Resume Building

Job Searching continued

SEEK Seek has a great variety of opportunities from all disciplines and practice areas. They recommend refining your job search by key words and location to best optimise your results. Seek can be a powerful tool if used effectively!

Additionally, they have a handy ‘company reviews’ feature, where you can read reviews by current or previous employees of the company you’re looking to apply to! This can help you ascertain an idea of the company culture, career development prospects, benefits or perks and salaries.

LEGAL VITAE Specifically designed for law students and graduates by the Law Society, Legal Vitae showcases a diverse range of opportunities available in one central location. Legal Vitae works in partnership with companies and with universities to deliver up to date information for students, especially for clerkships and graduate opportunities.

Featured employee partners of Legal Vitae include Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills, Grad Connection, BCG, First Sentier Investors, KPMG, ANZ and the NSW government.

LINKEDIN Another great resource for job searchers is LinkedIn. LinkedIn functions as both a social media platform for professionals and as a job advertisement platform. If you’ve made a profile, make sure to keep it up to date and to engage at least semi-frequently. Highlight your recent experience or transferable skills relevant to the job you’re looking for. If you’re in a position to advertise that you’re seeking work, feel free to use the ‘open to work’ feature on your profile. Finally, it’s important that your profile is a reflection of you, don’t forget to be authentic!

A handy way to keep on top of all the traffic is to set job alerts for they types of roles you may be interested in. You should be able to control the frequency of these notifications too, so it doesn’t get too overwhelming!

Resume Building

We all know what a resume is and how it should look. But how do we populate it? And how do you make yourself look like an outstanding candidate for any role you apply for?

There are plenty of opportunities both at University and beyond which can assist:

Volunteering A useful way to broaden your professional network and polish your professional skills, there is no shortage of opportunities to engage with as a volunteer. These opportunities are often provided by social-justice oriented organisations, such as Amnesty International, LegalAid, Arts Law Centre of Australia, Pro Bono Centre, RACS, UNICEF, Voiceless, World Food Programme, Community Legal Centres and the United National Young Professionals Program.

An added benefit of volunteering is that hours spent volunteering can contribute to Leadership through Service (‘LTS’) hours for an award with the UTSBrennan Justice and Leadership Program. Volunteering may be fone in either a legal or non-legal context. Requisite hours will vary depending on the length of your degree, see the table below for reference:

Work Experience

DEGREE LENGTH LTS HOURS REQUIRED

5 year Degree 4 year Degree 3 year Degree Minimum 200 hours 160 hours 120 hours 120 hours

Make sure to claim your hours through the online Brennan CareerHub Portal!

Perhaps the most obvious way to build your resume, work experience is a crucial tool for building skills and relationships. All forms of work experience will be relevant, whether legal or nonlegal!

In a legal context you’re able to see your university coursework in practice, and further develop skills that will assist you both in your studies and in your career. It can also help you determine which areas of law you are or aren’t interested in. In this regard, all experience is valuable experience! There’s no time like the present to give different practice areas or fields a go.

Non-legal work will also be highly valuable, as it can give you a strong foundation of transferrable skills which a prospective

Work Experience (cont.)

Extra Curriculars

UTS LSS Competitions employer may find appealing. These are solid skills, such as communication, leadership, problem solving, technical literacy or organisation. Jobs in hospitality, retail, or in other fields such as communications or business are all great starting points.

Don’t be afraid to get involved at university! There is a great range of clubs, societies and other opportunities open to you at UTS. Join a sport that you’re passionate about with social competitions, or be part of a cause you’re passionate about such as the UTS Red Cross society. A full list of the 180 clubs and societies

available can be found here: https://www.activateuts.com.au/ clubs/?orderby=featured

As a law student, you have free membership to the UTS Law Students Society. This is a great opportunity to meet other law students and participate in law specific events such as Law Ball, competitions and programs.

The UTS Law Students Society has two portfolios dedicated to competions: being the mooting portfolio and the competitions portfolio. It therefore has a vast array of competitions availibile to engage in.

If you’re a first or second year who has never competed befire, strongly consider competing in the ‘Junior’ moots and competitions, as these are a great introduction to the skills necessary to be successful.

Mooting — is a competition where two teams are provided a factual scenario from which they must research and present legal arguments in favour of their client. Teams will consist of a Senior Counsel, a Junior Counsel and sometimes also an instructing solicitor. The LSS offers a range of Intervarsity Moots, Open Moots and Junior moots. Keep an eye out to see if any pique your interest!

Witness Examination — involves competitors acting as counsel in court. The aim is to construct a plausible and convincing case whilst discrediting the case of your opposition. Each counsel will conduct an examination-in-chief of their own witness, a cross-examination of your opponent’s witness, raise objections to the court, and present opening and closing statements. The LSS offers a Junior Witness Examination competion as well as an Open Witness Examination competition.

MEET OUR GRADUATE CHANEL SORIAL

UTS AND COLLEGE OF LAW PLT GRADUATE

Working and studying Practical Legal Training full-time was a challenge, but it was a challenge Chanel Sorial was up for. Chanel completed her PLT studies whilst working as a frontline worker in the State Health Emergency Operations Centre during the peak of COVID-19.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE?

I am currently a Senior Project Officer in the NSW Ministry of Health.

WHAT DOES A DAY IN THE LIFE LOOK LIKE FOR YOU AT WORK?

A day in the life for me is a day that is forever changing. Working in the State Health Emergency Operations Centre and the System Management Branch within the NSW Ministry of Health is one of the most fast paced, time critical and rewarding environments I have ever worked in. A typical workday for me involves managing high level cases and projects for the NSW Ministry of Health.

ANY TIPS FOR LAW GRADS NAVIGATING ADMISSION?

The admission process is fun and enjoyable so enjoy the process and soak up every minute of it. Always reach out to your colleagues and peers for advice. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR LAW STUDENTS?

Firstly, congratulations on all your achievements and success thus far. Being a law student is not only an amazing achievement, but it is one step closer to following your dreams and achieving your goals. You are only a law student once in your lifetime so enjoy every minute of it, enjoy the lows and the highs because it is all worth it. Always be honest, transparent, professional and communicate well. Never underestimate your worth because you are amazing at anything you put your mind to.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE WORK AND PLT STUDIES?

Working fulltime and studying PLT full-time was a challenge, but it was a challenge I will always cherish. I completed my PLT studies whilst working fulltime as a frontline worker in the State Health Emergency Operations Centre during the peak of COVID-19. It was my duty to protect the people of NSW whilst completing my studies to become a practising lawyer. As I have a passion and love for the community, I never found working fulltime and doing PLT fulltime a struggle, I enjoyed every second of it knowing that I was working towards becoming a lawyer and keeping the people of NSW safe. Whilst the work hours and study hours were extremely long, and majority of the time it felt as if I had no social life, I was selfless and committed to completing the tasks ahead of me. It was this motivation and passion that made the balance easy. Whilst some people may believe that working full-time and doing PLT fulltime is impossible, I can with confidence say it is in fact possible and I am an example. Always believe in yourself because you are capable of anything when you are committed and passionate about what you are doing.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR STUDENTS STARTING THEIR PLT?

As a law student you only get to complete your PLT once in your lifetime, so enjoy every minute of it. Stay committed, stay focused and driven and you will complete every task with confidence. Nothing is too hard.

DO YOU HAVE A COLLEGE OF LAW LECTURER YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHOUT OUT?

After completing 6 years of study, I can with confidence say that I had the most amazing lecturer of all time… Asheeth Kalmath. A massive shout out to Ash. Not only did Ash act as my lecturer, but he also acted as my mentor which I feel extremely grateful for. Ash always motivated me and taught me incredible skills that I will have with me forever. Ash’s golden knowledge and advice is something I was lucky enough to experience and I hope you get to experience to. I will be forever grateful that I now have Ash as not only a mentor but a learned colleague.

RESUME CHECKLIST

Use this list to check that you have completed a professional resume and have tailored it to the position/role. Remember you can move areas of your resume around to highlight the most relevant information for the position.

 Have you captured the employer’s attention on the first page with your most relevant experience and skills?

 Does the resume look tailored and not based on a standard template? Is the information relevant to the hiring manager’s needs, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all document?  Did you include relevant keywords and appropriate industry terms?

 Is the resume without any careless typos, spelling, grammar or syntax errors?

 Did you avoid writing the resume in an implied first-person voice with personal pronouns (I, me, and my)?

 Does the resume provide a visually pleasing, professional presentation? Is the resume inviting to read, with clear sections and ample white space?

 Is a career summary included so the reader immediately knows your value proposition (recommended for later lawyers, career changers)?  If this is a resume for a career change, does it include supporting details that show how your past experience is relevant to the new job?

 Is the resume’s length and overall appearance appropriate given your career level and summary (2-3 pages as a guideline)?  Are there design elements (bullets, bolding, lines, margins) to guide the readers’ eyes through the document and highlight important content?  Does your resume contain key headings? Is the page break formatted correctly so it doesn’t break up sentences?

 Is your career history listed in reverse chronological order (most recent job first), with your legal experience first?

 Are your achievements distinguished from your responsibilities? Remember achievements are outcome focused and over and above your day-to-day responsibilities

 Are achievements quantified by using numbers, percentages, dollar amounts, or other concrete measures of success?

 Do achievement statements begin with strong, varied action verbs? eg. developed, delivered, managed?

COVER LETTER CHECKLIST

Use this list to check that you have completed a professional cover letter and have tailored it to the position/role. Remember to always address the selection criteria required for the position.

 Does your letter show your genuine interest and enthusiasm for the job / organisation?

 Does your letter look tailored to the role / organisation and not based on a standard template?

 Does your letter try to build a connection with the reader? Does it differentiate you enough?

 Does your letter show your research and knowledge of the organisation beyond a quick google search?

 Does your letter present you in a positive light and as a good fit for the organisation and role?

 Is your letter one A4 page long with no more than 4 paragraphs?

 Does your letter have the right tone? (read out loud to check)

 Have you taken out any information about yourself that might highlight any gaps / weaknesses?

 Have you included your contact phone number and professional email address?

 Is the cover letter addressed to the correct person with their title, address?

 Have you commenced with the correct greeting? eg. Dear Ms Slater

 Have you included the title and reference number of the job?

 Does the employer know why you are applying for the position and where you saw the position?

 Have you included your education, qualifications and current study?

 Have you provided specific evidence of your skills for this specific job and written about them without exaggerating?

 Have you highlighted your most relevant work experience first, ie. legal?

 Have you included the most relevant and recent achievements that promote you well?

 Have you addressed any other requirements of the job? eg. global relocation, etc

 Is your letter grammatically correct with no spelling or typing errors?

 Have you had someone proof read it just in case?