Pimpin' Gadens (1 Viewer)

[Frigid]

ah-hem. just wanted to tell you of this lubbly article from the pimpin' orange-juicin' fresh Gadens website

managing partner's advice to prospective clerks

Dear Summer Clerkship-Desiring Desperado,

As you prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the next few months of horror, in which you will:

* try to make yourself sound interesting, enterprising, broad-minded, life-experienced, mature, clever and just a little bit wacky in your application form;

* agonise over whether to include a photo of yourself looking gorgeous/cute/professional/drunk or just hope that your name sounds good-looking;

* debate with your friends over which firms should be applied to based on the hopelessly inadequate and entirely incorrect gossip you've heard about them;

* sit glumly in the front window at home waiting for the post that never comes;

* sit glumly in the common room at law school while people you hate (more than you used to) discuss their interviews in loud voices;

* try to find ways to describe yourself in interviews that will make you stand out more than a teapot and less than an axe-murderer;

* contemplate whether you could pass for an 18 year old once more and go to Schoolies instead of all this crap,

spare a thought for the poor law firms! There are a thousand eager beavers just like you, all dedicated with a single mind to the holy grail of a summer clerkship with, who cares, any firm. And you're all equally fabulous and we have no idea which one of you will turn out to be an al Qaeda sleeper (actually they make quite good clerks), or who will be the most fun at the Christmas party.

All I can say is I'm glad, again, that I'm not you. Three and a half years of uni and they make you go through this torture to get one of a small number of summer jobs that are considerably less fun than a week in Amsterdam, it's just not fair. If you miss out, trust me it won't be your fault. Unless you believe in karma, in which case it is your fault.

So, how to get through this awfulness with your sanity intact? I have three suggestions:

1. Do something to catch the casual job application reader's attention. If you have a personality, put it on the page in some way. If you don't, borrow someone else's.

2. Buy a very nice suit. Polish your shoes. Learn how to tie a tie properly. Put your skirt on the right way round. Don't wear your father's clothes. Stay away from smoky pubs until the interviews are over.

3. Imagine every interviewer in their underwear. Try not to laugh out loud when you do.

4. Come to the Interview Skills Workshop at Gadens. Famed for its common-sense, pragmatic and entertaining approach, it will teach you everything you need to know to get the best result from your interviews, unless you really do have no personality in which case sorry there's no hope for you.

Clerkship applications open 5 July and close 6 August.

Good luck.

Michael Bradley
Managing Partner

 

[Frigid]

awww com'on, reply a little:

managing partner's testimonial

I arrived at Gadens Lawyers as a graduate in 1989. They gave me an office manual, a pen and an office and I sat there trembling for a while until someone showed me the tea room.

Things have changed a little since then. I'm a bit older but still dashingly handsome and modest to a fault. Our new lawyers, whether summer clerks or graduates, walk into a sophisticated, modern and unique law firm that provides them with not just the non-chargeable research tasks they've been craving so long, but an open vista of possibilities for the development of their careers.

We take the view that each of our employees is on a career path unlike any other, and that our role as employer is to provide individually tailored support, encouragement and training, and to maintain an ongoing open dialogue with each staff member as they progress through their career here.

I love Gadens Lawyers, for two simple reasons:

* Gadens Lawyers has always allowed me to fashion my own career path and have a real say in what the firm did along the way.
* We only hire nice people.

I look forward to coming to work, and I hope you find the same fulfilment in your career. If you're lucky, it might be at Gadens Lawyers.

Michael Bradley
Managing Partner
Sydney

 

[MaryJane]

Whenever I read these articles regarding clerkships, they all sound so nice and friendly! But then I have to question whether they actually would be so impressed if you showed a bit of flair, or whether they'd just skip to look at your GPA and decide based on that.

 

[Frigid]

Whenever I read these articles regarding clerkships, they all sound so nice and friendly! But then I have to question whether they actually would be so impressed if you showed a bit of flair, or whether they'd just skip to look at your GPA and decide based on that.

MJ, i think what they do is, read your CV with respect to your marks, your extracurriculars, your interests, then if they think prima facie you're a good match, they'll interview you. from there, i think it's a matter of persuasion and reinforcement that you're a good match for their firm; your marks per se fade to the background.

though i really wish all the megabiglawfirms would make an effort and 'sound' fun. that's what makes gadens unique. and cool. and a nice place to work. i'm sold

 

[MaryJane]

I saw their display at the careers day at Darling Harbour earlier this year. They had balloons and lolly bags and one of those ball pits that you'd play in when you were 5, but they were all lying in it, talking to people! It was v. cool, they seemed really nice.

I'm under the impression from another thread that you have a paralegal kinda job already, right Frigid? Are you going to apply for a clerkship in another firm, or stay where you are?

 

[Frigid]

I'm under the impression from another thread that you have a paralegal kinda job already, right Frigid? Are you going to apply for a clerkship in another firm, or stay where you are?

i have a filing/photocopying job at a small immigration/admin/general practice law firm in the city.

nah, i wanna go down the usual summerclerkship path, but at the moment it's been difficult for me to distinguish between the firms. as a corrs partner said to me in the careers fair, "we're all feeding you the same marketing bullshit anyway".

except gadens. coz gadens is tres-cool.

 

[011]

Sorry but I'm not sold on someone who obviously thought it was smart to act 'cool' to be different. It's lame.

 

[Frigid]

In 2005, we will be recruiting five or six top quality candidates for a ten-week period, commencing early December. We consider summer clerks for permanent employment following graduation.

thanks tim for reminding me that i suxxor and is unleet.

 

[santaslayer]

Yeah, once you're in, you work like a dog...YaYYY!!