Prospects of paralegal employment (1 Viewer)

[lexie]

Dear fellow Boreders,

I have just finished my 3rd year of a combined law program at Sydney Uni & am eager to find employment as a casual paralegal at one of the large law firms with offices in Sydney. However, I find myself somewhat anxious & overwhelmed at the prospect of embarking upon such a quest - in all likelihood as a result of:

(a) My having an embarrassingly limited knowledge of the types of law firms operating in Sydney, their size, image, specialisations, workplace culture, etc.

(b) My insecurity surrounding the inferiority of my academic transcript which has been spat out of the USyd mincer thus far.

NB: It's not that I'm unhappy with my transcript per se. The issue is that I perceive it to be inferior when compared to the transcripts of others applying for similar positions & the accepted standard generally imposed by these firms. I'm hoping that my perception of this allusive 'standard' is open to argument!

So my questions are:

Firstly, which law firms are the major players in Sydney? (What's the legal profession's answer to Accounting's Big 4? ) What are your perceptions &/or experiences of these firms?

Secondly, what is the standard expected of paralegal applicants from these firms? What sort of academic performance are they looking for? How important is extra-curricular activity? Does the standard differ for paralegals when compared with the vacation employment programs?

Your thoughts on these matters would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Frigid]

because you are older than me, i trust in your abilities to answer the question you yourself have posed. i will be brief.

start at your law student society's career page (in the case of SULS, it is herehttp://www.suls.org.au/modules/xt_conteudo/index.php?id=2#para). take note of your LSS's major sponsors. then have a look at their respective websites. hence or otherwise, you shall find the answer.

 

[neo o]

Just remember not to touch other peoples sammiches.

 

[Frigid]

Just remember not to touch other peoples sammiches.

or carelessly spill heinz ketchup on the lawyers...

however, if history is anything to go by, the secretary/paralegal/shitkicker actually might win out in the endhttp://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/19/nheinz19.xml.

 

[LaraB]

this is sort of related but not - but just a heads up that in 2006.. i'm assuming early in the year.... LegalAid NSW Head Offices in various divisions mentioned they will be intending on advertising for 2 Paralegal staff with the intention of continuing into their PLT and beyond... so if you're interested in that kind of area - from the sounds of it they aren't going to be advertising for the positions in the usual agencies and the like because they weren't happy with them so just keep an eye out on uni job boards etc

 

[mr EaZy]

Dear fellow Boreders,

I have just finished my 3rd year of a combined law program at Sydney Uni & am eager to find employment as a casual paralegal at one of the large law firms with offices in Sydney. However, I find myself somewhat anxious & overwhelmed at the prospect of embarking upon such a quest - in all likelihood as a result of:

(a) My having an embarrassingly limited knowledge of the types of law firms operating in Sydney, their size, image, specialisations, workplace culture, etc.

(b) My insecurity surrounding the inferiority of my academic transcript which has been spat out of the USyd mincer thus far.

NB: It's not that I'm unhappy with my transcript per se. The issue is that I perceive it to be inferior when compared to the transcripts of others applying for similar positions & the accepted standard generally imposed by these firms. I'm hoping that my perception of this allusive 'standard' is open to argument!

So my questions are:

Firstly, which law firms are the major players in Sydney? (What's the legal profession's answer to Accounting's Big 4? ) What are your perceptions &/or experiences of these firms?

Secondly, what is the standard expected of paralegal applicants from these firms? What sort of academic performance are they looking for? How important is extra-curricular activity? Does the standard differ for paralegals when compared with the vacation employment programs?

Your thoughts on these matters would be greatly appreciated!

With that level of formality and implied sense of desperation- i doubt you'll go very far ... SORRY!


But the future's not too bleak:

Get some confidence

you might have to start at the bottom and prove yourself to get up- only if the primary routes have been depleted

uts has a list of all the law firms and other firms that employ law students with their websites- you probably have this- its good but i dont know how good it is for 3rd year or 2nd year students (like myself)

uts also has a list of where graduates go - might be handy

look, dont bother with where other people are going- look to where people are not going. As UNSW's Tom Hickie once said: "Pssst, theres a whole other world out there!"


stay cool- keep your head and put on a big show with your employers- make them feel that if they dont employ u- they're making a big mistake

i got a paralegal position for a member of parliament
i start next week- not confirmed yet although i met him in person when i was at a function and we're familiar with each other now- wish me luck!

 

[mr EaZy]

http://138.25.124.210/scm/compw

chin up mate!

edit: sorry i think i put up the list for sci destinations - just select law

 

[GoodToGo]

Pretty tough to paralegal at a big firm over the summer cos of the summer clerks doing the shit-kicking work (and I'm sure as a third year at USYD you'd know what clerkships are all about).

Often they don't even ask for/look at transcripts for mid-sized/small firms for a paralegal job. Work experience and extra curric is very important.