The Job Market Is Tough, But What Are You Doing to Distinguish Yourself from the Competition?

Media has made us painfully aware that the legal job market is bleak.  It is flooded with employable lawyers who have five to twenty-five years of experience; thus, employers can be selective.  Where does that leave those of us with little to no legal experience?

If you are applying to every possible job on Monster, CareerBuilder, and Craig's List - STOP.  Most likely you are wasting your time.  Given the market and available pool of lawyers, you are not going to get a job this way.  Ask yourself this - what are you doing to distinguish yourself from the competition?

I recently had dinner with a 3L who is being proactive in identifying her strengths and creating a plan to distinguish herself from other soon-to-be attorneys.  She is creating her brand and marketing that brand to lawyers who can help her find a job. You can do the same.

I recommend you start with identifying the type of law you would like to practice and why.  Then make a list of your strengths and skills, beyond your ability to practice law, which make you valuable in that area.  For example, the 3L I met with has a prior career in the construction industry and wants to practice construction law.  She provides value beyond the legal practice because, having been on the client side, she knows what is important to contractors and how to speak their language.  This is valuable to an employer.

By knowing your “brand,” you can create a strategic plan to market your expertise to potential employers. For example, write an article for a trade magazine, start a blog specific to your area of interest, join trade organizations, and set up meetings with “go to” lawyers that practice in that area.  There are a number of ways to market yourself, but first you must know what you are marketing.  The what is your brand.

If you distinguish yourself from the competition by creating your brand and effectively marketing that brand, you will give employers a valuable reason to hire you.

Your Moments of Feeling Defeated Can Help You Achieve Success.

Whether you're preparing to take the July Bar, recently licensed and looking for employment, or trying to prove yourself as a new attorney, odds are you have had multiple moments of feeling defeated.  I know I have. 

I recently read a great article by Sue Shellenbarger called College Rejects Who Made It Big.  Ms. Shellenbarger's article identifies successful leaders who were rejected by their first-choice college or graduate school, and how that rejection helped them achieve success.  The article sends an important message - rejections, or moments of feeling defeated, can be the door to the next opportunity or the breakdown needed for a breakthrough.  In the article Warren Buffet remembers his rejection by Harvard Business School as a pivotal episode in his life.  He notes "The truth is, everything that has happened in my life . . . that I thought was a crushing event at the time has turned out for the better."  With the exception of health problems, Mr.Buffet notes setbacks teach "lessons that carry you along. You learn that a temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end, it can be an opportunity."

Use your setbacks to create a new opportunities.  Here are my tips on how you can do that:

1. Identify your setback. What's the real issue? For example, do you feel defeated because you didn't get the interview or because you feel undervalued? Be clear on what is causing you to feel defeated.
2. Determine whether you could have done something different. For example, did you not get the job because you lacked the experience or grades, or because you failed to properly prepare? Sometimes you can step up your game and sometimes it is just the way the cards fall.  Be sure you know which applies to your setback.
3. Identify what you can learn from the setback.  If you think you could have done something different, then do that next time. Otherwise, evaluate the situation and the lesson what you can learn to help you in the future.
4. Use the experience to create a new opportunity.  Don’t allow your feeling of defeat to deter your plan.  Instead take what you learned and put it into action. The challenge is not that we have setbacks; it is what we do with those setbacks.

Whatever you do, do not let rejection, setbacks, or moments of defeat keep you from reaching your goals.  Just remember, you are in good company – Warren Buffet, Meredith Vieira, Tom Brokaw, Ted Turner, and Scott McNealy all have had their moments of feeling defeated and look where that got them. 

Seven Questions to Help Plan for a Successful Career

How do you define success?  Merriam-Webster defines success as a favorable or desired outcome.  What is your favorable or desired outcome?  Law students are often led to believe “success” means going to a well-known school, making high-grades, serving on law review, and getting hired by a well-known firm.  Lawyers are often led to believe that “success” means working at a reputable firm, making partner or shareholder within seven years, and joining the firm's equity ranks soon thereafter.  But can’t success be different for each law student or lawyer?

Robert J. Witte, a partner at Strasburger & Price's Dallas office and leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth community, cautions against allowing others to define your "success."  He believes a narrow and generic view of what makes a lawyer successful is unhealthy for the legal profession – it can lead to destructive outlets for dealing with stress like substance abuse and sadly, in some instances, suicide. Mr. Witte notes that those entering law practice and currently in practice should embrace that success may be different for each person.  He also believes a lawyer may determine whether they feel successful by answering one question - “are you happy?”

As Mr. Witte advocates, success can mean different things for different people.  To assist in identifying my formula for success, I asked myself the following seven questions:

1. What makes me happy?
2. What is my desired outcome?
3. What drives me?
4. What are my core values?
5. Do I have a purpose, and if so, what is it?
6. How am I fulfilling my purpose?
7. Where do I envision myself in 3, 5, and 10 years?

Identifying your success formula helps clarify your career path.  In turn, you set more focused goals because you know where you want to go, and more importantly, you know why.  I encourage you to follow Mr. Witte’s advice and define what success means for you, it can only help you create a more focused and fulfilling life.