selection problem for fit.
- 02Private DiagnosticSuitable families meet Hassan Akram to identify where the process is breaking.
- 03DecideWhere ECS is relevant, the scope is mapped and the family decides with it in front of them.
Apply when the decision is serious.
ECS works with a limited number of private clients each year. Families may apply for a Private Diagnostic to establish whether an engagement is appropriate.
Request a Private DiagnosticOutcomes vary by candidate and process. ECS does not guarantees results, interviews or other results, and is independent and unaffiliated.
The International Family's Guide to Elite Recruiting.
A plain-English briefing for families and sponsors, written by Hassan Akram. No obligation.