QUT LAW SOCIETY
LEE MOY’S Tips & Tricks
What is your name and what is your role within the QUT Law School? I’m Lee Moy and I am the Legal Employability Specialist / Careers Advisor at the Faculty of Law at QUT. My background is in legal Human Resources and I’ve worked in the legal industry for over 25 years. What does that role involve? My role at QUT is all about connecting the Faculty of Law and the students with the legal industry. What do employers want to see on your resume and your cover letter? This is a tricky question to answer because all firms are different and look for different things. I think there is certainly universal content to clerkship and general legal application documentation but now that we are dealing with more sophisticated and evolving recruitment processes and intricate selection criteria, there is no one-set-way to impress an employer. I help students to tailor cover letters and construct their resumes to give the reader what they are looking for. It can be very firm specific but it is also about being unique and sharing your own story. When describing what firms are looking for, firm representatives will use terminology like, ‘wellrounded student’ or ‘we take a holistic approach’. I know this is not the black-letter language that law students like, so I host workshops on breaking this down so that students are able to recognise the activities, achievements and work they do as being valuable for this process. Do you have any tips for excelling in a job interview? Every interview is different and every interviewer is just trying to get to know more about you. The interview is sometimes a deal maker or a deal breaker.
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Your Resume is your ‘blind audition’ but the interview is really where you need to perform by articulating your experiences succinctly. Firms want you to talk about your learning and life experiences, genuinely connect with the people in the room. You need to give something more about yourself than just you like playing social touch football with your friends. Firms are about to offer you a CAREER - so I think that it stands to reason that they want to get to know who your REALLY are. So speak professionally and sometimes candidly, listen intently to what is being said (and not said), and engage with every single person in the room. Above everything, be yourself. What is your advice to students who do not get offered a clerkship or a graduate role? Students need to remember that clerkships and internships are a very small pipeline to a graduate role. There are so many firms that don’t offer these structured pathways so students need to open their hearts and minds when thinking about their careers. Perhaps an important question that I have for students is – Do you have a Career Plan or at least some idea of why you are studying law? If not, why not? Careers don’t just appear before your eyes. In most cases, careers are earned. Students work hard to get the career they want. They take a ‘career architect’ approach very early in their studies and build in flexibility. This is the sign of resilience, grit and in many ways, commerciality.
