What did you study at undergraduate level and when did you graduate? What are you studying now? Are you studying and working at the same time?
My name is Anam Mahmud and I am a lawyer by profession. I have done LLB and LLM. I completed my second Master of Laws (LLM) from Australian National University in 2018. I was working casually while studying at ANU.
What have been the most important stages of your life?
The most important stage of my life was my bachelor's degree. As this was the foundation for my further studies. It is that stage that either makes or breaks your career. This is when most of us decide what area of specialisation would we chose later on in life. This helps us understand our potential.
How did you get to your current (or most recent) job position and how long have you been working there?
My recent job position has nothing to do with my previous studies. I am a customer service coordinator at a residential hall for students. However, my education and work experience in the legal sector showed my potential to be a good candidate for customer service.
What made you decide to progress with further study?
There was a lot of competition in the area of my expertise (Human Rights Law) in Pakistan. So, for me to secure a government or an international organisation job I had to have an impressive CV. To do so, I had to have an additional qualification from a prestigious university such as the Australian National University.
How did you choose your particular further study course (compared to others)? / Were you weighing up any alternative degrees or career pathways before choosing this qualification?
For my second master's, the criteria were to enrol myself in a university that had a higher ranking in the world ranking list. Furthermore, I wanted to be in a country that I never had visited before. Therefore, Australia became my first priority. l had actually intended to do international development and law as my chosen course of study. Due to the lack of availability of courses I had to choose a plain Masters of Law at ANU.
What was the process to get accepted into your course? What were the prerequisites?
For ANU the prerequisites of admission were to have higher grades or have vast work experience in the area of study. The admissions board took a complete look at the grades, extra-curricular activities, and work experience in order to determine the seriousness of the potential candidate in attending the course. Furthermore, they took into account the benefits that the course could provide the candidate.
What does your study involve? Can you describe a typical day? (if it’s difficult to describe a typical day, tell us about the last thing you worked on?)
The Masters of Law follows an intensive structure. Classes are in a four-day intensive pattern and start from 9 am to 5 pm. So, the entire load comes in those four days. The remaining time between classes was to finish assignments for those classes. Overall the master was very relaxed and did not require constant work.
Will this course be beneficial in your career? Where could you or others in your position go from here? Please explain your answer.
ANU is a huge name both in Australia and Outside Australia. I do believe that after completing this Masters I have opened numerous opportunities for myself in Pakistan. For domestic students, the platform provides wider and better opportunities in Australia. Getting government jobs should not be a problem now that we have graduated from the most prestigious university in Australia.
What do you love the most about your course?
The limitation of the course was that due to the intensive nature of the course, there wasn't any uniformity in the way an individual studied. The course revolved a lot around self-discipline. This seemed a bit challenging when the total number of classes was 16 in the entire year. So, it is through self-discipline that an individual can succeed.
What are the limitations of your course?
The limitation of the course was that due to the intensive nature of the course, there wasn't any uniformity in the way an individual studied. The course revolved a lot around self-discipline. This seemed a bit challenging when the total number of classes was 16 in the entire year. So, it is through self-discipline that an individual can succeed.
Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current undergraduate student? They don’t necessarily have to be related to your studies, or even to one’s professional life.