23 Oct Tiff’s Top Tips for Young Lawyers
Transitioning from ‘Uni Life’ to ‘Professional Life’
After a few months on hiatus, I’m back with a few tips to help budding lawyers continue to blossom on their career journeys!
This month, my colleague James Cockerill and I had the pleasure of presenting at a virtual event hosted by the Macquarie University Law Society, where we shared a few insights about our own experiences, and what we have learnt from working with some amazing lawyers, on effectively transitioning from university life to full time work.
We spoke about the physical challenges of starting out (full time work takes time to get used to) and the temptation to be discouraged when you don’t land your dream job straight away (spoiler alert: very few people do, so don’t give up!). We explained the significance of making a good first impression on your new employers and colleagues and how to do this in a few fool proof ways – don’t be sloppy with your presentation or your work, and focus on building clear lines of communication with those you work with. Before emphasising the importance of prioritising mental health and exploring how to overcome feeling overwhelmed, particularly in the context of working from home.
A few other takeaways that seemed to resonate with some students included:
- Remembering that each person’s career journey will look different – so don’t get caught up in comparison or measure your success against that of others;
- Going with your gut and pursuing what you are passionate about when figuring out which practice area you want to work in; and
- The value of finding and building a relationship with a professional mentor – more to come on this in the next Monty Monthly!
