Grad expectations vs reality

Picture this: you achieve your clerkship dreams, nab a spot at Allens and experience the glory of Australia's top internship program. But what happens next? Sam and Cat speak with current graduates Fahid Ifthekhar and Ruby Evans to explore what it's really like to be a grad at Allens. Fahid and Ruby share their experiences of work hours, flexibility, legal training, dress code, choosing rotations and managing imposter syndrome.

Some of the questions we discussed

What happens between completing a clerkship and starting as a graduate?
What hours do grads work?
How did you choose your graduate rotations?
What's been your experience of Allens' non-siloed approach?
How have you contributed to Allens' committees?
What's the dress code?

This episode is part of our 2024 series.

Listen to the episode

Sam joined Allens as a clerk in 2020/21 and is now (surprisingly to some) a 'qualified' lawyer rotating through the Banking & Finance team. Sam enjoys acoustic jams to 90s/2000s RnB and watching Survivor (US and AU) to wind down. If he's not watching Survivor, he's probably listening to podcasts dissecting the latest Survivor episode or chewing someone's ear off about it (…so beware).

Cat describes herself as being a victim of the height of 2012 Tumblr emo aesthetic epidemic. Having bravely freed herself from the clutches of the flannel shirt (mostly), she switched out her Vans for pumps having joined Allens as a clerk in 2020/21. Cat is now, against all odds, happily rotating through the Banking & Finance team, despite mentioning that it was her last preference during her clerkship interview. As you can tell, she has a bit of a reputation for saying the quiet part out loud, mostly because she says everything really loudly.

Allens Confidential podcast