Interested in working as a paralegal? Learn:
Interested in working in family law? Learn:
Interested in working in law but still want to have a life? Hear:
If you're an international student, hear:
Other insights & tips
So I'm Nayonika and I am an international student who moved from Oman, which is a beautiful country in the Middle East. And when I moved here, I studied a degree in arts and law with a major in politics and a minor in psychology.
And so far I'm very close to being admitted as a lawyer and that means I can practise as a lawyer in Australia. which would be pretty cool after, going to law school and doing a lot of reading, doing a lot of writing.
So that's where I'm at the moment, but in the process, I've had the privilege and the opportunity of doing a lot of things as an international student volunteer, as an ambassador, and being involved in a lot of different projects as well across the mental health space, across the sexual health space.
So it's not one of those linear experiences I've had, which was, get into uni, go to law school, get out, get a job and then just do that. I've had a lot of rich opportunities in between, which I'm really grateful for.
Yeah I was one of those people who had an Excel spreadsheet that had a list of things based on state, with things like temperature and things like scholarships, and I had a massive list that I broke everything down to. I think a lot of education agents would love to see my list and would love to see how that decision making happened from every time I've mentioned it. But it was quite simple when I broke it down.
I wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision because when you're an international student going overseas to study a degree is a big decision. For a lot of reasons, obviously financial is one of the biggest ones, but there's a lot of stuff that people don't talk about.
It's the emotional things, right? It's, you're going to be away from your family. It's going to be educational reasons as well. You've studied in a completely different systems. I did the CBSE system in Oman. It's a completely different education system as to how university education alone would work.
So that's something I had to think about a lot. The other thing was, what was I wanting out of life? And at 18, when you ask that question, everyone's yep, I just want to make enough money to have a house and a successful career and things like that.
When you're not 18, because I refuse to disclose that I'm older now, you have to think about different things. Am I being fulfilled by the job I do? Do I have good prospects of a social community around me and things like that. That's the sort of sign of maturity, but at 18, you're just like, what does my future look like? Do I have a good future?
And there were a few places that popped up on the list, but Australia was the one that stood out to me the most. First, because every time I reached out to any university, there was a very warm response I received.
And then I took the opportunity to cold call, not cold call, but cold message. A lot of university students who were studying at the universities doing the degrees I wanted. I'd look up different Facebook groups as to, law students at XYZ University. And if I saw some students who were quite active because they were involved in the student societies, I'd message them.
And the way it cemented UNSW for me, that way, was, it was the university where I received the best responses from. So I had someone who took a lot of the time from their day to respond to my messages. They took the time to even show me around when I first moved to Sydney.
And I think it's that warmth with which Australian students studying here – and also international students who had moved from India or other parts of the world – who had supported me when I was making that decision was really life changing in the sense that I knew that this is where I had to be, right?
Because why would you possibly be nice to a random 18 year old stranger messaging you on the internet going, Yeah, I want to study in Australia. Can you please tell me about your experience? Because it's a big question if you think about it. And I think that, that's what really helped me decide.
A lot of those things that again, added to the fact that was the prestige of education. You have some of the best universities in the world here. And as someone who wanted to do a degree like law, that mattered a fair bit to me. I wanted to make sure I went to a law school where the education was internationally recognized.
But also the quality of education as an international student. You tend to pay a lot of money. Zeros that I didn't know existed exist in your life then. And to me, it was important because it was like if I'm paying so much money, I want to receive a quality education.
I also want to receive a quality community because I want to make sure that if I'm starting from scratch, leaving high school friends behind, leaving childhood friends behind, I want to be around people who let me be myself. Because sometimes there's an international student who's moving overseas, there's a massive disconnect between your friendships as well, so just seeing what sort of community was offered, Australia was quite rich in terms of support it offered in terms of community created for international students as well.
Yeah, so those were some of the reasons that really cemented Australia for me.
Something like that. I went through the classic decision making process of studying in year 10 and I jumped between a few career choices. And at one point I was wanting to go to med school because I wanted to follow my parents footsteps. And I remember quite clearly, it was about two months before my final exams, I walked into my parents room and I went, I don't want to be a doctor anymore – I want to go to law school.
And they're like, that's fine. As long as you're happy and as long as you've made the choice and you're confident in what you want to do. I think law was something I always wanted to do. It was an opportunity that was in my head since year 10. And I think I was always passionate about using written word expression to really express myself.
And I think it just clicked. It was just before the exams. I was sitting there and I remember being stressed about my finals. And then I was just like, actually, I don't think med school is for me. And I think I want to go to law school. And I think that was it.
Yes. So I currently work as a paralegal in the family law and property law space and I've been in the area for about 2-2.5 years now. It's absolutely fascinating. I think when you find out what you really like and when you start doing the work you really appreciate all the hard work that goes into it.
It's really funny when your parents tell you that you'll understand how this pays off one day and you hear their voice in your head because you're like, why are you saying this? It's so exhausting. I hate studying full time and having to work and I'm doing all of these things. I'm tired. Don't tell me it'll get better. But when you fall into a practice area that you generally enjoy, it really does get better.
I don't think I ever have the same day, but generally it would look like, coming into the office, and trying to look at what the day has. So because family law has a lot of litigation and you have a lot of client meetings and things like that as well, you look at your schedule.
So you try and plan ahead, map things out and you have lists of things that keep coming in court appearances and things like that. It starts with making sure what the day's calendar looks like. So you're across who's coming when, so you know when to not double book and things like that, just in case you have clients who call you.
And then you look at what your weekly schedule looks like. So you then get through things that have come in the day before or on the day and you start working through them. And then you start mapping out things for the future. So if you've got hearings, you've got mediations, if you've got different things like that. You just start putting them down and mapping it out.
And then once you've started mapping it out, you then work through different documents. The fun thing about law is there's a lot of paperwork, so it keeps you busy all the time. You start going through the paperwork, start drafting things, scheduling client appointments so you can speak to them, and start drafting their documents, getting instructions.
It's a lot of online work as well that you do. And that's what it looks like. So it's busy with a lot of drafting and a lot of revising and a lot of rewriting and redrafting. And a lot of meeting with clients and making sure you know what's going on ahead. If cases come on, making sure you know you've prepared everything you need to do for that side.
Sometimes it might be preparing a will that takes up a few hours of your day. Sometimes it just might be organising documents to prepare a property settlement. Sometimes it might just be, making sure you've got identity documents so you can confirm things for your client.
Sometimes it's just making sure you've drafted affidavits and things like that. So could be any of those things.
It's constantly a surprise. It's like opening one of those mixed chocolate boxes and you just don't know what you're going to get. It could be a good one, or it could be a very busy day.
I feel like it really depends on the day and on the person as well. I really like a good busy day because the busier it is, you don't have a chance to look at the time.
You just, time just goes, your day goes, but you've learned so much and you've done so much as well. You fall into the flow. Sometimes a quiet day might be necessary if you've had a busy week, but then on a generally quiet-ish day, you're like, this day is too quiet. I don't like it.
So it's really hard. I do like a good busy day. A good piece of chocolate for me would be doing a lot of drafting, doing a lot of client facing work as well. So just having a lot of things on.
It would be trying to organise something last minute because there was some miscommunication or it's come out of nowhere. And then you do it, which it's the nature of the job, sometimes things happen last minute, that's fine.
Or something comes in that absolutely throws your schedule off and then you have to work hard to reset that schedule, get people to cover you and things like that. So when you don't have a clear plan ahead, that's when it gets not good.
Yeah, absolutely. So to be a lawyer, you need to go through law school and then you need to go do something called a graduate diploma of legal practice.
And then you need to be admitted into the Supreme Court. And what that means is you need to be registered on the list of solicitors with the Supreme Court of your state. And you can also be registered with the High Court of Australia. And what that means is it allows you to go and represent a client or do legal work in those courts.
And basically say you're a lawyer. So you're not a lawyer unless you've been admitted. So until then you just have a piece of paper that says you've gone to law school, but you haven't been admitted as a lawyer. So that's what a lawyer does. And a lawyer can give you legal advice. Anything that involves legal things they can give you advice.
There's a lot of safety net around indemnity, insurance, what constitutes legal advice, all of those things. They have a lot of duties and responsibilities. They have to do it properly. So there's just a lot of safety net around that when a client approaches a lawyer.
A paralegal is absolutely not a lawyer. And what a paralegal does is the paralegal provides a lot of legal and administrative support to a lawyer or a law firm and what they do is they do anything and everything that makes the lawyer's job easier in simple terms. So it could be assisting the lawyer with research on a case or research on an article that the lawyer wants to write, or the paralegal could draft it.
The paralegal can look at things like documentation, start compiling lists of things, can do basic client interviews with the lawyer present, so they can start doing things like that. So it's just a lot of that sort of work that all of the content and all of the paperwork and all of the substantive work the lawyer undertakes requires a lot of support.
And that's what the paralegal provides.
It depends on the firm. So a general practice area can have a few paralegals who do certain research, drafting. So they've developed that sort of knowledge of that space.
And they can do it and then you can have a few lawyers who come and request paralegals if they need them for special projects.
Or if you're at a small firm, a lawyer will have one paralegal. The paralegal does everything for the entire firm. Or if you have a few paralegals who might work casually.
So you might have one or two lawyers with a few other paralegals supporting them. It really depends on what the firm's needs are. Again, you have different firm sizes. You have different types of firms. You can have boutique firms where you have one principal lawyer. A common term that comes up a lot is principal solicitor which is the main person who is in charge of the practice.
You can have single principal firms, you can have a firm with one principal and other partners or people like that who are in charge of something. You can have medium sized firms with different offices, you can have large sized firms, you have international firms. So you have a lot of different firms.
Oh, go to court. Absolutely. I absolutely cannot tell you how much, every time I go to court, I'm in awe of just how much work goes behind being a lawyer. But also the impact you have on people's lives. It just becomes really real there.
Everything has some kind of impact on people, but with family law, you have more client contact. It's quite litigious as well. And so as a result, you just see how you can support your client's needs.
Potentially improve their lives for the better. And you can see how the justice system as we think of it influences people's lives and how, something that you thought would never affect you could be something that affects you and you could be in court.
I think all areas of law have an impact on people in all ways, but I just think it's the nature of that sort of involvement and how that impact comes back to you, but yeah, absolutely.
With family law, it's definitely a lot more direct because it affects what your life looks like, what your relationships look like, what your future looks like with those relationships as well for sure.
Unfortunately not, no.
So we have a criminal and commercial and family law practice area.
So I was looking for a new role. I was a volunteer legal assistant with the community legal centre before this. And I wanted to move into a new practice area and I wanted to do some more work in an area I hadn't done before. And luckily one of my friends was just advertising the role then. I reached out to her.
Like we all know the classic, if you know someone who makes it easier sort of thing. She then recommended me and then I had the opportunity to interview and then I got the job. So it was just honestly a matter of chance that my friend was looking for someone to work at her firm and it worked out.
Yes. I think the visa issue can be an issue where they want you to work above a certain number of days. I was lucky in the sense that my boss, who I was working for, knew that all of the people who had applied were university students and that they would be working part time.
And so at that point in time, it worked out well for me to work part time with the number of days that I had. My other colleagues as well who I was job sharing with were working part time as well. So I got lucky that setup worked for us. Sometimes it can be difficult when law firms want you for a few more days beyond what the part time days allow you.
So I think it can be a bit difficult then, but you generally do have the opportunity to reach out and have a job sharing situation. I would definitely tell students that if you think you're really passionate about the job, definitely apply for the job, and tell them what your situation is and tell them how you're willing to put in the work, put in the effort as well. And really pull your weight.
And then most people who really want to give you the opportunity and see your passion, will make it happen, or they'll understand where you're coming from, so they'll give you the opportunity as well.
I don't think it's something you should be scared about. I think put your foot out there and ask for it.
So job sharing looks like something like if I work part time, I work say Monday, Tuesday, then someone else works Wednesday to Friday.
So it's the same job and same title and everything and we're doing the same things. But I cover a certain number of days and they cover the other number of days.
No, you can do it part time as well. So it might not be a job sharing either. You could either be a part time paralegal or you could be a casual paralegal as well.
So could be any way you could be anywhere between a first year to a final year student. You could be a recent graduate as well. And then you could be moving into a solicitor role could be any number of combinations as well.
It's just a natural order of things in the legal sector. When you are a student, you tend to try and find legal work so you can gain better understanding and knowledge but also pick up better experience as well in terms of work. And so most university students who study law tend to... Volunteer in a legal role with say a community legal centre or at some event, or pick up a paralegal or legal assistant or legal secretary role and that allows you to just develop an understanding of the area.
And then once you're admitted. You're hoping to go into being a solicitor and working at the firm that you're at, or sometimes you just want to learn about the area and move around.
Absolutely. Absolutely. It's one of those things where, I acknowledge finding a role as a paralegal can be quite hard, not just as an international student, but even in general, because it's a very competitive space. It's also one of those spaces where a lot of opportunities aren't advertised. So it's one of those areas where having a connection makes a big difference.
And which, unfortunately, as an international student, I didn't know that when I first started studying law, I often thought I was doing things wrong. I often thought that I wasn't a good candidate and things like that. And then I just realised it was just about knowing the right people.
And I think that makes a big difference. Definitely foster connections in university with other peers as well. Reach out to your careers departments and things like that so you get your foot in the door. And I recommend that, I think rejection is almost a good part of life. Because we get it early as international students.
It doesn't bother you too much after a certain time because you're used to it so much that you are also then used to finding a new way to make things work out for you.
And I think that's honestly what I did. I knew that I was getting rejected from roles, because I was an international student. So I then started applying for legal volunteer roles with different community legal centres with different organisations so I learned a lot about different practice areas in a very short amount of time.
I was exposed to a lot of different things that people might not have had the opportunity to be exposed to and then it gave me the confidence, it gave me some of the knowledge and it just meant that while I was going through the entire process, I just kept applying and applying and things that worked out for me, I took that opportunity and things that didn't were just a good learning opportunity.
So absolutely apply for it, but I completely recognise that it's not easy. It can be hard, especially applying for legal roles can be intimidating because It's a completely different thing that a lot of us aren't exposed to as international students.
It seems like a very gate kept community sometimes because it's obviously a very selective practice. You have to be admitted and things. There's a lot of high expectations there.
But just foster connections in classrooms, meet people at events, put yourself out there, take up opportunities, write articles, do things, focus on your grades as well. And just take the plunge.
Oh, easily over 500. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Actually, I've applied for a lot of rolls. It's been a long five, six years of applying for a lot of things. And it wasn't always a rejection. I've had, I've luckily had a lot of positive acceptances as well. So the 500 isn't a grim number.
I promise it's a lot of roles, but also a lot of it isn't just legal applications. So I'd say legal, I would put it about 150, at the most 200. The others were non-legal roles. And I think it took that much time because one, you tend to apply through a lot of these job sharing websites where sometimes you just don't hear from people and you don't know what's happening.
Some of them were quite positive, received responses and then had interviews and things like that. And I was employed at all these different places for different periods of time, which was good.
I think the other thing as an international student, especially when you're working not just in Australia, but also in the legal space, you tend to adopt this mindset where you convince yourself that you're not going to get an opportunity and it's really hard for you.
And it is hard, right? I'm not going to pretend like it's not hard. It is genuinely hard because you don't have any connections. You don't know anyone. It's an industry you know nothing about. And you're starting from scratch. It's absolutely scary. I'm with you on that.
But what you do is you tend to fall into this mindset where you think nothing's going to happen. And I think the most hard part about being an international student studying law is reminding yourself not to fall into that mindset and reminding yourself that there will be an opportunity because it starts affecting how you look at opportunities out there then as well and how you start pitching yourself as well.
And I know it sounds so cliche, but you constantly have to be pitching yourself. And I think that's how I would recommend that you go about it. It's hard. Put yourself out there. A lot of applications you might not hear from them, but just keep doing it. Because eventually someone will bite.
You don't need five yeses. You need one yes. That's all it took for me. I needed that one yes to get my foot into the door and look at the area of family law and it worked out for me. And that's all I needed, right? That's what you need as well. So keep doing it. You get the one yes, work hard, put your effort in, make sure your grades are going well through the best of your abilities, and then things will work out.
Absolutely. I think volunteering with the community legal centre, but also just Beyond that, in the other capacities that I have. Absolutely. I think it's a two way street, right?
One, volunteering is a massive privilege because it's expensive to live in Australia.
Two. It can also be quite disheartening sometimes because it makes you wonder whether you know you're good enough for a job. And that's a genuine anxiety to have, whether you will get the job you want, whether you'll get the experience.
And three, you are also competing with local students who have parents who are in the sector who have connections who have family who have other friends who have known their whole lives or work in these spaces.
Yes, volunteering there does make a massive difference because you can then go, look, I've picked up experience. I've learned things about this practice area. I have some knowledge and insights and I'm obviously not the best at it, but I'm willing to dedicate time, effort and energy and do things in this space. And I'd really appreciate any opportunity. So volunteering does show that you're willing to take an opportunity.
I'm also conscious that volunteering can be tedious, can be sometimes financially exploitative for you because it's not the easiest thing to do because you also have to put food on your plate, right? There's a lot happening there.
But with the legal space, I would definitely recommend it, because at the end of the day, there's nothing like seeing that much work and learning from it because you can talk about going to court, you can talk about doing things, but doing it is quite different from talking about it.
So I would recommend that if you get the opportunity to even volunteer half a day between studies, which is why it's usually helpful while you're studying because you obviously have work hour restrictions, you can only work part time and things like that, do it then. But then beyond that, I would recommend that if you can look at other opportunities to be open to that as well.
I didn't have a specialisation grand story. I didn't have one of those moments where I was looking at something, reading something, and it made me go, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
For me, it was just a matter of chance. My friend was looking for someone at her firm, I got the job, I started doing the job, and I really enjoyed my work environment.
I have a very positive environment where my boss is really warm, really supportive, teaches me a lot as well. I have a lot of backing to develop my skills as well. So that really helped. And I just happened to like the area I've had.
Colleagues have been like We've been working in the family law area as well. We know that when we get admitted, it's not for me. I don't want to go into that practice area. For me, I just luckily have the opposite reaction, which is, I really enjoyed this. I would like to go into this.
So generally in family law, not for me, what it looks like is quite similar to other practice areas of law. So generally in commercial firms that tend to offer you something called a clerkship where you do a few months over summer to see whether you like the practice areas, whether that's what you want to do. That's what commercial firms offer.
But you can do something quite similar in other practice areas as well, which is why a lot of people recommend paralegaling at different firms that have different practice area specialisations. Because then it allows you the opportunity to understand what work looks like and whether you like it.
You'll have people who are paralegal for six months, eight months, a year, two, three years, depending on whether they like the work and move around to try different things. And it's the same thing for every law student. You finish your law degree, you then do your PLT if you want to be admitted. You then get admitted as a lawyer with the Supreme Court and High Court.
And then you apply for solicitor roles. And for the first two years, you'll be supervised as a solicitor. And then you'll be working and doing matters in the practice area involved. So it could be a wills and estates lawyer, a personal injury compensation lawyer, family lawyer, property lawyer – It could be anything.
So depending on what area you're in, you'll then practise for two years. You'll have a supervisor and then you can apply for an unrestricted practising certificate.
We already know that I like my Excel spreadsheets and I'm already thinking about my options out there. I think it really depends on who you are as a person and everyone likes doing things differently when they're looking for their first job.
For someone, it might be prioritising a firm that has a lot of high reputation and high value. So some people might apply to bigger firms like that.
For some people, compensation might be quite important to them because they might have a lot of different responsibilities and things like that. And they'd like to be compensated for the kind of work that they're doing.
But also a good reminder is that when you're interviewing and looking for firms, they're not the only ones interviewing you, you're also interviewing them.
A lot of things that matter to me are things like work culture, which means, what's the level of support like? What's the level of education and learning opportunity like at that firm? How do I approach people if I don't understand something? Is that quite common? Is that supported? Is that spoken about? Is that offered? – that sort of stuff. And then what does the quality of work look like? Do I have the opportunity to grow my work practice? Do I get the opportunity to take on new matters, to lead things? What are the learning and development opportunities? Do we get to attend things? What are conference opportunities?
So I think a lot of different factors go into it. Obviously, yes, you have the reputation of the firm and the salary, which is generally what most people will primarily look at.
But then at the other end, you also have to remember that you're not the only one working for them. They are also offering you a space where you work. So you want to make sure What's my supervisor going to be like? Do I get along with my colleagues? Do I like the way work is done in this firm? Do I like the culture here? Do people work late? Do people not work late? What is the flexibility like? Who can I talk to if I have any questions?
So I think all of that makes a massive difference and to me being able to be in a place where I'm happy to put in the hours, I'm happy to work late, that's not something that personally bothers me. I know some colleagues and some friends would like stricter work deadlines and things like that.
So again, it really depends on you. But I would like a place where I have a lot of opportunity to grow, where I can take a lot of responsibility as well and where I have a lot of space to learn as well. So I can ask a lot of questions, I can be curious, I can run things past people but that's what matters to me.
Ah, the thing I found most surprising is how easy it is to need a lawyer. You don't have to do much, right? Like having legal issues can possibly be a very simple thing that affects a lot of us in circumstances we might not realise.
And I think I found that quite surprising is how often people reject the idea that nothing could happen to them. And that just because it's them, they won't be affected. But the law affects everyone all the time. And needing a lawyer can be quite common.
Needing a lawyer doesn't have to be a scary thing. It just means that you've got your options covered. It's like going to the doctor. You wouldn't treat your own infection. You'd go to the doctor. It's the same thing.
I refuse to give people any response if they ask me hey, I have a question about this thing for you when they want free legal advice, because one, you can't give legal advice when you're not admitted, two also, there are a lot of consequences for giving legal advice when they're not your client.
There's a lot of responsibility around there. I think something about my daily life is I don't tell people what I've studied because then everyone has a lot of questions and everyone wants you to answer a lot of questions, which can be quite nice, but sometimes can be a bit exhausting as well, because it's hard to explain to people that I can't give you a response and you have to talk to a lawyer.
And I can't tell you what the lowest costs are going to be. It's like asking your maths teacher for a response for geography. How are they going to answer it? Law has a lot of practice areas as well. And I think that's something that people forget because people will have very innocent questions about one practice area and you're like, I don't do that at all.
I don't know anything about the practice area. So it can be quite tricky to manage expectations sometimes. So I think sometimes managing that in a social context can be a bit tricky.
Yeah, so generally my hours are 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. or 6 p. m. I don't think I work through late often. I've never had to stay back. Super late, unless, you've had one of those days where the printer stops working and then it magically starts working at 5. 30 just when you're leaving and you're like, cool, I need to print some stuff up now.
I don't think I have really bad hours. My hours are generally 9 to 5, yeah. Okay, that's good. Yeah.
One because I'm a paralegal. Two, also because my workplace is really good with that kind of culture. Like we prioritise having a good balance and, making sure, like obviously when we have a lot going on, we've got cases, mediation, client interviews we do take the time to stay back and put in the hours and do the work.
So that's completely acknowledged because the work has to be done. But generally the firm's environment is really positive, and everyone just wants to make sure that you have the opportunity to step back from work.
Oh, absolutely. I think there are some really lovely workplaces out there. I think, again, as I said, it's just a matter of putting yourself out there and finding these places for yourself.
Application process looks different for, again, everyone and I know, I think this is the classic law student answer, right? It depends. And it's different for everyone which I promise is not a cop out, but it generally just depends on the firm that you're applying for.
Generally the application process is providing a CV which is 1 page or 2 pages long at the most. You don't want it to be too long. 2 pages is the max recommended. Having a one page cover letter, which is outlining your experience and your passions for the job and then the academic transcript.
And if that works you're then generally invited in for an interview. Again, that is just to see whether you're a good fit for the firm and whether the firm's a good fit for you. And if you're successful, you're offered a job then.
The cover letter. And I think that's because the cover letter is where you have to sell yourself and a lot of people can be quite shy about it. But when you're an international student and have to sell yourself, you start doubting yourself a lot. And you wonder whether you have the skills and whether you have the experience, whether you're appropriate for that.
And I think it's just a lot of internalised self doubt that you negotiate yourself to be less awesome than you already are. So I think that's a tricky one.
I don't think the interviewers are trying to be tricky with you at any point to be honest. I don't remember any tricky questions. All of the questions as cliche as they sound are generally just to understand whether you're a good fit for the team.
I think it can be hard to talk about who you are as a person and explain your demeanour and your mannerisms and things like that, and it can be tricky, right?
Because where do you draw the personal and professional line? That, that, that's a line that you learn. over the years with some experience and exposure as well. So I think that can be a bit hard. But I don't think there are any tricky questions. They're just trying to understand whether you fit the role and the company's culture well.
Oh, it's always the Tell us about yourself. That question I find quite funny because it's hard because you can be doing so many things and it's oh, what part do I tell you about?
I don't think it's a tricky question. I think it's an interesting one because it really frames the point for the rest of the interview.
Because that sets the expectation that they have say if we have an interview and I say, Hey, Frances, I if tell you about myself, I'm a Pokemon trainer and I enjoy doing this thing and I enjoy rock climbing your expectation of me is I'm an active person, quite outdoorsy, love doing things.
Versus if I tell you, Hey, what I do is I actually work as a chef. This is what I do. And then your expectation of me is I have a lot of attention to detail, can work in high pressure environment.
So I think I find that quite interesting because it sets the tone and the expectation and what they're trying to unpack from you.
I think when you're doing an application and interview for a paralegal role, they're trying to understand who you are as a person in terms of how you manage your relationships with other people, with clients and things like that. But also you just want to express what kind of person you are. So:
I'm quite an outgoing and extroverted person. I enjoy being in high pressure environments. I love learning things – on the go as well. I enjoy opportunities to improve. So I like a lot of direct, open constructive criticism. I like a lot of clear communication as well. So I think those things really make a difference and I'm someone who values that. So I'd love to be in an environment or a team that sort of offers me that as well.
So something I would try and get across is I'm someone who's not afraid of a challenge, confrontational situations, difficult phone calls, sometimes potentially hard conversations with clients as well. They don't really deter me. It's something that I find that I can keep my composure and navigate quite smoothly.
I can think quickly on my feet. So that's how I wanted to come across. And I also wanted to be quite clear that I'm an outgoing person. So I can understand that if the team generally is quite laid back and a bit more on the introverted or ambivert side, I appreciate that.
So I'd love to know what makes other people feel comfortable. How do I make sure I don't take up too much space and how do I create a team environment as well?
Oh, absolutely. I think culture shock happens in every aspect of life when you first move here as an international student, but I think when you're working culture shock for me is email communication. Like I am quite a direct communicator.
So if you send something to me Hi, please see attached, it wouldn't bother me. But I think just generally when you have to communicate with clients and then depending on the cultural context and the background of the conversation as well.
Also, given that it's family law, you have to be quite kind, but you also have to be quite direct and you also have to be quite clear with your boundaries and expectations as well. It can be interesting because that means your tone, your warmth, your level of information, your level of accessibility and approachability changes.
So I think email communication was something that took me by surprise a little bit because sometimes how you put words down can be construed to be quite rude or quite abrupt and direct. Sometimes it can be construed to be quite fluffy and unclear. So you really have to see who you're communicating with on the other side as well.
It's not as scary as people imagine it to be. I know we watch a lot of reels and a lot of videos and things like that about it being legalese. And I promise it's generally not always like that. Sometimes you do get a few things like that, and then you're like, What did this actually mean? But generally it's okay.
I don't know if I've mastered the art of writing legal emails, but I think I'm not terrified of writing emails and ashamedly, I'm rather excited to write multiple emails in a day.
I enjoy writing emails as strange as it sounds. I am the friend in the group who people come to, to write and draft emails with, so I do enjoy it. It does grow on you a little bit, which I don't know how I feel about. I don't know if it's like a skill that I pulled up, or If it's a positive trait, I tell an interviewer, which is, Hey, I enjoy writing emails, but it's a thing.
Oh that's a good one. I think pay attention to detail and try to avoid making mistakes, which is don't get too confident just because you think you know something just because you've done something a million times, doesn't mean you won't make mistakes.
You are always exposed and there's always room to make errors. So always make sure you're thorough, make sure you track your work and you do it well because attention to detail, quality of work makes a huge difference reputationally, especially in the legal industry.
But also it shows that you put care and you put effort into doing the work properly because it could affect your client as well. And if it's wrong. And if you get it very wrong, it affects a lot of things and that's another set of issues to deal with. The one thing that I would show is definitely pay attention to detail and don't be nonchalant about it.
So just because you think you've done it, don't not pay attention. Every client, every piece of work that you do as a paradigm deserves the same amount of quality care, deserves the same amount of attention, deserves the same amount of revisitation as well to make sure it's all done properly. So definitely make sure your quality is put in there.
I live off checklists. My friend called me the checklist queen. I have checklists for everything in my life because this also requires checklisting, and I love it.