Dana Hill is a large law firm attorney who practiced for 10 years and has been in transition since early 2009.
For several years, my friend and co-worker Mike had been telling me about a friend and former colleague of his who was teaching legal writing full-time at Northwestern. The topic would come up when we discussed the negative aspects of life as a large firm lawyer. I didn’t have any solid plans to leave my firm, but it was nice to hear about someone who made that transition and enjoyed it.
A few weeks after I’d learned I was involuntarily leaving my firm job, I approached Mike and asked him to introduce me to his friend, Sue. I wanted to transition to an alternative legal career and sought to learn more about teaching at a law school, as well as the potential opportunities at Northwestern, my alma mater. Mike said he’d be happy to make the introduction, but suggested that I send him an email with some talking points, such as my experience working with law students while on our firm’s hiring committee and my prior transition to an administrative role at our firm. Mike sent his friend a glowing email about me – truly, it was the nicest write-up I’ve ever read about myself. Sue and I arranged to meet for coffee.
At that point in my job search, I had conducted only a couple informational interviews. This would be my first with someone I didn’t know already. I came prepared with my “elevator speech,” a short description my work history, qualifications, and job interests, as well as questions. Our meeting went extremely well, despite the fact that it was unlikely there would be any job openings for the next school year. I came away from the meeting feeling good about making a new contact and with plans to keep in touch, but also without the expectation of moving forward in the short term.
Luckily, a month or so after our meeting, Sue called me to let me know that things had changed and a position was available for the next school year. She thought I should apply. I quickly sent in my resume and was invited to submit additional materials to the search team. My interview process included a phone interview, a presentation, and in-person interviews. I’d had several interviews prior to this, so I thought about ways to improve my performance. To prepare, I reached out to my former legal writing professor, talked with a friend of a friend who taught legal writing at another law school, and talked to a former co-worker who was now an adjunct professor. I also reached out to my contacts in law schools to serve as references. For my presentation, I hooked up my computer to my TV and made a friend watch me practice with the PowerPoint slides in my living room. I also gave it over the phone to two other friends. After each round of the process, I sent thank you notes to my interviewers. I kept my friend Mike up to date, continually thanking him for his help.
I’m happy to report that I got the job and will start as Northwestern’s newest Clinical Assistant Professor of Law in August. I made a list of all of the people who helped my through my job search, including people who made introductions, agreed to informational interviews, or sent me job postings – it exceeds 300 people. Now it is time to thank all of them, and most importantly, convey my desire to return the favor. I look forward to being able to help others the way so many people have helped me.
Attorneys in Transition Event on May 8, 2009
