Not eligible for the clerkship yet? That’s great news – it means that there is time to build on your existing experiences and generate an impressive resume for recruiters to see. While there are many opportunities for students to build their legal profile, there are definitely ones you should prioritise over others. In this article, I have created a list of opportunities that you can use to build a more competitive candidate profile. While these are sorted into differing levels of priority, it is also advised to have a variety of experiences.
Professional Experience
Priority 1: Legal Employment
Almost every clerkship applicant I have met throughout the process had at least some form of legal experience. As law firms are aware that they are dealing with students throughout their recruitment processes, they do not expect you to have years of legal experience. Understanding this, the focus should be on firm reputation and the quality of tasks performed in the role. Prioritise on employment opportunities offered by law firms, barrister chambers and in-house roles at large commercial firms before moving to smaller legal opportunities. Relevant legal experience will give the recruiter more comfort that you are familiar with the responsibilities and expectations of law firms.
Priority 2: Non-Legal Corporate experience
Entry-level paralegal jobs from corporate law firms are competitive, but having corporate experience at a large firm is a big plus. How are we able to reconcile these two? The answer is to gain some non-legal corporate experience at a large commercial firm. There are many large commercial firms out there but the Big 4 auditing firms (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernest & Young and KPMG) are a favourite for many law students as the size and organisational structure emulates many large corporate law firms. Employment at large firms reinforce your capabilities, discipline and professionalism when engaged in various commercial transactions. Common paths to land employment at these large firms include vacation programs, cadetships, trainee programs and general casual opportunities.
While having experiences at large commercial firms are attractive, there is a caveat to this. As the work at these large law firms can be challenging and time-intensive, law firms need comfort that candidates will continue to work with the firm despite difficult times. Therefore, when selecting candidates, they look for students who have a strong passion to work in the legal industry. As a result, your non-legal experience may raise some questions towards your decision to pursue a career in law. This is by no means fatal to your application – not everyone knows they want to be in the legal industry as soon as they start their degree – so just be prepared for such questions in the interview if you have non-legal experience. To better reinforce your passion for law, it is advised that you also have some legal experience.
Priority 3: Pre-Penultimate Programs
For many law firms, these are new initiatives aimed to strengthen the interest of pre-penultimate students. Insight programs are training-like programs offered by large corporate law firms. These are specifically aimed at younger law students and allow you to understand the firm’s structure, legal processes and give you an opportunity to network with the firm’s partners. While these are not employment opportunities per se, having this experience at an early stage of your degree reinforces your passion for law and the legal industry.
Extra Curricular
Priority 1: Legal Skill Competitions
These are competitions often run by the law society of your university which cover a range of different legal skills: from mooting and client interviewing to negotiations and witness examinations. As the “beginner” level competitions are only available to first year students, “intermediate” level are only available to second year students and so forth, it would be beneficial to compete in these competitions during the early stages of your degree. Being able to progress through the stages of these legal skill competitions show employers that you have a solid grasp of legal content and are readily able to transform this into actionable legal advice. As a result, it is looked at quite favourably by legal employers. Strong performance in these competitions could also lead to opportunities to compete on a regional or international level, which also prove to be great talking points in any interview.
Priority 2: University Society involvement
Being involved in a student-run university society in a leadership capacity is one of the rare chances that you get, as a student, to orchestrate the operations of a large entity that attracts hundreds to their events. This experience can also bring a lot of challenge, stress and additional workload but is something that is viewed favourably by recruiters, as it demonstrates your ability to prioritise, be proactive and organised among competing deadlines such as your academics and employment. It is recommended to join the university society in a role which requires you to assume responsibility or ownership of a project or task. This will give you better material to work with when you are at the interview and taking your interviewer through what you have done while at university.
Student Exchange Programs
Student exchange is a popular option for clerkship candidates as it infers a global mindset as you have to interact with people from different backgrounds throughout this experience. As globalisation continues to connect law firms to international clients and business partners, an awareness of different cultures and environments is viewed favourably by recruiters. This becomes more valuable when you engage with the community overseas, being involved in their volunteering initiatives, business projects or case competitions. Take the time as a pre-penultimate student to explore new countries, hone your legal expertise and broaden your experiences in any way possible – it will all contribute to a more interesting and engaging discussion with your interviewer and allow you to stand out from the rest.