Graduate development/Articles of Clerkship program
Our Graduate Development/Articled Clerkship program - putting your career on the right path
We recruit for our Graduate Development/Articled Clerkship Program through Summer and Winter Clerkships nationally as well as through the Graduate recruitment program. For more details on which Clerkships are offered in each office please see the recruitment process page.
Program objectives
Our Graduate Development/Articled Clerkship program will provide you with a unique opportunity to develop your career - exposure to three specialist practice groups over 18 months.
The primary focus of the Program is on acquiring the skills, knowledge and confidence to become a great lawyer who will quickly contribute to the success of our clients and the Firm.
Our program has been designed to give you the opportunity to:
- Try different areas of law before choosing a path of specialisation;
- Give you real exposure to matters and the issues behind them;
- Learn skills from different lawyers and practice groups and build your skills throughout the program;
- Develop and learn with manageable billing targets;
- Build networks and contacts throughout the Firm; and
- Develop a broad understanding of Firm capabilities and operations.
Mentoring and career planning
You'll have a mentor to support you for the entire program and specialist supervisors for each rotation. You'll be involved in challenging and varied assignments and be given regular feedback, completing a formal performance review and development plan at the end of each rotation.
The trust we place in our graduate lawyers will ensure that you won't get stuck doing repetitive tasks. Practical involvement means that you can make an informed decision about a path of specialisation.
Learning and development
Your practical on-the-job training is also supported by formal workshops. You'll spend your second week in orientation sessions at our Sydney office. Graduate "O Week" includes sessions on a range of topics such as relationship building, dictation and time recording. There's also lots of time to get to know your graduate colleagues and build a strong network before you start your first rotation.
Of course, that's only the start.
Throughout the program and your career at Sparkes, you'll have regular opportunities to participate in formal learning and knowledge sharing forums. Our ongoing CLE curriculum includes:
- Core modules compulsory for graduate and junior lawyers (up to two years post admission experience);
- Legal technical modules on specific legal topics relevant to a variety of practice groups and levels
- Client seminars including presentations from clients
- Practice group and industry focussed seminars; and
- General business or commercial seminars of interest, including issues such as tendering, budget implications for business and current business topics such as triple bottom line reporting.
In additional to technical training, throughout your career you will have access to "soft skills" training to assist with progression.
A snapshot of the learning and development curriculum that supports the management and leadership competency can be seen here. |
