As a new grad fresh out of law school and looking for a job, I don't need to tell you how tough it is to figure out where the opportunities exist that could work for you. In fact part of the trick of a good job search is to figure out the answer to that question and get creative about how to find your way there. Here are the basic concepts that can help.
Think about what you have in your background that helps you stand out.
- Find the sweet spot for your career.
- Did you have an internship in health law?
- Did you get an award?
- Did you do well in certain classes?
- Make your strong suit the basis for the jobs you will target in your search.
- If there is a lack of work in the area of your strong suit, look for another area where you have skills and the work is there.
- If you do not yet have core competencies the market wants you have to start with internships or volunteer work in the area that is closest to the sweet spot for your career path and work your way from there.
You will have to be your own recruiter. You cannot rely on recruiters or ads to help you. 70% of jobs are found by networking. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
- That means you have to do your own research and be resourceful.
- Where are the workplaces and the people doing the work you would like to be doing and you have the skills to do?
- What legal neighborhoods would be likely to welcome you?
- Research them and create a master list of people and places.
- The people on the list are people you would like to meet so you can learn more about this neighborhood.
- The places are those that could be good matches for you.
- Check the backgrounds of people working at these places. Does yours look like theirs? Use Google, LinkedIn, firm websites and people to learn.
Because there is a recession going on, you have to find the "workflow".
- You will need to talk with people to get the "on the ground" intelligence about which workplaces are busy, active, and growing.
- You can learn a lot by reading about what is hot and not on-line and in magazines.
- To find the workflow and the likely job opportunities you need to engage in a quest.
If you conceptualize your job search as a "medieval" quest it helps you to do a better job.
- Done the right way, a good job search is actually an adventure. Sort of like a video game.
When you start out on this journey it is as if you are behind a mountain and cannot see the jobs that would be good for you so you have to get into the woods and go over the mountain to get into the hidden job market and find your way to the opportunities. The opportunities are the workplaces (castles) that could work for you given your skills and core competencies.
- Realize that if you answer ads online you are sending your resume to the dragon (human resources) that sits at the castle gate and wants to keep you out.
- Try to avoid the dragon by going to the back of the castle to meet with the villagers who could introduce you to the people in the castle.
- The goal of your quest is to find out who is the keeper of the castle keys. That is the person who could hire you. You want to meet with him or her in person. The key keeper tries to stay hidden, however.
- To have a successful search you want to meet with a lot of people and talk with them in a particular way so that they will help you. It usually takes about 20 to 40 good in depth conversations with people before you hear about places that could need your help. If you hear of no places you may need to target a different group of workplaces or you may have to enhance your skills.
- To have a successful search you try never to make a cold call or send an e-mail to someone you do not know. Always network person to person and use the name of each person to go to the next person.
- The reason the quest is "medieval" is because the workplace is constantly changing and is messy and there is no way to gather information about the particular workplaces that match your need using books or the internet. You have to rely on gossip, hearsay, oral history, and rumor - relatively ancient ways of getting information.
In the beginning of your Quest you should not use the "J" word.
The "J" word is the word "Job". If you talk about jobs too early in your quest you will not get enough intelligence. People will run away from you. The conversations will be too short and uninformative. You need long rumor-filled, on-the-ground knowledge. The information you need in the beginning of your search is this kind:
- Where are busy workplaces and busy people?
- Who is in the neighborhood I am trying to penetrate who is known to be nice?
- What workplaces fit the description of the kind of place I want to work and might welcome me based on my research?
- Pretend you are an investigative reporter. You are trying to figure out where someone with your skills could fit into the market and where there is workflow.
To find the natural counselors you have to have starter conversations. A starter conversation sounds like this:
- You call the person you have heard about who could advance your search.
- You introduce yourself.
- Say your connection to the person.
- "Dan said you would be a wonderful person to call for advice and Information. Is this a good time to talk or could I find a better time? "We went to the same law school/ college. We were on that committee..."
- Say why you are calling:
- "I'm at a crossroads in my career. I'm trying to figure some things out. I am looking for advice and information and market knowledge. I'd like to brainstorm with you."
Turn the world into your career counselor, not your recruiter.
- Next, describe your background.
- "Let me tell you a little bit about my background and skills so that you are more able to advise me."
- This is your verbal resume. Say good things about yourself. Be succinct.
- Next, describe your dream and dilemma/ or goal and problem.
- Example: "I want to work as a litigator. I would be thrilled to work in a government job or in a small litigation firm."
- Add the following to any description: "I am looking for a workplace that is busy, active, growing and has a good reputation, meaning- people like to work there."
- Identify your problem: "I don't know anyone doing this kind of work and that is limiting my ability to learn more about this area of law and learn about places that might be interested in having my help."
- Next, ask your contact person to turn on his or her mental computer and help you find more people and places that fit the description you gave. "Can you think of anyone who now works in this kind of job or at the kind of places I am describing or did so in the recent past?" "Can you think of places that fit the description I just gave you?" "Here is a list of people and places I came up with in my research of this area. Are you familiar with any of these people or places? What can you tell me about these people or places?" (Invite "gossip")
- This gossip is not malicious or personal. It is on-the-ground knowledge and information about the legal neighborhood you are trying to join.
- "I heard Sam is going to be leaving there in a month and they don't know it yet. They are going to need a new associate."
The way your quest progresses is by finding the natural counselors of the world and meeting with them in person whenever possible.
- Many people are nice and will help you. Some are not.
- You can find the natural counselors by using a voice test.
- If you are talking with someone over the phone, for example.
- and s/he gets engaged in giving you ideas about who to contact
- you will hear that engagement in the voice. The voice will go UP.
- You have found a natural counselor.
- If you hear the person's voice go DOWN then that person is not a natural counselor and is not likely to help you.
- On a scale of 1 to 10 it is a 10 to try to meet in person with the natural counselors of the world.
- Just say this: "I have no idea if you would be willing to meet with me in person, but I am learning so much from you I would love to get together for breakfast, lunch or coffee and keep talking. Are you willing to do that?"
To have the most productive search you need to know the formula for landing a job. Here it is:
Jobs go to people who have:
- The right core competencies to match the needs of the workplace.
- Who come to the attention of the workplace through trusted contact.
- Where the workplace is busy and active enough to hire.
- And the music is good between the jobseeker and the people at the workplace.
In a good networking search you work to make these elements happen for you using creativity, ingenuity, resourcefulness and tenacity.
To have the most productive search you need to create trust relationships in the neighborhood you want to join.
- Trust relationships are not the most intimate or deep friendships.
- Strive to create a light friendship, a business level friendship in which you know enough about the person to be able to help him or her.
- For example: you find out this person has a mother who needs a nursing home and you know of a good one. E-mail that information to your new friend.
- Or you learn your friend enjoys a certain kind of music and you download similar music that he or she might enjoy. Or you know that your new friend does commercial litigation and you have met another person who might want to send him business.
- Part of your quest includes doing good deeds. That means you try to assist other people you are meeting. You give gifts of information, connection, promotion, listening/validation, and tangible gifts. No tangible gifts, however, if you are being considered for a job.
How does this quest activity get you a job?
- You are creating a positive buzz in the community you are trying to enter.
- You will find people who will join your team and be good sources of information and guidance.
- You will meet people who will be able to introduce you to people who are working at the places you would like to be hired if you network from contact to contact and do not give up.
- You will eventually show up on the doorstep (so to speak) of workplaces that need you or might take you on as an intern so you can gain skills.
- You are planting a lot of seeds that can bear fruit as the recession eases.
- Stay in touch with all of the people and workplaces you connect with by sending e-mails from time to time about your search progress and always thank your contacts.
Every in person meeting you have is actually an interview whether it is called that or not.
- You can also turn an in-person meeting into a job possibility.
- If you are talking with someone and learning about a workplace that fits the formula for landing a job, and based on what you are hearing you wish you could work there, say this: "I have no idea if your workplace could use someone with my background and skill set, but would it make sense to talk with whoever is in charge of hiring? Who would that be?"
- Now you are learning who is the key keeper, and you are asking to be vetted for a current or future job.
Sheila Nielsen, JD, MSW, is an experienced Career and Executive Counselor. The recession prompted her to compile her expertise about finding jobs in the legal profession in this difficult economy. She is currently writing a book on the subject to be released in February 2011, tentatively titled, Job Search the Quest, A Lawyer's Guide to Finding and Creating Jobs.