Today's post in the series I've named "A Junior Associate's Networking Plan" is Community Involvement.  See here for the start of this series.

As a junior associate in BigLaw, many partners and professional development folks have told me that the key to being a rainmaker is community involvement.  I think the idea is that you should get to know as many people in your community as possible so that they will think of you when they need legal work.  Makes perfect sense, huh?  However, I work in the corporate department of a big national law firm.  So, I think that the task is (or will eventually be) to get to know those people in the community that can bring in the sort of work that the firm will take on and from the sort of clients that can afford our billing rates.  These types of people -- CEOs, GCs, board of directors -- are not the sort of people that I generally interact with and I think that is likely the case for many junior associates. 

So, I'm starting small.  I am getting involved in small-ish activities where I already have a logical connection or interest and will work my way from there.  I think the right attitude to have is that you can meet the CEO of a big company anywhere from church, to your kids' little league team to a local clean-up the beach volunteer day.  You just need to be out there, meeting people, talking about your profession and getting your arms around just what the "community" is that you are trying to be involved in.  Also, for me, I plan to stick to involvement that interests me.  You won't likely catch me wrangling for an appointment to the board of the local opera house or organizing an anti-war rally.

So, here is where I've started. 

• My kids' private school:  I regularly volunteer to help with discreet tasks that the parent association needs help with.  I attend regular events such as the annual fundraising auction, homecoming, back to school picnic, food drive, and other fundraisers.  I volunteer on a committee of the board of trustees.   
• I attend all of the events of the local chapter of my undergraduate alumni association and volunteer to help with discreet tasks when I can.
• I chair a committee of the local women's bar association and attend their events when able.  See Part II of this series.
• I volunteer to help with the kids' little league (and other sports) teams and attend the games and events when I can.  You wouldn't believe how many lawyers and other professionals I have met on the sidelines of football games or at end-of-season pizza parties.
• I attend events hosted by various bar associations, charitable associations and industry groups (See Parts II and VII of this series).

 Here is where I am headed.

• I plan to get involved in the local chapter of the national committee of the political party to which I am affiliated.
• I plan to get involved at my church, as a volunteer and/or participant in a small group of some sort that meets regularly.
• I plan to get involved with my neighborhood association, or at least start going to the picnics.

A couple of things to be careful of.  First, volunteer and charitable organizations are always looking for help.  Baseball teams need coaches.  Nonprofits need boards of directors and/or committee members. Events need coordinators.  You must be careful to not over-extend yourself.  Do not commit to something that you can't follow through with.  You want to be out in the community getting to know people and building a great reputation for yourself.  You do not want this extracurricular activity to actually damage your reputation before you have one.   And, believe me, people will remember if you were the team coach that missed half of the kids' games or the event coordinator that failed to show up for the event.  Second, you never know which person you meet will turn out to be the person who could help your career the most.  Do not burn bridges or make assumptions about people.  Actually, if you are going to make assumptions, make flatering assumptions.  In other words assume that each mom that you meet that says she works at an accounting firm is an accountant and not a secretary and that every elderly volunteer you work at the food bank with is the owner of a company and not retired, etc.  Treat everyone that you interact with as if they are, or have access to, the decision-maker at the client that could make your career. 

Right now, I spend a few hours a week on this aspect of my Junior Associate's Networking Plan.  However, I intend to increase this to 5-8 hours per week.