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-   -   Getting work in admin/office experience connected to legal services (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/getting-work-admin-office-experience-connected-legal-services-755261/)

Felixfinch Apr 17th 2012 10:55 pm

Getting work in admin/office experience connected to legal services
 
Hi all,

I have read a few related threads on here and had a search but can't find anything tackling my exact issue.

Basically I finished a total of 6 years study last August. I'm now sitting on a BA in politics and an MA in law. I don't have years of career experience other than the work and voluntary positions I had whilst studying (worked for legal publisher, briefly for a law firm, citizens advice bureau, hospitality jobs etc).

I've come to Canada because I wanted to live and work in a different country.

While I am here I would like to gain work experience that will be relevant to my future, rather than just working as a waiter for example.

I am not currently thinking about doing the NCA exams to qualify as a lawyer in Canada, although if it looked like I had a chance of getting PR and I love it here, I might do it in the future.


What I would like to do is to get some experience connected to legal services, e.g. in administration, clerk, legal assistant etc.
Thus far I have been working on improving my resume and cover letter and looking around at what is available online. I have submitted quite a few resumes to job postings online (craigslist/kijiji/bcjobs). I haven't heard anything from anyone yet but I know that it is competitive and can take time.

My other ideas are to
  • head to a couple of recruitment agencies in person and see what they say
  • visit UBC careers service for advice (have been told they will talk to me even tho I'm not a ubc student)
  • Ring up the legal services society and other organisations for volunteer opportunities
  • I have a meeting arranged with someone from Stikeman Elliot to discuss options (she is director, associate and student programs)

If anyone can offer any advice/comment on my ideas or other suggestions that would be much appreciated!

Oh and I'm in Vancouver!

thanks for reading
Felix

lastly - I haven't yet pinned down the exact areas I would ultimately like to work in. Broadly speaking I'm interested in technology/IT and media, administrative/public law, government, civil liberties.

conjonway Apr 18th 2012 1:49 pm

Re: Getting work in admin/office experience connected to legal services
 

Originally Posted by Felixfinch (Post 10011221)
.
Thus far I have been working on improving my resume and cover letter and looking around at what is available online. I have submitted quite a few resumes to job postings online (craigslist/kijiji/bcjobs).

As far as applying for jobs is concerned, my girlfriend was getting next to zero responses when applying for jobs online through those same resources you are referring to.

All her callbacks for interviews were from jobs that she had found either by physically walking into the offices/stores or through ads in the paper (that the company had paid to advertise in).

I've been told, and not sure if it was on here or not, that because employers 'have to' advertise the jobs, even if they have someone earmarked for it internally then they tend to post on job sites that don't cost them anything. So a lot of what you see on those 'free' jobsites, or even the Job Bank, are positions that have already been earmarked for someone internally, and therefore they don't bother responding to any applications. However, if they've taken the time and money to actually advertise in newspapers then they're more likely to be looking for an external applicant.

Hope that makes sense! Good luck!

Siouxie Apr 19th 2012 3:32 am

Re: Getting work in admin/office experience connected to legal services
 
I understand your frustration at applying for jobs and not receiving any response, it's one of my bugbears too. I have been seeking an Admin position (and now anything legal, lol) for the past 5 months to no avail.

Anyway, I would suggest looking on Workopolis / http://jobs.localwork.ca/jobs/result...ws=10&radius=5 / BCjobs.ca

I am sure other people can throw in a few ideas for you too.

:)


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