On Cool Hobbies

Issue 11, Semester 1, 2019

YING WONG


It’s nearly clerkship season. Lunchtimes are filled with events hosted by law firm upon law firm, aimed at pitching what ‘separates their company from the pack.’ Networking evenings are aplenty, and everyone seems to be in a suit every other day. The anxiety and tension are palpable—you can almost smell it.

I recently attended a networking event at which numerous firm reps were lined up in front of their banners, dishing out ‘hot tips’ for your application. One conversation between myself and an HR rep from a top-tier firm revealed that most interviewers will have throwing-resumes-in-the-bin fatigue by the time you’ve made it for an in-person interview, so that all they’ll want to do is “have a real, down-to-earth chat” about ‘you as a person’ and ‘what you’re about’, in order to see ‘if you’re a good match for our firm’s culture.’

The rep mentioned that it’s always great to have an interesting and unique hobby or passion to speak about, because it makes you stand out and demonstrates you have a bit of personality. This struck a chord in my parched, blackened heart.

I don’t know about you, but I’d forgotten that hobbies existed outside of studying, working, breathing oxygen, not sleeping, and doing things for my resume. So I’m on the search now for something that will distinguish me from the herd.

Here are some hobbies I’ve brainstormed, which you and I could partake in between now and clerkship applications, to prove to dem large corporate entities that you are, so so much more than just a law student with a heck of a lot of ‘commerciality’.

• Metal-detecting / prospecting. This isn’t just a hobby for middle aged dads in cargo shorts. A family in Bendigo recently found a gold nugget worth $35,000 whilst out walking their dog. Imagine what you could find with a nifty Minelab E-Trac Bounty Hunter X-series metal detector. THAT COULD BE YOU. YOU COULD BE RICH. So then you would only need to be at said law firm working unsociable hours purely out of your love for mergers and acquisitions!
  
  
  
• Ultramarathon trail running. Everyone runs marathons and half-marathons these days. It’s a common hobby in the legal profession—something about enduring long periods of physical pain and mental agony really resonates with students and practitioners. I have no idea why. In any case, in order to stand out you should aim to take up running in high-altitude mountainous regions, running distances of no less than 60 km at a time. This is a fun way to demonstrate that your persistence and determination to succeed far outshines that of the peasants running a mere 42 km on flat road.
  
  
  
• Art collecting. Nobody likes a bore. If you’re politically aware and vaguely artistically inclined, but don’t have time to create your own art, why not just buy it? Forget the fact that you might not have the funds just yet—get a bank loan! I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the long run, supporting local young artists and all. It’ll be an investment for the future of Australian arts and culture. You really ought to have some nifty champagne socialist credentials to tote around at law firms, particularly those that advertise values of social justice and corporate social responsibility.
  
  
  

Alright that’s enough. Go forth and prosper. Hope to see you soon on the beach with your legionnaire hat and zip-off hiking pants/shorts, scouring the dunes. I wish you well in the wars to come. May the odds be ever in your favour.

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Ying is a Second Year JD Student and De Minimis 2019 Online Editor.