The UTS Law Students’ Society provides students with dynamic, useful and innovative information relating to their futures after the completion of their degree. In a competitive job market with a broad spectrum of opportunity it is vital that students obtain a comprehensive and complete range of career options available to law graduates.

The LSS publishes a Careers Handbook and an Alternate Careers Handbook annually. From 2007 the Careers Handbook is published as the Clerkship Guide, and the Alternate Careers Handbook as the Careers Guide. Both publications are valuable resources for students as they enter the workforce. They provide relevant information on a wide range of topics including Law Firm profiles and practice area analysis.

Find out more about these publications by contacting our Careers (Publications) Officer, Emma Earley. Click here to view the 2009 Clerkship Guide.

Summer Clerkships are paid employment experiences in major commercial law firms for Australian students in their penultimate year of study. They are primarily Sydney based, with other states and some overseas firms offering variations on the program.

The Summer Clerkship program has two purposes. Primarily it is the major method that the top commercial firms in Sydney recruit students to become legal professionals. It is also a great way for firms to allow students to experience real life practice in a professional commercial setting. For many students this experience will shape a major life decision and clerks that demonstrate aptitude and enthusiasm for this aspect of practice are offered graduate positions after the completion of their studies.

How to apply
In order to apply for Summer Clerkship students must have at least two but no more than four semesters to complete in order to obtain their degree.

To apply, an electronic application must be submitted to cvMail (www.cvmail.com.au ), or a paper application directly to Participating Members (those Law Firms participating in the scheme)

Sent applications are not saved by the system, this information must be saved by the students themselves on disk. As cvMail will inform you, it is a good idea to personalise and tailor your application to the particular requirements of each firm. Therefore it is important students are aware of what information they provided to each firm, particularly if they move into the interview phase of the process.

The application process itself, by being broken into stages, is time consuming. Whilst the system is a great way of gathering a lot of information in one place, the similarity in the formats of required information fields, and the high number of participating firms means that the data entry process, in combination with the individual firm research and application tailoring takes a significant length of time. The solution is to begin the application process early and try and stay fresh for each firm application.

The formats for required information are inflexible. Because each firm provides its own tailored fields the information is presented in a rigid structure. It is not possible to change the order in which the required information is presented, and unless the firm asks, there is often little room for lateral thinking in terms of application information. For most this will not be a major frustration, but for some you may think it more advantageous to apply in hard copy. However whilst the flexibility of hard copy does allow for manipulation of information it must be remembered that the firms designed their fields for a reason, it provides them with the information they believe to be relevant in a format in which it is easy for them to review.

Interviews and recruitment then follows.

How to use CV Mail
cvMail is an online application system for law firms around the world. It is a web based user interface that allows students to access the Human Resources department of participating firms and submit information in tailored formats, following step by step instruction. It is widely used and user friendly.

Your personal information is saved on the system when you register. cvMail will monitor your application program as well as save draft information.

The system however does have a few hurdles that students need to be wary of.

Want more information about a firm and what they are looking for?
UTS LSS facilitates on-campus information sessions run by our sponsors and other relevant organisations such as the Bar Association and NSW Young Lawyers. Keep your eye out for upcoming events on the homepage, and sign up to our fortnightly e-newsletter so you don’t miss out!

The LSS also publishes the Careers Guide for law students who don’t wish to practice in a large commercial law firm. The Careers Guide details a wide range of career opportunities open to law graduates, and contributions from professionals working in a variety of fields.

For more information about the Careers Guide, click here.