QLS Careers Fair Throwback - 5 Great Things people did to stand out
What a hugely rewarding day the Queensland Law Society annual student careers fair ended up being!
The LawLancer team were out in first from the crack of dawn getting the booth ready and it was all hands on deck from midday when the first of the students came streaming through!
We had a couple of hundred new students sign up to join LawLancer when it launches and were blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response.
But enough tooting our own horn, we wanted to write about five of the things that stood out to us that the students we met did well. There are a lot of other similar events coming up this year and it is important that you do your best to nail them.
Takeaway 1 - Be yourself
Being able to tell your own story is really important and we met some amazing people with stories to tell. You may be young, or you may be the 64 year old we met doing Law as a mature age student, but whoever you are, your story is important. We met some fabulous people from all over Australia and around the world who had come to Brisbane and made it their home. No matter your story though, you need to be able to tell it as it is valuable to your future employer. If you can't, it shows a lack of confidence and conviction, two traits that are valuable to law firms.
Takeaway 2 - Dress to impress
We are all about form over substance, don't get us wrong, but we were also really impressed with how everyone presented. Rocking up in a suit on a Monday afternoon is not normally done, but no one has ever failed to impress in a well-fitted suit. It's important when you have such limited chances to put your best foot forward and present well.
Takeaway 3 - Ask great questions
Although a lot of people were at the fair to find a graduate job (and that's not what we do!), we were super impressed by some of the thoughtful questions we had. It's really important even when you are starting out to frame questions for the person you are speaking to. It's also important not to make something up or come across as trying too hard. People ultimately connect to people they like, so think about how you approach them and what questions to ask.
Takeaway 4 - Speak to everyone you can
This is really important at a careers fair because you never quite know who you will run into. It is a lot easier to get ahead in your career by making lots of connections and nurturing them. On our stall alone there were partners, there were senior industry leaders, there were lawyers, there were students, there were marketing professionals and even a random podcaster! For those that had the confidence to chat to a few people, they would have been able to draw on that variety of experience. This goes for most of the stalls as well.
Does anything make a law student more stressed than thinking about landing a graduate job? With more people than ever graduating from law school, the competition has never been so fierce. But fear not! We have put together 17 tips to help you land your graduate gig!