Millennial Lawyers Value the People They Work with Over Salary in Job Satisfaction

By Frank Zeccola 
LCD Graduate Fellow 

A recent survey has found that the leading element of job satisfaction among millennial lawyers is the people they work with. Sixty-six percent of respondents said that “The people I work with” contributed significantly to their job satisfaction, while 56 percent reported compensation as a main contributor to job satisfaction. Surprisingly, least on the list was “The likelihood that I will become partner,” at just 16 percent. Other factors included “The work I do” (63 percent), “My mentor” (22 percent), “The firm’s prestige” (18 percent) and “clients” (18 percent).

The survey was conducted online by Ms. JD and Above the Law and included about 600 lawyers who were born in 1980 or later. The results were presented at the NALP Annual Education Conference in Boston in April.

This is great news for networkers who seek jobs through people they know and like rather than by applying to ads online. It also means you should work your network and be on the lookout for jobs offered by people you like, gel with, and find friendly. And while compensation cannot be discounted entirely, good working relationships will go a long way toward creating and finding satisfaction in your job.

How to Dress Professionally on a Budget

By Frank Zeccola

LCD Graduate Fellow

Interview season is upon us—and it should go without saying that we urge you to wear formal business attire to all interviews. Beyond a doubt, you want the person you are interviewing with to be confident in the impression you’ll create in their organization if they hire you. However, we understand that many of our students graduate in debt, and you might not be in a position to spend a lot of money on clothing. Further, many of you are applying for low-paying public interest jobs, or even unpaid positions, and we understand that money is always tight.

To that end, here are several great ways to dress professionally on a budget.  Whether you are a 1L interviewing for a summer position or a graduate trying to land that first associate job, you always want to look your best for interviews. Here’s how to do it for less: 

Using Stories to Demonstrate Your Identity

By Alexander Hoyt-Heydon
Law Career Development Graduate Fellow
 
This past weekend, I was invited to a networking event by a friend whom I had helped edit his latest book. The event was to be held at one of the hotels in Las Vegas, and I admit I was curious what kind of networking would go on in such a place, surrounded by gambling, alcohol, and every kind of distraction known to man. As it turns out, what I had thought would be one big party full of people from all walks of life was in reality a conference discussing techniques and ideas behind the secrets of social networking. Suddenly the nondisclosure agreement I signed when I walked in made sense.

I was right on one part: people from all walks of life, various cultures, professions, and viewpoints were all in attendance. However, with the exception of myself and a handful others who were invited by friends, almost everyone there was operating on a much higher level of success. Leaders of industries were there, men and women who have influential positions in almost every business, and all of them with the shared mindset on how better to network and interact with the world around them. The list of speakers was rather impressive, and I want to share one of the most important techniques I learned that weekend: the power of storytelling to build your career.

What Is Your Name Brand?

by Michelle Queirolo 
Grad Fellow 
Law Career Services

During law school, and your professional legal career, you should consciously manage your brand. What is a brand, you might ask? Dictionary.com defines “brand” as “a kind of variety of something distinguished by some distinctive characteristic.” This is the exact purpose of your brand – to set yourself apart from the rest, to highlight the distinct qualities that you can bring to employers, and to show employers and clients what kind of an advocate you are. (For more info on what a brand is, and the importance of a professional brand, read this Forbes article.)

A professional brand is developed by your reputation, which is essential in the legal community. Your reputation is demonstrated by your style and professional interactions, your paper trail, your social media profiles, and your involvement in the community. Ultimately, your personality and values drive your particular brand, so it is vital that you remain genuine.  

Facebook Cautionary Tale or Professional Opportunity—You Choose!

By Susanne Aronowitz
Associate Dean for Law Career Services

We have all heard the admonitions about maintaining a “professional” image on Facebook and other social media platforms to avoid limiting our opportunities with prospective employers and clients. Unfortunately, what constitutes “professional” is often in the eye of the beholder. What then, is a law student to do to maintain a clean digital footprint? Even more important, how can a burgeoning legal professional use social media to enhance their digital footprint and online image? 

Our friends at the Culture and Manners Institute offer some practical examples and suggestions below: 

Another story from an employer. The company was getting ready to tender an offer to a young man who just graduated from college. The last step in the process was a quick check of his Facebook page.

The Five Deadliest Job Interview Mistakes

by Susanne Aronowitz
Associate Dean of Law Career Services and Alumni Relations

"The last thing you want to do on a job interview is disappear into the confusing sea of job-seekers that a hiring manager is desperately trying to keep separate in his mind," according to Liz Cole, the CEO and Founder of Human Workplace. "Only one person can get the job, so the last thing you want to do is sound like everyone else."

As you prepare for your upcoming job interviews, check out her great advice on the five deadliest job interview mistakes to avoid.

Short and Sweet (and Personalized)

Wondering what to say in that thank you letter for an interview or informational meeting? The Culture and Manners Institute offers these tips:

Etiquette is about being attentive to the people around us. Whether writing a follow up thank you letter for an interview or a client meeting, personalize it. Include details of what you talked about in the meeting. 

It's a mistake to write a generic thank you that looks like it could have been cut and pasted with different names and companies: 
"Thank you for telling me more about the position at (fill in the organization). I feel like my skills would make me a valuable member of your team." 

Make the person feel like you are talking to him/her and not just anyone: 
"I was inspired by your story about how you started out in manufacturing..." 
"You are interested in a greater online presence for your athletic clothing line, and I have proven experience in growing several student organizations through social media." 
"Attached is the online advertising information we talked about. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me." 
"I enjoyed meeting you and Manny Products, your Vice President of Consumer Research." 
"I will follow up with you on the week of June 8th. Congratulations on your first grandchild and enjoy your time off." 

The most valuable part of personalizing a business letter? It says to the person, "I was listening." 

For help with formulating an effective thank you letter, contact a career counselor at LCS at lawcareer@ggu.edu.

Your Career: Ten Steps to Making a Career Change

by Susanne Aronowitz
Associate Dean for Law Career Services

Many of us anticipate the beginning of a new year with a sense of optimism. If you have been thinking about a change in your professional life, you may have an earnest but ill-defined New Year's resolution to make it happen in 2014. It's rare for such an opportunity to land in one's lap. Rather than relying on chance, here are some tangible strategies to bring those plans to fruition.

Check out my top 10 tips for lawyers embarking on job searches, published last week in The Recorder.

Create the online brand for yourself that you want employers and clients to see!

by Elisa Laird-Metke
Assistant Director of Law Student Services & Law Career Services  

This is Part 2 of a two part series covering online personal branding. Today’s discussion focuses on creating the online presence you would like to have prospective employers and clients see when they look you up. For information on getting rid of questionable online content that may surface when someone looks for you online, see Part 1.

Cultivate a positive online brand by deliberately creating content about yourself that you want others to find when they Google you. The goal is to make your online presence reflect you as a legal professional who is rapidly becoming an expert in your chosen area of law—and it’s easier than you think! Spend time developing your LinkedIn profile. Start a blog on a particular law subject that interests you, or offer to write a guest post on an existing legal blog. Then make sure you link your post to your LinkedIn page, so anyone looking you up can’t miss it. Create a professional Twitter account that you update very regularly with the latest news and legal trends in your field, and link it to your LinkedIn profile and/or blog. Participating in legal associations and writing articles also increases the number of positive online search results that turn up about you.

And once you’ve begun an online presence, stay engaged! Don’t let your blog go stale after a couple of posts—keep the material updated regularly. If you're on LinkedIn, join some groups. If you create a blog post, respond to those who leave comments—answer their questions and engage in discussions (keeping the tone civil, of course)—engagement is what makes people keep coming back!

Creating a positive online brand is not just confined to your professional activities.  Volunteer for your favorite non-profit or run a marathon. These types of events often generate search results and will contribute to your overall online image. However you chose to market yourself online, know that your online brand reflects your judgment—a trait very interesting to prospective employers and clients!

You already have an online brand…but you might not like everything it says about you!

by Elisa Laird-Metke
Assistant Director of Law Student Services & Law Career Services 

This is Part 1 of a two-part series covering online personal branding. Today's discussion focuses on getting rid of questionable online content that may surface when someone looks for you online. Part 2 will focus on creating the online presence you would like to have prospective employers and clients see when they look you up.

Researching online information about candidates is becoming a routine part of the hiring process. What do employers see when they look you up? You can take control of your online presence--whether you put it there or others did.

How do you ensure that your personal brand is intact? Start by knowing what is out there. Google yourself, or look yourself up on a comprehensive people search site, such as www.pipl.com. To see what your Facebook page looks like to those you haven’t made a "Facebook friend," use the "View As" feature (found under Facebook's "Who can see my stuff?" tab).

Next, fix the bad stuff. If you find something out there you don't like or that is false, reach out to the source and ask that it be taken down. Delete any Tweets you wouldn't want an employer seeing. Have you ever made a comment—anywhere online—that could be construed as badmouthing a professor or former employer? Prospective employers see that as evidence you may do the same to them in the future, and will avoid the risk by not hiring you.

If you are tagged in a photo on Facebook that isn’t appropriate, untag yourself, and make sure your privacy settings are not set to "public" so it's harder for prospective employers or clients to find your private info. (Facebook recently announced that it would be changing its privacy policy—again—effective September 5, 2013. To learn how to make your Facebook account less accessible to the general public, check out this guide.) But be aware that no matter how tight your privacy settings are, NOTHING posted on the internet is truly private.

The very best way to keep embarrassing online stuff from showing up where you don't want it to is not to let it online in the first place. Before you make that post next Saturday night, stop and think, "Would I be ok with this photo/comment/link hanging in my office?"

More information about maintaining your online brand is available in the publication "Managing Your Digital Dirt."