Monthly Archives: September 2009

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

It mortifies me to write about it, but I did not get an offer from my great interview last week. In fact, I got nothing, not even a return call when I phoned after a week (I know, too long, I was afraid the news was bad) to find out the status of the search.

This is not the first time this has happened to me, or to everyone I know who is interviewing. What I am seeing is a lack of real communication among us. We are fortunate to have great communication tools available, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace etc. We can talk to each other in a dozen different ways, and we do, all day and probably, for some, all night long. But is there more concealment than communicating going on? I know that sounds strange, since the websites are all about disclosure.

But from what I see, there is little real disclosure going on (except for some very young people of all ages who do not yet have much sense). Most people are putting their information out there in a very calculated fashion and often with ulterior motives and making themselves look a certain way, while acting insouciant.

The downside of this is that the site users feel that they are living a very full life, by using Twitter and Facebook, but is that real communication? There is lacking the real communication that is conveyed a hundred times better by the briefest chat, in person or on the phone. My friend, who is a social website addict, is delighted to find old classmates and to talk to people online, and she feels totally involved with their lives and that they are involved in hers.

But the truth is, she is only telling them a little piece of the story, the part she wants them to know, that makes her look the way she wants to look. She is absolutely appalled at any suggestion I make that she actually meet these people in person and have a real conversation with them, actually go out into the world and deal with the good and the bad out there.

Anyway, forgive the digression, the bottom line for me at this time is that the person with whom I interviewed last week, for an hour and a half, after traveling to a far suburb, had a dozen ways to let me know not to agonize over the job any longer. He could have put me out of my misery of hope very quickly — with a phone call, a voicemail, an email or a fax. Instead he chose not to communicate at all and to let me stew for a week and maybe forever, because I doubt I will ever hear from him. I am not at all sure now that I would want to work with someone who shirks difficult communications.

As lawyers we know that communicating difficult messages and receiving them intelligently is crucial to our work as professionals and that sucking it up and communicating with them appropriately and timely is the “lawyerly” thing to do.

Sandra J. Bishop, president of Executive Solutions, is an executive coach and career strategist. She will periodically answer questions that can help lawyers get that next position.

How should I approach an interview?

You should approach and interview as a sales call, because that’s what an interview is.  You are both the salesman and the product.

Questions to consider:

Who are you interviewing with?  This is important because there will be a wide range of people screening you.  Usually the process begins with the HR person, followed by the hiring manager and a select group of colleagues. The HR screening is typically a stand-alone meeting done frequently as a phone-conference.

What kind of interview are you having?  Is it a one on one phone with the hiring manager?  Will you meeting with the entire team.

Perhaps it is a panel interview.  A panel interview is a more progressive form during which all the candidates are sitting on one side of the table, and all the hiring managers on the other – it is essentially a face off.  Not pleasant for any of the candidates, but an efficient forum for the employer.  My advice is if you find yourself in this situation, simply play your own game.  Do not listen to what anyone around you is saying; be true to yourself.

How long is the interview is going to last? This is important because you need to schedule your time appropriately.  It also helps to level-set your expectations, and pace yourself throughout the interview. 

When you go into the interview, your resume tells your story.  Your credentials and education are also important.  But, your over-arching goal is deliver enough integrated information to the firm that you can do the job and do it well.

How will the interviewer assess me?

You are assessed on two levels:

Personally:  your behavior/ conduct, personality, likeability, values, appearance and, yes — your energy will be scrutinized.  Optimistic people tend to project a certain aura; it’s upbeat, energetic and inviting. On the other hand, negative people tend to project a guarded, sometimes angry, bitter and resentful vibe; one that is definitely exclusive.

Professional: your credentials/ experience/ expertise/ distinctive qualities, education, aptitude for the profession and the position will be scrutinized.  Make sure everything in your resume and everything you convey/ portray is direct and accurate.

How should I prepare myself for the interview?

There is no such thing as being over-prepared.

Before the Interview: request an “Organizational Chart” and “Position Description” and study it. Do the web-research:  know the history of the firm/ company.  If it is a publicly-traded company, know the price of the stock and its performance over the recent year.  When working with a recruiter, ask:  “What is it I need to know about this company/ firm before I interview?”

Ask if the position you are interviewing for is a newly-created position.  If so, why?  Otherwise, ask why the position was vacated.  These two questions will help give you a sense of the current climate in the area in which you are interviewing.

Gary Levenstein, a partner at Ungaretti & Harris, will be one of our speakers at our Sept. 30 event.  There is still time to sign up.

He took some time to answer a few of our questions.

What do you hope people get from your presentation?

I hope that people get comfort, encouragement, hope and ideas.

What is the biggest challenge for lawyers when looking for a position?

The biggest challenge is presenting themselves as viable candidates based on skill, presence, character and attitude.  In certain circumstances, it may overcome the lack of their own clients.

What is one piece of advice you have for lawyers looking to make a career transition?

Develop client opportunities or expertise.  The best situation would be establishing both ASAP.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your own career?

Survival in recessions.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

So, last week I had a great interview.  At least I thought it was great.

I enjoyed the conversation, I thought the interviewer did too.  It lasted an hour and a half.  The qualifications he explained he needs were very much in line with mine, and I even have some that were not asked for, like being fluent in a couple of languages and somewhat fluent in a couple of others, which seemed to be a plus for the interviewer.

The area of law is very unusual and of course immediately appeals to me, since I always want to learn something new and flex my research muscles, and of course, never want anything easy.  The idea of practicing in federal court also appeals greatly, since, with all due respect, state court can be something of a zoo.

I would be very pleased to be back in federal court, where things are more dignified and the rules of procedure are both enforced and more streamlined.

All is well except that following my own advice is proving hard.  I tried all weekend not to focus on the possibility that I might/might not get an offer and tried just as hard not to repeatedly re-examine the details of the interview.  I find it difficult to avoid planning for how I will get to the office (it is in a suburb), finding a convenient place to work out and a dozen other details that are completely irrelevant until I DO get an offer, if I do.

Also running through my head all weekend is, do I want to work for someone else, again, after having my own law office, and not be the arbiter of my own day and direction. Compared to having to find my own clients, do the work my way and try to collect fees.

It may be a hard decision and at this point an unnecessary one, since I don’t have an offer.  I am seriously looking forward to having to make it.

Alexis Reed, attorney search director at Special Counsel, will be one of our speakers at our Sept. 30 event. She took some time to answer a few of our questions. If you are interested in attending the event RSVP to oclarke@lbpc.com.

What do you hope people get from your presentation?

I hope that people learn a bit about organizing and creating a persuasive resume, one that will catch a prospective employer’s attention. I also hope that they learn about interview preparation and interview techniques.

What is the biggest challenge for lawyers when looking for a position?

Many lawyers have an idea in their minds about a “perfect” job, and in this economy, I think that attorneys need to be flexible when looking at potential opportunities.  Consider everything and anything that seems reasonably interesting and in-line with your career goals.

What is one piece of advice you have for lawyers?

Make sure that you follow up on every single job lead and every single resume submission!

When do you see the job market changing for lawyers?

After talking with several of our clients, both law firms and corporations, we are all hoping to see an uptick in the market this October.  However, clients involved in corporate finance and real estate areas are not projecting growth until the third quarter of 2010.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

This weekend I had drinks and shared a wonderful, or I should say, two wonderful wooden slabs of exotic cheeses and ham with two attorneys from my past. (If you post a comment, I might even tell you where this great place is).

Both worked with me on a document review project almost 10 years ago, when I had just completed law school and passed the Illinois bar and had not come across my first “real lawyer” job. The group of 10 of us on that project formed a close bond, which for some of us has held, more or less, since then. Thinking about our conversation, I am reminded that of the many ways to go with a law degree. Lately, I have been focused on only two ways: working for someone else, i.e., another lawyer or law firm practicing law the old-fashioned way, or working for myself, as a solo practitioner, practicing law the old fashioned way.

My two friends from this weekend are both working in somewhat non-traditional areas of law, one for a legal association and the other in a law firm, but not engaged in the active practice of law as we think of it. Both seem happy with their current work situations and are doing well. Another example is the previous blogger in this space, who recently went on to be a law professor.

But all this brings me to thinking about how wonderfully versatile this law degree is. We have what could be loosely termed a “franchise” that is transferable into a variety of work situations. I have been reading about the work of a “contract attorney”, in the broadest sense of the word – helping other attorneys and law firms in a number of ways. In my case from covering cases in court for Spanish-speaking clients to offering legal language services to other law firms, such as interviewing non-English speaking clients on the firms’ behalf, conducting Spanish-language depositions, interpreting foreign documents, etc., the ideas go on and on.

There is much useful information on these topics online and helpful links on this site and others to tap into. I am encouraged and excited thinking about my law “franchise,” my own small business, and developing it in ways that satisfy me and make deep use of my talents and experience.  Each of you have your own special areas of knowledge and skill, and thinking about how to make the best of those for your own “franchise” can give you a whole new perspective on the topic of transition.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

[When considering accepting a job in a workplace that doesn’t seem to suit us or with people we don’t like, we sometimes rationalize that we always have the option of quitting.]

We think, well, if worse comes to worst, I can leave.  But the road to that departure can be very painful and can cause more problems than if we had not taken the job. You can imagine … now there’s a painful departure (because, believe me, there is no simple, “OK, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll leave,” there is always some or a lot of pain associated with quitting or being fired) in our immediate past, we have to look for a job again, might have to explain what happened to a future potential employer, and the worst thing is…we have taken a major ding to our confidence.  Those dings can add up, and not in a good way!

When I was preparing to attend law school I took a job at a very successful firm, but working with people I did not respect and doing work that was well below my level of expertise and professional capability.  I took the job because it was two blocks from where I was going to attend law school, the salary was enough that I could pay for law school out of my earnings and it had a good title.  I then tried to conform to a very dysfunctional environment and to submerge my true abilities in order not to “make waves,” to fly under the radar and attain my true goal, which was getting through law school in the manner least disruptive to my life.

Needless to say, what seemed a strategic plan at the time turned out disastrously and became one of those career experiences that resonate negatively for a very long time.  So, if you go to an interview and afterwards think, “Oh, I don’t know about that interviewer/firm, seemed a little (fill in the blank),” but when you get the offer you find it too hard to turn down, stop, sleep on the decision and let the urge to accept the job pass. It’s not worth it.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

The goal of a successful job search is getting the job.  But getting the job can be great or it can be a problem.  I have been thinking a lot about this issue.

In the past I have accepted jobs that seemed to be the right choice based on circumstances at the time.  But, in retrospect, I decide that accepting the position was not a wise choice, after all.  They are the jobs that turn out to be a dreadful mistake which far outweighs the temporary benefit of taking a job that you shouldn’t have, either out of desperation or out of a desire to try something new or to learn something new.

These job choices are tempting, they provide a solution to immediate problems.  But, if you can, try to avoid this trap.   Focus on the impact any job choice will have on your long-term career goals, i.e. do not take a job that does not add to the experience and skill set required for your chosen career path or area of law.  You have probably heard this before, but take it to heart, because ignoring this issue may result in spending time at a job that is unsatisfactory and make it more difficult to get back on track to the “dream job.”

Then there is the issue of  “fit.” A highly paid career counselor told me once that I should never accept a job working with people I didn’t like.  This is one of the most difficult issues to foresee.  But, typically, during the interview process you will meet current employees.

Keep in mind that the process is controlled by the employer and may not provide a realistic indication of the temperament of the individual prospective colleagues and the type of work environment.  If possible, ask if you can “sit in” with a current employee or associate for a few hours.  You will gain invaluable insight concerning the requirements of the position and most importantly, how various members of the firm or company interact. This will give you a better idea of the culture and the type of people that work there.

I know, in this job climate many of us may not have the luxury to take this seriously, but nevertheless, we should.  We unconsciously extrapolate the impression of not liking someone or some place during an interview from clues that we may not be conscious of, but which are very real and probably well founded.

We tend to ignore those clues because they are intuitive rather than rational. We, being lawyers, examine the circumstances analytically and may decide there is no tangible reason to think we won’t like a job or some significant someone we will be working with.  Or, that we can adapt to or handle the problem.  But this is a situation when we should be aware of the negative vibe and be very careful in making the decision to take that job.