gillian mcbride & david allen
Ask any first-year student why they have come to university these days and you will hear dreams of a powerful job, lots of money and a shiny new Mercedes.
Academic pursuit remains a passing interest but the real draw of just about every undergraduate is the fantasy of a starting salary with more zeros than you know what to do with. But does it ever really happen? Former DUSA president David Cunningham (BSc psychology 1999) interviews two new graduates who not only landed the high earning, high profile job, but once they got it they were invited to take a year out enjoying themselves before starting work!
Gillian McBride and David Allen graduated with honours in law in 1999 before heading to Newcastle and Nottingham respectively to study for their LPC exams. Both hail from Holywood in Northern Ireland where they studied at Sullivan Upper. On arriving in Dundee they lived in Airlie Halls and now they work for one of London's most prestigious law firms - Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP where they earn the kind of salary most of us can only dream about!
Despite never planning to shadow each other, the parallels in their careers have continued. Neither knew the other was applying to Weil for their highly sought after graduate training programme, nor did they ever expect to be working together in a team of just nine trainees when over one thousand budding high flyers had applied.
When Gillian and David applied for Weil the training programme was full for that year, but so impressed were the firm that both were offered places the following year. This delay resulted in the opportunity for a year out, made all the sweeter by Weil who refunded to both Gillian and David a significant portion of their LPC fees and also a contribution to their living expenses.
A year to play with, a bit of money in their pockets and a guaranteed job at the end of it - what did the year have in store? David headed back to Northern Ireland where he worked as a labourer before taking in trips to Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Tenerife and London. Gillian, who also returned to Northern Ireland, worked as a waitress before choosing to spend some time travelling along the East Coast of Australia with old university friends as well as returning to London from time to time.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, when we came round to the topic of why they thought two Dundee graduates had succeeded in such a demanding and competitive interview process, both Gillian and Dave were in agreement. The mix of studying for a four-year degree allowed them to 'mature fully' before applying for other courses and jobs and the opportunity to study English law in Dundee plus the benefit of an extra year to study areas of personal interest allowed them to be certain about their choice of career. The 20,000 word dissertation in Dundee, as compared to just 5,000 in many other institutions was also a huge benefit in securing their jobs - even if at the time they were less than enamoured with the task.
Now however, the work has started and the hours, we are assured, are very, very long. The office does enjoy a relaxed atmosphere with a dress-down policy whenever the lawyers are not with clients and with a working trip to Barcelona due in the next few weeks it seems the travelling may not have to stop just because the work has begun.
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