Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Recent developments
Something is rotten in the state of Blogmark. No one's posted in over a week, and it's been two weeks since anyone other than me posted. There are two possible conclusions:
- everyone has been leading such interesting lives that they've no time to blog; or
- everyone has been leading such boring lives that they've nothing to blog about.
I know which way I'm betting. As for my boring life, I've been firing off job applications in the small amount of free time left to me after my two jobs and university commitments. This morning I got a call from a law firm to set up an interview on Thursday. Already I am hella nervous, as if those damn butterflies all been drinking of cheap bourbon. (Recently I keep slipping into Roast Beef mode when I'm writing).
The interview's with a firm that I would REALLY like to get a job with. I'd be very happy to end up there. Actually, I was kinda hoping I'd have a couple of interviews with some of the 'also-applied' firms first, so that I could work up to this one. Alas, it's not to be. I'm generally pretty crap in job interviews. I think maybe I'm not too good at self-reflection, at least not in a high-pressure time-critical environment.
Apparently the secret to legal job interviews is to act arrogantly, to give the impression that you're doing the interviewer a favour by attending. This apparently makes you look like you're confident, and you've had offers from other firms. That's the theory, but I've never tried it because I can't get past the sneaking suspicion that it would also make you look like a wanker. As all you non-lawyers are surely now aching to point out, perhaps being a wanker is not such a drawback in the legal profession...
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Anyone got any tips for job interviews? Note that I already imagine everyone in their underwear. All of the time. Including you.
- everyone has been leading such interesting lives that they've no time to blog; or
- everyone has been leading such boring lives that they've nothing to blog about.
I know which way I'm betting. As for my boring life, I've been firing off job applications in the small amount of free time left to me after my two jobs and university commitments. This morning I got a call from a law firm to set up an interview on Thursday. Already I am hella nervous, as if those damn butterflies all been drinking of cheap bourbon. (Recently I keep slipping into Roast Beef mode when I'm writing).
The interview's with a firm that I would REALLY like to get a job with. I'd be very happy to end up there. Actually, I was kinda hoping I'd have a couple of interviews with some of the 'also-applied' firms first, so that I could work up to this one. Alas, it's not to be. I'm generally pretty crap in job interviews. I think maybe I'm not too good at self-reflection, at least not in a high-pressure time-critical environment.
Apparently the secret to legal job interviews is to act arrogantly, to give the impression that you're doing the interviewer a favour by attending. This apparently makes you look like you're confident, and you've had offers from other firms. That's the theory, but I've never tried it because I can't get past the sneaking suspicion that it would also make you look like a wanker. As all you non-lawyers are surely now aching to point out, perhaps being a wanker is not such a drawback in the legal profession...
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Anyone got any tips for job interviews? Note that I already imagine everyone in their underwear. All of the time. Including you.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
More's Law
Sorry to continue on a legal theme, but as a follow up to my last post, I thought I'd share the following. It's Gadens Lawyers' description of what will be on offer at their stall at the Sydney Law Careers Fair (tip of the hat to Crikey):
Who from your firm will be attending?
A representative selection of some of our finest and most earnest young solicitors may attend, subject to their daily billing targets. If the stall is unattended, it’s because we’re all doing something more important.
Will they be making any presentations or giving talks?
Unlikely. They’re quite shy and very focused on their chargeable hours. We will be raffling off an interview every hour as usual, but this should be no cause for amusement or conversation.
What items/information will you have for graduates to take away?
We will be giving away a manila folder containing a sample time sheet, a list of after-hours dinner delivery services in the CBD, a guide to achieving optimum personal billing statistics during your summer clerkship and a bus ticket.
What are the three most important qualities you are looking for in a graduate employee?
A law degree; willingness to work until it hurts, then keep working; and the personality and personal values of a federal cabinet minister.
How many positions will you have available for graduates this year?
We prefer to hire in bulk to account for natural attrition and burnout. This year we are taking 150 graduates in the hope of there being six or seven of them left standing by February 2008. This is more than previously because we’ve been losing them faster than anticipated. Young people today just seem to be soft.
In addition, I think I've settled on my five famous people to invite to dinner (see previous post):
Isaac Asimov
Sir Thomas More
Natalie Portman
Ben Folds
Marie Curie
Interesting facts about the two new arrivals: Marie Curie essentially 'open sourced' the refinement process to turn pitchblende into radium (ie she refused to patent it so that science as a whole could use and build on the technique). She's also the only person to have won two Nobel prizes in different fields.
Thomas More wrote Utopia and burnt protestants at the stake. He's my kind of people.
Who from your firm will be attending?
A representative selection of some of our finest and most earnest young solicitors may attend, subject to their daily billing targets. If the stall is unattended, it’s because we’re all doing something more important.
Will they be making any presentations or giving talks?
Unlikely. They’re quite shy and very focused on their chargeable hours. We will be raffling off an interview every hour as usual, but this should be no cause for amusement or conversation.
What items/information will you have for graduates to take away?
We will be giving away a manila folder containing a sample time sheet, a list of after-hours dinner delivery services in the CBD, a guide to achieving optimum personal billing statistics during your summer clerkship and a bus ticket.
What are the three most important qualities you are looking for in a graduate employee?
A law degree; willingness to work until it hurts, then keep working; and the personality and personal values of a federal cabinet minister.
How many positions will you have available for graduates this year?
We prefer to hire in bulk to account for natural attrition and burnout. This year we are taking 150 graduates in the hope of there being six or seven of them left standing by February 2008. This is more than previously because we’ve been losing them faster than anticipated. Young people today just seem to be soft.
In addition, I think I've settled on my five famous people to invite to dinner (see previous post):
Isaac Asimov
Sir Thomas More
Natalie Portman
Ben Folds
Marie Curie
Interesting facts about the two new arrivals: Marie Curie essentially 'open sourced' the refinement process to turn pitchblende into radium (ie she refused to patent it so that science as a whole could use and build on the technique). She's also the only person to have won two Nobel prizes in different fields.
Thomas More wrote Utopia and burnt protestants at the stake. He's my kind of people.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
And now for something moderately different.
I went to the Law Careers Fair at Flinders Uni yesterday. It was a barrel of laughs, and I'm wallowing in free stationary and chocolates, welcome bribes from prospective employers.
But now I need your help. Clerkship applications are due in April, which means I'll be spending a fair chunk of my free time over the next few weeks getting - as we in the legal business say - my shit together. In law, if you don't get a clerkship before you finish your degree, you don't get a cushy job. And I have my heart set on a cushy job.
Most firms that take on clerks seem to follow this selection process:
1: Send us your CV and an academic transcript.
2: If your transcript is good enough, we'll look over your CV.
3: If your CV is good enough, we'll interview you.
4: If you were fantastic at the interview, we'll give you a clerkship.
Thusly they whittle hundreds of applicants down to two or three clerks. Now, there's nothing inherently ridiculous about this process, except that I tend to get excluded at around (1). This despite the fact that I could potentially come across as a resonable prospect in steps (2) and (3).
So it was with interest that I read the application form for commercial law firm Kain C+C. They specifically don't want candidates to send in transcripts or CVs. Instead they've developed a questionnaire which will determine whether applicants are 'culturally aligned' to the firm's values.
If they like what they see on my application, they'll invite me to a BBQ lunch, and if I do well there (presumably performance is measured by the number of sausages eaten, or correct application of sauce) they'll invite me to a more formal interview.
Is this a sensible way of screening applicants? I don't think I could say it's any less valid than the standard approach. The questionnaire is certainly more fun than typing up another boring cover letter.
So, in light of the above, I want your help. What follows are the questions on this application form, and my tentative responses. Note that for each question, there is only space for a very small answer.
What is your most important non professional goal for the next five years?
I aim to be able to speak Japanese fluently and be able to read a Japanese newspaper.
Who would be the five people (alive or dead) you'd invite to dinner? Why?
Isaac Asimov - by all accounts a great party guest as well as a fiercely intelligent person
Ben Folds - for his passion and for some fantastic after dinner music
Natalie Portman - the world's most beautiful law student
[I need two more! Possible options and suggestions from the guys at work include Charles Darwin (I think this has potential), Bill Clinton (maybe), Al Gore (I think he'd be a bit boring), Karl Marx (too commie), Jesus (too fictitious) Nelson Mandella (too obvious, too "I'm trying to make myself look like a decent human being") Ghandi (see Mandella), Hitler (I vetoed him). I think I need a political figure to seem knowledgeable about that sort of thing, but no one too partisan or contentious. I also think it would be good to have another woman, one who isn't there simply because she's purrdy.]Phew!
What is your favourite book? Why?
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Stephen Donaldson
Follows a deeply flawed individual as he saves the world. Anti-heroes are always much more interesting.
[Problem! Hardly anyone besides myself has ever read this book. They won't have a clue what I'm talking about.]
What is your favourite movie? Why?
Fight Club. A cracker of a movie about the gap between the lifestyle that we as individuals are promised by our society, and the reality of our lives. Shows the frustration that this gulf can cause.
[A bit of a risk, but if this firm is as hip as they claim, at least someone there will have seen the movie and recognise its brilliance]
What is your greatest passion? Why?
I'm fascinated by the history and culture of Japan. Contemporary Japanese culture is a clash between centuries-old tradition and new ways of thinking, and this tension intrigues me. I enjoy learning about how events in Japan's past have shaped its approach to current events.
What has been your greatest achievement?
Co-wrote, directed and performed in a show for the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival, entitled 'Mime - The Musical!'. Steep learning curve - had to book a venue, juggle finances, draft press releases, and deal with the media.
If you hadn't chosen law, what other career whould you have pursued? Why?
Either journalism or odd jobs while trying to make it as a fiction writer. I love using and crafting language to achieve a goal - whether that goal is to inform, pursuade or entertain.
Okay! So now it's over to you. I want to know two things: firstly, what do you think of my answers? Do you think they're geared to impress a potential employer? Do you have any suggestions as to what would make my answers 'better'? Secondly, how would you respond to these questions? I ask this second question because you're all interesting people, and I think they're interesting questions. You might say I'm interested.
But now I need your help. Clerkship applications are due in April, which means I'll be spending a fair chunk of my free time over the next few weeks getting - as we in the legal business say - my shit together. In law, if you don't get a clerkship before you finish your degree, you don't get a cushy job. And I have my heart set on a cushy job.
Most firms that take on clerks seem to follow this selection process:
1: Send us your CV and an academic transcript.
2: If your transcript is good enough, we'll look over your CV.
3: If your CV is good enough, we'll interview you.
4: If you were fantastic at the interview, we'll give you a clerkship.
Thusly they whittle hundreds of applicants down to two or three clerks. Now, there's nothing inherently ridiculous about this process, except that I tend to get excluded at around (1). This despite the fact that I could potentially come across as a resonable prospect in steps (2) and (3).
So it was with interest that I read the application form for commercial law firm Kain C+C. They specifically don't want candidates to send in transcripts or CVs. Instead they've developed a questionnaire which will determine whether applicants are 'culturally aligned' to the firm's values.
If they like what they see on my application, they'll invite me to a BBQ lunch, and if I do well there (presumably performance is measured by the number of sausages eaten, or correct application of sauce) they'll invite me to a more formal interview.
Is this a sensible way of screening applicants? I don't think I could say it's any less valid than the standard approach. The questionnaire is certainly more fun than typing up another boring cover letter.
So, in light of the above, I want your help. What follows are the questions on this application form, and my tentative responses. Note that for each question, there is only space for a very small answer.
What is your most important non professional goal for the next five years?
I aim to be able to speak Japanese fluently and be able to read a Japanese newspaper.
Who would be the five people (alive or dead) you'd invite to dinner? Why?
Isaac Asimov - by all accounts a great party guest as well as a fiercely intelligent person
Ben Folds - for his passion and for some fantastic after dinner music
Natalie Portman - the world's most beautiful law student
[I need two more! Possible options and suggestions from the guys at work include Charles Darwin (I think this has potential), Bill Clinton (maybe), Al Gore (I think he'd be a bit boring), Karl Marx (too commie), Jesus (too fictitious) Nelson Mandella (too obvious, too "I'm trying to make myself look like a decent human being") Ghandi (see Mandella), Hitler (I vetoed him). I think I need a political figure to seem knowledgeable about that sort of thing, but no one too partisan or contentious. I also think it would be good to have another woman, one who isn't there simply because she's purrdy.]Phew!
What is your favourite book? Why?
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Stephen Donaldson
Follows a deeply flawed individual as he saves the world. Anti-heroes are always much more interesting.
[Problem! Hardly anyone besides myself has ever read this book. They won't have a clue what I'm talking about.]
What is your favourite movie? Why?
Fight Club. A cracker of a movie about the gap between the lifestyle that we as individuals are promised by our society, and the reality of our lives. Shows the frustration that this gulf can cause.
[A bit of a risk, but if this firm is as hip as they claim, at least someone there will have seen the movie and recognise its brilliance]
What is your greatest passion? Why?
I'm fascinated by the history and culture of Japan. Contemporary Japanese culture is a clash between centuries-old tradition and new ways of thinking, and this tension intrigues me. I enjoy learning about how events in Japan's past have shaped its approach to current events.
What has been your greatest achievement?
Co-wrote, directed and performed in a show for the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival, entitled 'Mime - The Musical!'. Steep learning curve - had to book a venue, juggle finances, draft press releases, and deal with the media.
If you hadn't chosen law, what other career whould you have pursued? Why?
Either journalism or odd jobs while trying to make it as a fiction writer. I love using and crafting language to achieve a goal - whether that goal is to inform, pursuade or entertain.
Okay! So now it's over to you. I want to know two things: firstly, what do you think of my answers? Do you think they're geared to impress a potential employer? Do you have any suggestions as to what would make my answers 'better'? Secondly, how would you respond to these questions? I ask this second question because you're all interesting people, and I think they're interesting questions. You might say I'm interested.
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