Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50902
Philippe Alma on go the ins for Fit is something that goes both vernment work Don't rely on on-campus recruitment. Cast a wide net for your law jobs. If you choose a big firm, don't think it is a job for life. Lots of lawyers get laid off. Be prepared. Keep all your options open by broadening your interests. Many areas of law are interconnected in ways you don't yet know. Know that the interview process is different for the Department of Justice than it is for law firms. You will be asked questions about law and you may be asked to prepare a lengthy presentation. Then the interviewers will want to see if you are a good social fit. Know your stuff. ways. You may be great for the firm but is it great for you? According to Skelton, the way most students judge their work experiences is by compar- ing them to the experiences of their for an interview at a large firm, Skelton has this unexpected response: "People tend not to put the less impressive jobs on their resumé; the manual labour, pumping gas, waiting tables jobs be- cause they think they reflect poorly on We want people with horsepower, and marks are still the best way to gauge that. Any firm that says it does not consider marks is lying. — Chris Skelton, Bennett Jones LLP friends. The downside to listening to people you know, is that "rumours definitely get out of control." Interest- ingly, roughly half the partners at the Bennett Jones Calgary office articled at the firm and have therefore never worked anywhere else. This means they have no basis for comparison. Skelton jokes that they still don't know if the firm is a good fit for them! Asked how students can best prepare them. I believe it is the exact opposite. I look for people with that experience be- cause those posts are challenging, more so than the jobs that look impressive on paper." Adds Koutsogiannis, "Don't make mistakes on your application. I have received letters with the names of other law firms written on them. And although my name is difficult to spell, it is not tough to copy. Take the time to proofread all your submissions." n 24 SPRING 2 0 1 0 Untitled-3 1 C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS 2/23/10 2:55:50 PM