charlie_charlie
rawrrr
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Messages
- 264
- Gender
- Female
- HSC
- 2004
Don't feel like that.I've lurked on this thread for the past few weeks and I know exactly what you guys are going through (except you people with the interviews at every firm
.) I'm going to explain the story at the other end which you don't really hear (because this doesn't really get featured in the shiny glossy brochures, and no one asks the rejected applicant for interview tips =P) Law firms have a particular culture and they are looking for a very specific type of personality in these things (despite what the propaganda tells you) and they have like 1000 applications to cull through. Not everyone is going to be a Jessup mooter with paralegal experience at a Big 6 from a private school/top selective with a WAM over 80 and are a leader for some university activity and have gone on exchange. but yes, those people will stand out. The firms will grab those people first. It's to their benefit. Those people do not make up most of the legal profession, but at this early stage of your career, those are the people who will get interviews and will probably get a clerkship. Why? Not because they're necessarily "better" or have a better personality, but they probably get along well enough with the interviewer, and have good enough marks, and the firms want to snaffle them up first before their other competitor. For everyone else - you look at the brochures and you think "yeah, my marks are decent, I have a personality, i have a job, i do things outside uni". The problem is, the majority of the applicants are in the same position. So it's a matter of luck, of having that one thing that law firms look for - and we're not in a position to know what that thing is. it could be schools, the right work experience, the fact that the HR read the letter when they were in a good mood, it might be marks - they read that cover letter you spent hours over in like 2 mins (if that).
I felt exactly the same last year (4 interviews @ HDY, Middletons, Allens & Corrs). I was sooo into the process and I felt that I really did belong at each firm after the Info night/interview. (Except middletons; that breakfast was weird.) I got through to 1 second round @ HDY. Didn't get that offer. Felt like crap the weekend after - and skipped class the first day because I didn't want to hear people talking about which firm they wanted to go to etc etc. Had no idea why I didn't get it - I certainly had all the things they said they required - uni extracurricular in a variety of things, decentish marks (credit/distinction average), community legal centre experience, steady part time job, and I'm not an android. I didn't say the wrong firm in the interview or insult the firm. I asked for feedback each time I got rejected and not one firm gave me a specific reason.
Allens said it was because the other candidates had really interesting experiences and whilst there was nothing "bad" in my feedback, it was just a matter of numbers and that they just couldn't not let the others through. HDY said it was that I just seemed nervous and didn't articulate myself as clearly as I could have done. Corrs didn't call back.
I applied for an in house legal job in the summer (as a lot of my friends were away or working) and I got the second job I interviewed for (the first being a paralegal assistant role at Clutz that was filled internally). it was probably the best thing that happened. As it turned out, HDY didn't offer to all clerks; and a few of my friends didn't get grad offers at other firms; and the GFC started to actually affect grad positions. Meanwhile, I was getting real legal experience (as in, I do things that a solicitor does at work - under supervision, of course) and I just got offered a full time solicitor role there next year after I finish College of Law. I will work regular office hours (i.e. about 40 hrs a week), my company (NOT being a service firm) has work/life balance, and the pay is comparable to other grad positions. Sure it sucked not being part of the clerkship circuit, and seeing my friends' photo with their xmas party on fb, and seeing notifications like "5 of your friends have joined the 'Freehills Summer Clerks' group", but in the scheme of things, it isn't that big a deal.
Moral of story - this experience is NOT the be all and end all of your legal career. It probably won't even affect you much in the bigger picture. It will suck in the short term, but everyone gets rejected at some point in their lives. It's probably the first time ever for you, if you've made it this far. If you really want to spend your life working in a legal firm in M&A, you will probably get there if you really want it, just not now. It might take a few years more. My point is that law firms WILL reject people who are just as competent, personable and intelligent as the ones who will be accepted. their processes aren't perfect. But do not take it as a measure of what you're worth as a lawyer, because it's not. It's more a measure of whether you were lucky enough to establish enough rapport with the partner who interviewed you to barrack for you in the meeting, and who will be able to sacrifice you for the other applicant.
I thought I wouldn't ever get employed after the summer clerkship process last year. I also thought I was a crap law student. I thought i was really stupid. I don't think I interviewed badly (though admittedly, I didn't interview at my best, because I was trying so hard). In hindsight, a year after, I still maintain that I was worthy of a clerkship. How did I get a job on my 2nd post-clerkship interview otherwise? Yes, maybe I did clean up my CV and I was well practised at that stage, but I think it was because I was myself in the interview and wasn't trying so hard. (there were also about 60 applicants applying for my job as well, and it was only advertised at 2 unis - so it's not like it was that I was the only person applying for the job and they were that desperate).
Advice to everyone - don't take it too seriously. Not because it isn't important (because it does help you) but because you have a higher chance of success if you relax and let the interviewer see who you really are as a person. But if you don't get it, you have another 30-40 years in your career. And it might be the best thing that happened. Rejection makes you really think about what you want to do - and it makes you a much stronger person. And if you get rejected? You're not the only one. Go out, buy/borrow "Pinstriped Prison" by Lisa Pryor and keep applying for the other legal jobs out there. Don't lose hope. Congraulate those who got the jobs, but don't assume they're necessarily better than you. You guys are in a tough market at the moment, but hang in there.
Okay, that turned out a bit longer than I anticipated. Good luck all.
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