Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: People Skills Make All the Difference
By Paula M Jones • December 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Other Issues
Yesterday my colleague called me up for a vent session. She had prepared a really complicated tax filing for a client and the client responded by sending a list of about fifteen things she thought was wrong with it. Well, the clients concerns were all unfounded and my colleague patiently and politely addressed each and every complaint. The client apologized for her snippy e-mail and stated that taxes made her anxious. It was really nice to get an acknowledgement from the client that her behavior was unacceptable. Everyone gets snippy once in a while and its entirely forgivable. Unfortunately, this…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How to Stop Office Gossip in Its Tracks
By Paula M Jones • November 29, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Other Issues
“What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.” -Jewish Proverb My friend Jen used to describe her best friend since childhood, Tracy, as a complete screw-up. Every time she would mention her, she would roll her eyes and bring up Tracy’s latest failed relationship or the crazy man in her life. I had never met Tracy and I have to admit, without any other evidence to the contrary, I began to think of Tracy as a screw-up too. I attended a social gathering at Jen’s house one evening and was speaking to a woman who was…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Dealing with Difficult People - The Provocateur
By Paula M Jones • October 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Mentoring and Networking, Other Issues
Just because other people are fueled by drama, doesn’t mean you need to attend the performance. – Cheryl Richardson I was busily working away at my new firm when the head of my department crept into my office, eyes wide. She hunched her shoulders down, looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot and said in a hushed tone, “Do you have a second? I have to tell you something.” She closed my office door. She proceeded to tell me that a colleague had a problem with some work that I had done. Her story didn’t ring…
Everything Nobody Every Told Me: Visioning Really Works
By Paula M Jones • September 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues
As I was approaching thirty years of working full-time, I began much more flexibility in my daily schedule. My dream was to be able to set my own schedule instead of adhering to the schedule of others. Unfortunately, I could not see any viable way to make that happen, since I was working in a big firm where time seemed to be the master of us all. Over time, my frustration began to build. Whenever I became frustrated, I began to write out what I wanted my daily life to look like. Dreams – even those that seem impossible –…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How To Find A Job You Love, Part Two
By Paula M Jones • August 31, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Internships and Clerkships
“If it makes you happy, it is what you are supposed to do” – Pat Rodegast In Part One of “How To Find A Job You Love”, you learned to identify your Networks and reach out to Network members to expand your contacts within your field of interest. Now, you are going to reach out to those contacts and set up meetings with them. Each meeting is an opportunity to expand your Network even more. Yes, you will receive good advice and an opportunity to speak to people in your desired practice area. Yes, you will hear all kinds of…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How To Find A Job You Love, Part One
By Paula M Jones • July 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Internships and Clerkships
“You are not given a dream unless you have the capacity to fulfill it” – Jack Canfield Well, you did it. You made it to law school. Now, perhaps you are looking for a summer internship, so that upon graduation you can boast some measure of experience. Perhaps you are on the way to graduating and need to find something permanent. Maybe you are one of those non-traditional students, getting an education while continuing to work your day job. How do you make a switch from your present area of employment to a brand new field? In the words of…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Why If You’re Hysterical, It’s Historical
By Paula M Jones • June 22, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
I had been having problems with my email lately. I dreaded calling technical support, since my experience in the past involved sitting for a long time on hold and listening to someone reading from a script instead of thinking creatively about my problem. However, since I could not fix the problem myself and I felt I had no other options, I called my internet service provider’s technical support line. True to form, after thirty minutes on the phone we had barely moved past the point where I had repeated my name and account number to four different people. Then, after…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Academic Excellence Will Only Get You So Far
By Paula M Jones • May 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
“You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.” - Thomas Wolfe My friend’s 16-year old daughter loves to cook. She takes the culinary class offered at her school, pores over the glossy photos in cookbooks and makes a mean pineapple chicken. When I asked if she was going to pursue culinary arts in college she sighed and said that she didn’t want to work in the restaurant business. She explained that the hours were terrible and a lot of restaurants fail. My stepson is really good with kids. It is…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Building and Maintaining a Practice with Clients You Love - Webinar
By Paula M Jones • May 17, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Editor's Note: Ms. JD 2020 Writer in Residence Paula Jones is offering a free webinar on Tuesday, May 19. Check out the details below! Please join me for this complimentary webinar, enabling you to realize a client base with whom you truly love to work. In this webinar, you'll: · Learn how to network to find clients you love · Learn what to listen for, to identify which clients will work best with you · Figure out if your client values your services – within the first ten minutes of meeting · Learn to heighten your sense of awareness about…