Legally Blonde

They always say in an industry such as ours, it’s who you know not what you know. I learnt firsthand the benefit of having and maintaining professional relationships with people you might least expect to give you the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

I interviewed for a three month, part-time position at Jackson McDonald law firm (Jacmac) in late April and was ecstatic when I received confirmation of my successful application. I began my placement on May 17th.

On a Monday of every week I collate all events or marketing material relevant to Jacmac including publications, awards and invitations and produce a Marketing Update that gets sent to ALL STAFF. It should be noted...I had to do this on my very first day! I was terrified of making a mistake in grammar, spelling or sentence structure I think I must have edited and reread that document at least 1000 times before I plucked up the courage to press send. Within a click of a button 200+ people had my document on their screens including top tiered partners of the firm and not to mention the CEO, John McLean.

I have a weekly work in progress meeting with the business development team and a fortnightly meeting with the Business Development Senior Manager on a personal one to one basis to discuss my role and career aspirations. It’s amazing to have a company that fully supports your career objectives and offers incentives such as additional training to further your learning and discipline. It was surreal to me the first time I had to attend one these meetings, sitting in a big glass office on the 25th floor with a view of the Swan River. I honestly thought I would have no contribution to the discussion and merely take notes on the topics of importance. I ended up surprising myself and contributing largely to the discussion which showed my co-workers and superiors the attention I was paying to all tasks and activities surrounding our department and not only the ones designated to me.

Jackson McDonald was recently titled ALB Law Firm of the Year 2011 in Perth and has continued to meet and exceeds its clients and industry related professionals. This was the fourth time Jacmac received the award within five years. I have worked over five weeks full time in the corporate environment and have certainly learned a lot about myself. I think I’ve taken for granted the relaxed lifestyle university offers. Waking up at 6am every morning was certainly a challenge and I looked forward to the weekend more than ever!

The judge has ruled and the verdict is positive...I love my placement.

Catie Elliott
14285888

Bentley Campus