President’s Welcome Max Turner President
I can say with certainty that there are at least two things law students hate: failure and uncertainty. Whilst we fetishize 30-year plans, corner offices and unbridled amounts of wealth, we secretly dread the prospect of contemplating what our futures really have in store for us. Similarly, we cower at the prospect of denting our near-perfect GPAs and measure success against the number of clerkship offers we receive. What’s worse is that our career aspirations are narrowly constructed. Successful graduates, HBO legal dramas and capitalist discourse have compounded to create the grand delusion that a career in commercial law is the only escape from our lowly student lives. This is by no means the case. Most law students are astonished to learn that not even half of them will pursue a career in the legal industry. Astonishment then quickly turns to concern to embarrassment and finally to curiosity when we realise that we don’t even know what is really out there. Thankfully, the Careers Guide captures the opportunities and diversity that we may never knew existed. The Careers Guide is designed to serve as a roadmap. The Guide plots paths to a vast number of industry destinations, such as justice, prosecution and other governmental departments, the not-forprofit sector, international firms and the commercial and corporate world. The Guide acknowledges that the way of thinking and the abilities that you acquire from your legal education are transferable to a number of career paths and destinations. As such, the Guide will be of immense value, regardless of whether graduation is imminent or you’ve freshly kick-started your LLB or JD. Information without experience is worthless. As such, I wish to thank all contributors for generously donating their time and insights. To our loyal sponsors, thank you for your continued support of our Society and particularly our publications. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge MULS’ Editor, Valiant Warzecha. Congratulations on producing another fine publication.
Editor’s Note Valiant Warzecha Editor of Publications
It is never too early (or too late) to be thinking about where your law degree will take you. The 2014 Careers Guide has been designed to be a catalyst for considering careers that aren’t usually on the radar, and equally to be a practical starting point for finding your niche. For students in the earlier years, start by finding out what interests you, research the industry conditions for the area of law, plan your subjects to align with the knowledge that is needed and if possible, undertake work experience in the area to see if it is the path you want to take. It is natural for this process to take time and for your ideas to evolve - so don’t feel pressured like you need to know immediately! For graduates, firstly, do not panic! It is most likely that you have completed all of your electives and know which areas of law you found interesting or that you have excelled. With this knowledge, it will be possible to narrow down which graduate programs you will want to apply for and/or the paths that you can take. Current industry conditions show that supply of law graduates is increasing, which means that you should be creative and think outside the box when considering careers – the legal skill set is applicable to many scenarios that are not typically associated with strict legal practice. For the mechanics of how to write a cover letter, resume and be successful in interviews, I refer you the respective sections in the 2014 Clerkship Guide, which can be found at the following link: http://bit.ly/1tU6GLT I hope you find this Guide useful and it inspires you to find where your passions meet a career!
I am thrilled to present to you the 2014 Careers Guide.
[ 4 ] Careers Guide 2014
Macquarie University Law Society