4 Wardrobe Malfunctions Your Interviewer Won’t Tell You About (Women’s Edition!)

Since most of my clients are applying to work in conservative, professional environments like law firms, investment banks, and corporations, I advise them to wear conservative, professional dress when going on an interview. That means a dark colored suit (either with pants or a skit), a white or otherwise light-colored dress shirt, and quiet, closed-toe shoes. Even within those constraints, there’s plenty of room for error for the unwary or inexperienced job seeker.

Pay attention to the details in your wardrobe. Such attention has several benefits. For one, going through your wardrobe can help put you in the proper mindset for the interview. But attention to detail is more than just an exercise in mental preparation. Interviewers will notice (and appreciate) your attention to detail, which demonstrates that you understand corporate culture and respect both the employer and the interviewer. Even more important is that in many work places, attention to detail is a job qualification. Being well dressed is a way for you to embody this job qualification.

Advice for Landing Your First Legal Job

We all know how difficult it is to find a job today and no one has been hit harder in this economy than recent graduates.  However, while landing your first legal job may require hard work, it is not impossible.  Here is some advice for making it a little easier.

Make sure you have what employers want

While you are still in law school, make sure you obtain the skills and experience employers are looking for.  One of the best ways of finding out what kinds of skills and experience employers want is by reviewing postings for entry level legal jobs. These job postings will give you an idea of where the demand is in the legal market.  Once you know where the demand is, you should make sure that you take classes and obtain internships that will give you experience and teach you the skills necessary to land those jobs.

Big Time Small Town: Step 1 - Crafting a Definition of Success

How does a person measure their success, both as an attorney and as an individual, with all the social and media pressure defining what makes a successful lawyer?  For many law students, their non-lawyer identity begins to slip away over the course of law school.  During law school, many students devote nearly all of their waking hours to studying and doing as well academically as possible.  Even extracurricular activities are often legal in nature.   Add to the mix a position that involves billing over 2000 hours a year, and one risks losing their identity outside of the courtroom or conference room.   Because attorneys are notorious for suffering from depression and substance abuse at rates several times higher than the general public, it’s worth making sure that your career preserves your sense of self and happiness, while ensuring you are successful on your own terms.

 Personally, I enrolled in law school because I wanted the tools to meaningfully help people.  Prior to practicing law I worked in two helping professions and while I enjoyed my work, I was acutely aware of the limits of my position and the advantages a law degree could provide.  What I knew was that an attorney can really help those who want to be helped, and that a law degree was how I could gain access to the tools that can make a difference in a person’s life.

Passion that Pays: Stop, SWOT, and Do the Math.

A little bit ago, I had lunch with Miles Dickson, a 2011 Boyd alum and speaker at the alternative careers panel I mentioned in my last posts. I have to give him credit for the “Passion that Pays” tagline—totally his phrase, so I must give credit where credit is due.

Though not a practicing attorney, Miles has leveraged his passion for community development into a career as the Vice President and COO of Moonridge Group, a community development company he helped start. Lunch with Miles was great because he was so open and honest about how he has achieved his success. Miles had some really great and practical advice.

Best Friends at the Bar: More on Women in the Courtroom

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on March 15, 2012.

Best Friends at the Bar: Women as Litigators

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on March 13, 2012.

Best Friends at the Bar: More NLJ Wisdom on Current Hiring Trends

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on March 1, 2012.

Earlier in the week I posted a blog about the National Law Journal (NLJ) article titled “Elite Firms Seem to have Lost their Appetites”.  Although I am a bit of a skeptic about what all of this means in terms of the futures for most young lawyers in America—-after all the NLJ 250 is only one way to practice law—I did see some tidbits that are worth sharing for those of you who did not read the article.  Yes, I am familiar with the fierce competition for your time, and I fully understand that many of you did not get to that particular reading assignment.  So, here goes with a few things worth repeating from the article.

NLJ:  “I think that it [hiring levels] will be slow to go back to the levels it was at before.  But when the economy does turn around, if that’s a possibility, we could have a shortage of midlevel associates. ”

Best Friends at the Bar: Law Firm Associate Hiring Still Lagging

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on February 28, 2012.

The National Law Journal (NLJ) has just published its annual report on the 50 law schools that NLJ 250 law firms relied upon the most to fill their first-year associate classes during 2011.  This report also includes information on the law schools that saw the most alumni promoted to partner at NLJ 250 firms in 2011.  This is captioned “The Go-to Law Schools” because it details the law schools that are the most popular in terms of hiring for the NLJ 250.  However, some of you are going to take the bait and look at it as the “Do Not Go to Law School” report.  I think that would be an overreaction, and here is why.

Best Friends at the Bar: Is Going to Law School Worth It?

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on February 4, 2012.

You probably have read the stuff that has been floating around the Internet for the last couple of years on the topic of whether going to law school is worth it.  Above the Law will keep you pretty well informed about graduate law students suing their alma maters because they cannot get jobs, law students lamenting the student loan debt they are accruing, and young lawyers disappointed that $160K salaries are no longer typical of the top of the salary range for starting lawyers.

You also may have seen advice from some law career counselors that the only worthy law career today starts with an education at a top tier law school that will lead to a high-paying job and make it all worth while.  For the rest of you, don’t even bother, according to these folks.

Sounds pretty grim, I know.  But it is only half of the story.  It is the half of the story that is about money.  It is the half of the story that is told by people who exclusively define being a lawyer with making gobs of money.  It is about expectations that it may be imprudent to have altogether.

There is an entire other part of the story that is about commitment to service and job satisfaction that is getting drowned out in the uproar.  That is the story that is not as appealing to the law bloggers because it is not outrageous and negative.  It does not play into the disappointment and despair that the law blogs feed on.  It is just a lot of really good lawyers honing their trade in jobs far below Big Law and loving what they do and the positive change they can create.  That’s all.

Best Friends at the Bar

WOMEN LAWYERS MUST LEARN TO SELF-PROMOTE

POSTED ON JANUARY 24, 2012