Being a massive fan of Breaking Bad, I decided that my aspiration was to be just like (or working for someone like) Saul Goodman. You better call Saul! I was so determined and pleased with my new idea that I thought it was worthy of a Facebook status.
I think it’s safe to say that my life is one big tragic sitcom and what was to follow was just another episode. After completing my Bachelor of Laws in 2012, I jumped into the GDLP. One year later I was still looking for a PLT position. I had applied for 68 – 68! – PLT positions, both paid and unpaid, and was only invited for one interview for a role that may or may not even exist. So when I got a call from a principal solicitor inviting me to an interview I was so excited.
I missed the call and the principal solicitor left a voicemail, saying he’d found my resume on a law jobs database and would like to invite me for an interview. Wait what? He found my resume? I’m being invited to interview for a job I didn’t apply for? Mind blown. I returned his call and noted the address of his office.
The following day I drove down and found myself standing in front of a ‘gentlemen’s club’. This can’t be right. Why am I at a brothel? Standing outside near the bouncers, I rang him and said that I was a little confused and couldn’t find his address. He directed me to a ‘side door’. I went up the elevator and felt a little less nervous. Excellent, my interview is not going to be held in a room full of naked women. I finally found his ‘office’ and it looked like a shoebox. There were documents all over the place, two small desks and two chairs, one computer and not a lot of room to move around in. He seemed nice and made me feel welcome. He asked me to sit down and I answered a couple of seemingly normal and expected interview type questions like “What are your aspirations?”, “Why do you want to work in the criminal law field?”, “Where do you see yourself in 2 years’ time?”. Then came the cracker. He paused, and asked “Do you have any problems with doing un-Christian things for our clients. Because they have a lot of money and we would like to service them in every way possible”. Ummmm…
I was too scared to ask what he meant by ‘un-Christian things’ because I was in a shoebox-office above a brothel. I giggled nervously and he just stared at me. I replied saying “I’m not too sure about that question, can I think about it?” I tried to steer away from the question by trying to distract him with questions about himself, because you know, lawyers love talking about themselves. After some further discussion, I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to interview and power-walked down the corridor and into the lift. There was a thunderstorm outside and I had no umbrella. So there I was, completely scared and confused, standing outside a brothel, waiting for the rain to stop.
I got home and Googled this man. Unsurprisingly, he had a less-than-savoury record.
Beggars can’t be choosers and I am desperate for a legal job in this overly-saturated market. I am desperate for someone to give me a chance to prove myself, even just to get my foot in the door so I can make my way. But I am not that desperate for a job that will potentially expose me to unethical practices and other ‘extras’.
I don’t want to be like Saul Goodman. It’s only amusing watching someone like him on television.
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