Natalie Ho

6.30 AM

Whether it’s a Monday or a Friday, I pretty much start every morning with a homemade long black with almond milk after a 6.30am wakeup. I would love to say that I do a HIIT class before heading into the office everyday but unfortunately, my streak of trying to make a morning gym session has ended pretty quickly since starting as a graduate.

9.00 AM

I generally check my emails while I’m on the train and come into the office around this time. I am completing my third rotation on the graduate program and am currently in the Banking and Finance (B&F) team. I’ve really enjoyed my time working on a variety of matters and working with people, who have a genuine interest in mentoring me (so much so that I am now doing a second rotation in the team).

What I get up to each day varies and is dependent on what is going on with the matters that I am involved in. Today, I will be reviewing a draft facility agreement and assist with preparing comments. On this matter, we’re acting for two Australian banks and this morning, we have a long telephone call with our clients to discuss outstanding issues.

10.30 AM

Every second Wednesday we have a B&F team meeting, which is led by our team leader and often involves a discussion on what sort of matters are in the working pipeline. I’ve really enjoyed learning about the kinds of clients we act for and the matters, which each of the B&F subteams are working on. I feel quite lucky that the graduates are encouraged to attend meetings like these as I really do feel included and valued as a junior member of the team (plus breakfast is provided).

11.30 AM

At this time of the day, I always start to feel my 6.30am caffeine consumption wear off so I grab a second long black at our internal café on Level 4. If I’m feeling peckish (or am just randomly eyeing a banana bread and then start craving it), I might grab food as well. The firm does subsidise part of the cost of the café’s food and coffee and the menu offers a variety of breakfast and lunch options including poke bowls, chicken schnitzel with chippies and avocado on toast. The café staff are really friendly and somehow manage to remember the names and coffee orders of all the regulars.

1.00 PM

I am generally, pretty good with bringing lunch most days so depending on how busy I am, I will eat at my desk and then go for a walk in the Domain or I will head out with other colleagues to accompany their trip to the food court in MLC or Chifley Square. No matter how busy I am, I try really hard to fit in a walk of some sort whether it’s at lunch or later in the afternoon. Sometimes if I catch up with the grads in other teams to hear about what they’re up to or just want some fresh air, I’ll sit on our terrace area.

2.00 PM

After lunch, I either continue with what I was doing in the morning or work on something that needs to be done later in the week. Tomorrow, I will be in and out of the office as I will be assisting a Partner and a Special Counsel with a client presentation so I work on finalising my section. The day after tomorrow, I will be assisting with a signing (which can involve attending the client’s offices with a large bundle of documents). For this, I tab up all documents to be signed, prepare a closing checklist and continue finalising other outstanding matters in preparation for closing.

7.00 PM

What time I finish up in the office changes day to day (which, I admit can sometimes make it hard to solidify plans). If I don’t need to stay back late, I will go home and have dinner, try and make the gym or turn up to social plans. If I need to stay back, I will have dinner in the office and order a salad from Fishbowl or a sweet chilli chicken burger with extra carrot and beetroot from Grill’d (I know, sounds super random but actually tastes really good). Despite not knowing what time I finish on certain days, I do always know that a Friday afternoon will most likely involve the B&F team splurging on a drinks trolley or after work drinks.

11.00 PM

Getting those 8-hours of sleep has probably been a bit of a challenge since I’ve started working fulltime but knowing that I can turn up to work the next day to do something that actually challenges me, be mentored by seniors who genuinely want to help me and just generally be around really nice people has meant that I can often sleep a little easier at night.