Victorian Clerkship Applications

found the HR representatives to be incredibly transparent about their processes as well as having a wealth of knowledge about each firm. If you’re not able to get in touch through a Perth contact I suggest sending a polite email to the relevant HR representative and scheduling a time for your phone conversation. The East Coast LSS’ all publish guides like this one, and they are a great place to look for contact details! When you’re looking for them, just note that they are often called ‘clerkship guides’ or ‘clerkship handbooks’ so broaden your search terms.

As for interviews, I strongly suggest you consider travelling to Melbourne. Through my phone conversations, I found that different firms seemed to have different attitudes around physical interviews, with some strongly preferring it and other seeming to be indifferent. One firm was even generous enough to pay for my flights. However, having attended each interview in person, I can report that all of the firms at which I interviewed were grateful for the effort. I was in Melbourne for a 10-day period during which I interviewed at five firms (and attended the corresponding cocktail evenings). This was a very intense period, but it was manageable. I found firms were accommodating and willing to offer me the earliest interview slots in their available periods to shorten the length of my travel time.

More importantly, I felt I was able to get much more out of the process in person. In particular, attending the cocktail evenings was a great way to both meet other students in Melbourne and learn about the firms. These events actually changed my mind about which offers I wanted to accept on offers day. However, I want to stress that all the major firms indicated these events were not essential (although they all suggest it is beneficial), and I believe that they are not a core component of their decision-making process.

A piece of advice I was given before applying was not to apply to two offices of the same firm. This is advice I would like to pass forward. In particular, if you are seriously considering applying interstate, you should think carefully about your reasons why. I was (predictably) asked at every interview why I wanted to move to Melbourne; and I suspect the answer of ‘I’m just applying everywhere and seeing where I get’ might not have cut the recruitment mustard. Although, of course, that is just conjecture. I was able to answer honestly that I was only applying in Melbourne with a view to move as a graduate. Remember, firms hire clerks as the first step in their graduate recruitment process! However, the benefit of applying in Melbourne (as opposed to Sydney) is that you can undertake up to three clerkships, and, therefore, could do clerkships in both Perth and Melbourne. I suggest that you think carefully about which firms you want to apply to in which state, and about how you present your decision in your interstate interviews.

Finally, remember that if you do choose to apply in multiple cities you won’t have the benefit of offers coming out on the same day. That means that you may be left in a position where you accept too many or not enough offers to fill all of your places. My advice would be to have a list of your order of preference and a strong idea of which city you would rather accept a graduate offer in. That way you can allocate your risk accordingly. You should be thinking about this before you apply anyway, because you don’t want to be left in a position where you are compromising where you live for the firm you want to work for, or vice versa.

Leaving the N(W)est

I made the decision to apply in Melbourne largely because moving there has been a goal of mine since undergrad. As a law graduate, I also wanted to be exposed to the kind of work they get on the East Coast that we don’t get here in Perth. However, that isn’t to say that if you have aspirations of migrating East, that you have to take the leap at this early stage in your career. There is also merit in starting your career in Perth and moving once you have a few years’ experience under your belt. If you’re not sure which course of action you want to take, applying to some firms over East will give you the chance to interact with lawyers at cocktail evenings and in your interviews who may be able to offer some advice. I found that offices in Melbourne were incredibly diverse when it came to people’s home state (and country). Having now completed a clerkship in Melbourne, I can even report that over 10% of my group was from interstate.

One thing that you will learn (and probably get sick of hearing) is that there is no one career path in law, and everyone’s journey will be slightly different! On that, perhaps trite, note, the ghost of Careers VP past inside me also feels compelled to remind you all that clerkships are not the be all and end all of your legal careers, and there is a plethora of other ways to start your journey.