A hook for getting someone to respond
Keys to networking smart
This post is a variation of many previous posts because people seem to keep asking LegalJob a similar question:
When networking, how do I get someone interested in talking with me and helping me? Some items to think about: (i) establish touch points; (ii) make clear you are not looking for a job from that person; (iii) be specific about the advice you are requesting; (iv) have a tangible goal; and (v) be sensitive to person’s time, schedule, and ego.
Picking a specialty
Dominate your niche.
LegalJob is constantly asked how one goes about picking a legal specialty. There are at least four items to consider. It will be helpful if your specialty area: (i) is one in which you have more than a passing interest; (ii) matches your experience, education, or particular skill set (i.e., photographic memory is helpful in litigation and many other areas), or some combination of all three; (iii) is considered a growth area (both now and in the foreseeable future); and (iv) provides multiple possibilities for obtaining a job outside traditional routes.
An example of a specialty area that meets these criteria is tax law. The opportunities in tax law are strong — most practitioners are older and on the way to retirement and the tax law changes all the time and these new laws add to its complexity. So, it is a short and long term growth area. This high demand means that smart candidates with relevant experience or education (i.e., some demonstration they will be successful in the area) will have an opportunity to make their case (through effective networking and other tools discussed on this blog) outside the traditional process of waiting for a job posting and submitting a resume. More detail on each of these considerations is provided below.
- More than a passing interest in the particular area
Moving on up: reaching the next rung on the law firm ladder
Best practices (for being of service)
Here is a link from the site JDSupra to a very useful article providing thirteen suggestions that can help you thrive in private practice. This article is a part two of an earlier article by the same author entitled “What They Didn’t Teach You in Law School, ” referenced on this site in an earlier post. The author is Andrea Lee Negroni who is of counsel at the financial services firm BuckleySandler LLP. Andrea has lots of wisdom to share as she has been successful at small, medium, and large firms and even started her own firm.
Image courtesy of ddpavumba.
Distinguishing yourself at every turn
Separate yourself from the crowd.
LegalJob recently attended an event with prospective law students for a particular top twenty law school. The dean spoke and highlighted some of the items that made this law school different (and more attractive) from other top twenty-law schools. During his remarks, it occurred to LegalJob that selecting a law school that prides itself on how it is different from others is important because nowadays success in law is determined in large part by how you distinguish yourself — as a law student, as a law firm associate candidate, and as a law firm associate (or other employee).
Armed with this information, know that it will generally be helpful for you if you can distinguish yourself at every turn. Below are some ways to distinguish yourself with your law school choice and law school activities:
- Law school choice.
Direction for a 1L — part two
Process for making an informed decision.
Here is more advice for the 1L (or anyone) looking for some direction regarding a particular area of law to pursue.
This post covers a potpourri including: i) effective networking etiquette; (ii) resume pointers (and helpful summer jobs or other work experience); and (iii) when to make a decision about which path to pursue.
- Effective Networking Etiquette.
Direction for a 1L — part one
Network smart to get direction.
LegalJob recently met with a 1L looking for some direction regarding a particular area of law to pursue. All he knew was that he is interested in working at a big firm. The advice provided could be applicable to other 1Ls or even any law student. How do you pick an area when you have no idea what a real lawyer in that practice area does all day? Even if you did, how could you determine whether you would be good at that practice? Or whether the area would interest you? Also, how do you know that big firm life is for you?
- Targeted networking (with a specific purpose) — Meet with as many firm lawyers as you can with touch points to learn their story and get advice
- Use the many information resources available at the career services office of the law school
- Have the folks there print you lists of people with which you have three or four touch points in common
Should I go to law school
How will you distinguish yourself?
For this week’s mailbag, LegalJob attempts to provide some insight to help address the common question of “should I go to law school given the uncertain job market and the huge cost?” There are plenty of sites that provide good advice about pros and cons to consider. Here is one.
With the benefit of hindsight and observation of the most successful law school graduates, LegalJob provides the following question for potential law school students to consider: Can you distinguish yourself sufficiently from other law graduates based on your education and/or previous experience or based on the legal niche you plan to pursue? In other words, are you minimizing your risk (at least somewhat) that you will be unemployed after graduation with lots of debt? Here are some examples of potential game plans:
- Undergraduate degree in accounting and planning to focus on tax or corporate law;
- Undergraduate degree in engineering and planning to focus on intellectual property law;
- Undergraduate degree in journalism and planning to focus on first amendment/media law;
- Experience in commercial real estate and planning to focus on property/real estate law;
- Experience as an auto claims adjuster and planning to focus on insurance law; and
- Experience working 0n political campaigns or working for politicians and planning to focus on election law;
- No prior experience in environmental law but pursue an opportunity to be a research assistant to an environmental law professor or pursue an opportunity (even if unpaid) to work at a government agency that would expose you to the area; and
- You have a distinguishing characteristic in that you speak a different language, come from a different country, or have some other talent and you pursue opportunities during law school that enable you to leverage this trait.
An example of effective networking
Formulate a plan and execute.
LegalJob met with a job candidate recently who demonstrated effective networking. She was not pursuing a legal job (for now), but her approach should be helpful to all job seekers. Details are provided below.
Facts: She was interested in working at a non-profit which did not have any openings posted. She talked to various people to determine the objectives of the organization, how she could be help the entity meet those objectives, and who she should contact to pursue this interest. She was given a couple of names of people to contact, including people on the board of this organization. She found out about a reception the non-profit was hosting and she crashed the party. She made use of every minute at the party by skipping the food and drinks at cocktail hour and walking straight up to board members and other influential people at the company and making her case for why (and how) she would be effective at the company. She obtained several business cards, including those of decision makers at the company. She followed up the next day by express regular mail with her materials and her short but effective cover letter making her case. She was asked to interview with the company within one week. At the time of this posting it is known whether she had her interview.
- Take away points
Advice for job seekers — part three
Show enthusiasm and close strong.
This is the last post in the series providing advice for big firm job seekers.
Quiet confidence
Demonstrate confidence but not arrogance.
The following was posted in response to a question submitted for Mailbag Monday.
Q: I thought I had a great interview with a firm and had the experience the firm was looking for and my grades were strong (although I did not go through the Fall interviewing program). I did not get much feedback with my rejection (other than a one liner response from the HR person suggesting that I may have been overconfident) so I was wondering if LegalJob had any thoughts since LegalJob knows me and is familiar my credentials.
LegalJob: A couple of thoughts. Read More…
