Griffith University students were granted a unique opportunity to gain work-based experience in Company Law, thanks to a competition run by SV Partners.
The national insolvency practice has a history of hiring Griffith graduates and was keen to seek out the best and the brightest of the new cohort. Matthew Hudson, Manager at SV Partners, devised a contest that would see students stretch their problem solving skills for a shot at a paid work experience position.
The competition took the form of a legal hypothetical question devised by Matthew, for students in the Company Law course to complete as their weekly workshop exercise. The answers were judged by course convenor Craig Cameron, who then sent the top five responses on to Matthew to select a winner who would get paid work experience at the practice. And the standard was so high, they couldn’t choose just one.
The winner of the SV Partners Liquidation competition was Bachelor of Commerce student Ally Crossing, with a second offer of paid work experience handed out to runner up Laura Bowen.
Ally was thrilled with her win and said the prize experience would be extremely beneficial. “The competition has provided me with a remarkable opportunity to gain workplace experience and demonstrate the skills my degree has equipped me to a leading firm,” she said. “I have been privileged to secure ongoing work experience (and possible employment) with SV Partners because of this opportunity.”
Laura says the contest has expanded her career awareness in the field of accounting. “The competition was great because it gave me the opportunity to showcase my skills before graduation to a potential employer,” she explained.
“The competition also introduced me to an industry that I knew little about, and opened the doors to a career pathway I otherwise may not have considered.”
Employer Matthew says the competition is an effective potential recruitment tool, and has enabled students to apply their technical knowledge from their classes to a “real-world” problem.
“It can be quite challenging to find the right people for the type of work the team does,” he explained of SV Partners’ recruiting process. “SV’s values of respect, service and teamwork form an important part of our hiring policies and criteria.
“Beginning with the competition and giving students the opportunity to work in my team, before possibly offering full-time employment, is central to identifying people who can meet these values.
“It also allows me to see students applying what they have learnt at a university to a real-life problem that my team and I face on a day-to-day basis.”