Be Self-Aware

Understanding and looking at my values, interests, and strengths is vital for my future career journey. A good way of looking at my skills is to look into past experience. My work at dominos and as a sailing coach fostered invaluable communication and leadership skills, as both required constant interaction with customers and students. The occasional high-pressure environment of fast-food retail led to essential critical thinking skills and have clearly helped in day-to-day life. From these jobs I’ve come to realise the value of communication in a working environment, especially for business and law, but I find I still sometimes struggle with asking for assistance, when necessary, instead opting to try working things out on my own. 

I think the next step moving forward is to look to work experience to increase my self-awareness. By gaining practical experience in the field, I am much more able to understand and adapt to any issues that may arise. Engagement with supervisors and mentors in the field to further my understanding of what lies ahead is also invaluable knowledge. 

Explore Your Options

To achieve an effective understanding of career options, extensive research into the industry is required. This includes information into different categories, and potential businesses located in said categories. The category and sector of law most appealing to me is finance and commercial law, with the ultimate goal to be accepted as a solicitor into a distinguished firm such as Clayton Utz or Thomson Geer.

Entry level law can be challenging, as it becomes largely a competition to prove yourself over other candidates. A starting salary for a junior solicitor is expected around $65,000 AUD. General advice I have received from solicitors in the field is that many firms are looking for workers with experience and a double degree, due to the increased area expertise, which was largely part of the reason I chose to start a bachelor of laws/business. In order to gain opportunities in the future, I will be reaching out on platforms such as LinkedIn or attending other networking events with a hope to make valuable connections.

Gain Experience & Insight

Insight into your future career can be invaluable towards being prepared for your chosen career. This can be achieved in many ways, with the most valuable being hands on experience in your chosen area. In order to achieve a position in these firms however, I will need to work on improving my CV and work experience in my penultimate year. To gain said experience, I will need to maintain a high enough GPA to be accepted and exceed other candidates.

Experience is an invaluable tool for hiring, and positive performance reviews and references can go a long way for employers. Other methods for gaining insight is attending events that align with my chosen career. Talking with experienced members of the field can help know what’s valuable to employers, and I still need to do to achieve my goals.

Evidence Your Skills

In order to find the necessary skills for working as a solicitor, I can look at resources such as recruitment advertising for commercial law positions, in order to see what employers are looking for in both experience and soft skills. For law and business, communication and critical thinking skills are often seen as the most valuable after practical experience. Knowledge in the field such as case law or legislation is also essential, and can be measured through the results of school assessments and testing. Again, communicating with experienced industry professionals is useful in determining what I can do to make myself an attractive candidate. This can be done at both networking events and through online recruitment platforms/social media.

Reflecting on feedback from past employers can be used to determine areas where I might be lacking in my skillset, and actively engaging with reviews can help improve performance. Networking groups such as GULS (Griffith University Law Society) are an important part of connecting with others and expanding my field of knowledge.

Develop Networks

Joining networking organisations relevant to my future career plans can help unlock pathways into potential jobs. Meeting professionals can both inform me of the necessary steps needed in the industry and create pathways for later job/experience opportunities. It’s an effective way to establish valuable connections and listen for potential options.

Next, using online platforms such as LinkedIn is a good way to promote yourself for various opportunities such as work experience, and let potential employers know your strengths and achievements. It helps engagement with others in the industry as well, strengthening existing relationships and bringing people together to create new ones.

Finally, attending career days and other school networking events gives a chance to hear from and talk to experts in their field. Engaging with experienced people in the law sector will help guide me in future decisions and help shape my career moving forward.