Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm looking for some tips in preparation for clerkship applications. I've still got another year or so before I need to start applying (my penultimate year is 2011) but I figure it's never too early to start thinking about improving my chances.
Basically, I'm a bit concerned about my experience and extracurriculars. I've done mooting internally for 3 yrs (winning once and runner-up twice) and did pretty well in a national comp this year. I've also done a little work for the law society (hoping to do more next year) and am hoping to do mentoring and help run first-year seminars next year. But that's pretty much it in terms of extracurriculars, apart from stuff like playing tennis and running etc. (ie no sporting teams), and activities I did in high school.
In terms of work experience, I worked in a standard retail job for 5 yrs until 2008, then volunteered at a community legal centre last semester. Again, that's the extent of my experience.
The main thing I've got going for me are my grades: my law GPA is 6.8 (we don't do WAM in Qld but it would have to be around 85) and I've won a few first-place awards, my econ GPA is 7, and I'm at UQ which probably has the best reputation of the Brisbane unis in those fields. But I'm really concerned that it's not enough, particularly at the interview stage.
So what would you guys recommend that I work on more this coming year? I'm trying to do some volunteering over the holidays, and as I said, I'm planning to do some student mentoring and judging of moot comps. I thought I might start trying to learn another language over the holidays too.
Primarily, I'd really like to get some more legal experience but it seems very difficult - few of the firms list paralegal jobs on their websites and I can't find anything suitable online. I guess I should just try "cold-emailing" the recruiting contacts at the major firms and hope something comes up? Failing that, I'm thinking of applying for a research assistant position at the uni but I'm not sure how many students (if any) that they take.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
