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Jun200909

Gary Sedlik  

0

Using Social Networking in Your Job Search

In the current economy, it goes without saying that job seekers need to take advantage of all available employment resources.  This includes, of course, traditional avenues, such as recruiters, colleagues, friends, family and job posting websites.  More than ever, it also includes exploiting new, innovative and even unconventional methods.  Those who embrace and exploit these newer technologies will gain a significant advantage over their colleagues who are restricting themselves to established job search methods.  While there are a host of emerging technologies that can assist job seekers, this article will focus on the use of social networking and social media to expand the reach and scope of their pursuit of their next job.

First, a note on terminology. The phrase “social networking” has been around long before the invention of Facebook.  It generally refers to interconnected groups of individuals who are “tied” together by some common thread, whether it be dating, sharing news and information or a love of Frisbee golf.  The term has been co-opted by exploding internet phenomenons like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter and now is commonly used to denote an internet service that facilitates connecting and re-connecting with friends, colleagues and family (and ex-girlfriends) to share information, stories, pictures and videos, and to let everyone know exactly what you are doing, all the time.

But apart from mere amusement, there is significant value in using these resources in a strategic manner to enhance and expand your job search.  Below are a few suggestions to get you on your way.

Unless you have been hiding out in a cave in Afghanistan for the past few years (that’s you, Bin Laden), you are at least familiar with Facebook. In fact, Facebook reports that it has more than 175 million active users, with the fastest growth activity in the over-30 demographic.  Think about that for a second. Where else can you, an individual, get access to 175 million people, and their associated 350 million eyeballs? Unless you plan to buy a Superbowl ad, the answer is “nowhere.”  So, how do you leverage your Facebook account to help you find a job?

First, it may be time for a Facebook face lift. If until now you’ve used your Facebook account to showcase your recently re-discovered archives of drunken college photos (or drunken photos from last week), you’ll need to do some spring cleaning. As tough as it may be, you must remove those photos (and un-tag yourself in your friends similarly debaucherous pictures) to be sure that your image isn’t promptly tainted in the eyes of potential employers. Clean up your profile, your photos, your videos and your wall posts.  Don’t leave anything that might give a potential employer a second thought about hiring you. If it wouldn’t go on your resume, don’t leave it on your Facebook page. (Obviously, I am not talking about the typical harmless Facebook banter among friends, but rather the borderline inappropriate stuff.)

Second, join Facebook groups. Lots of them. Join the affiliate and alumni groups for your college, law school and current and past jobs.  Search for and join groups for your elementary school, junior high school, high school, old neighborhoods, club sports, and favorite musical artists. Joining groups accomplishes a couple of important goals.  First, you will be surprised at how quickly you will expand your Facebook friends. As you peruse these groups, sift through the other members and connect with as many old acquaintances as possible. Not only is it fun to catch up with people you may not have seen in 20 or 30 years, but you never know whether one of these long-lost contacts may be in a position — directly or indirectly — to assist in your job search.  In addition, by joining these groups, you expand your visibility to an exponentially larger group of people who are not officially “friends” on Facebook. As noted above, part of any successful job strategy is to increase your exposure to those in a position to help you get a job. Joining groups is an effortless way to expand your reach to potential employers while also re-connecting with old friends and colleagues.
Third, don’t be afraid to let your Facebook contacts know that you are in the midst of a job search. That doesn’t mean that you should be updating your status to reflect how many resumes you’ve sent out, but you should let folks know from time to time via succinctly-worded status updates, personal notes, chats and Facebook mail that you are on the lookout and would appreciate any referrals. Again, half of the battle is just being sure that people have you in mind when they come across a potential opportunity. Don’t be shy and don’t be put off by any perceived stigma — with the hundreds of thousands of recently-unemployed (many of whom are in the legal field) any stigma that may have been associated with being out of work has essentially dissipated. I personally have been contacted by more than ten people via Facebook who are looking for work — ranging from former co-workers to long-lost friends. Believe me, it works!

Lastly, if you just aren’t ready to tidy up your Facebook world in the midst of your job hunting and would like to leave up all of the tawdry, bawdy and other morally-questionable information and photos, be sure to strictly control your privacy by permitting only your immediate friends to see the information on your Facebook page (change access rights under “Settings”).  Even with the strictest of settings, most Google searches will turn up a generic Facebook page with your name and current profile picture, so at least keep that picture presentable!

LinkedIn has been described to me as the old persons’ Facebook (sorry LinkedIn marketing folks!). It actually is a very powerful business tool where you can post an exhaustive CV and, similar to Facebook, join myriad professional and social networking groups.  Once you “link” with people on LinkedIn, you typically have access to all of the connections of your connections — sort of like a professional version of six degrees of Kevin Bacon.  You can exchange private mail, seek introductions to third parties through your connections, post messages to networking groups, and peruse job listings — typically posted directly by the hiring coordinators at firms and companies. Contrary to Facebook, LinkedIn is all business and you should treat it as such.  Be sure to take advantage of its powerful search tools, which give you an opportunity to conduct focused and effective research on potential employers (and interviewers) by using an advanced search function.  LinkedIn is an excellent personal marketing tool and is a must for all job seekers in today’s economy.

Twitter is the new kid on the block in terms of social networking and social media, and I think a lot of people (including me) don’t quite know what to make of it yet.  All I know for sure is that you should be using Twitter, and you should be using it now.  Essentially, Twitter is micro-blogging.  Via the site’s home page, set up a free account, select a user name, and write a short, professional bio (50 words or less).  You then will be presented with a blank slate that asks “What are you doing?” Before you write anything, go to Twitter’s “public feed” (http://www.twittter.com/public_timeline) and just watch the flow of “tweets” from other users drift by.  When you see something interesting, click on the username and you will be taken to that user’s page, showing a history of their tweets.  If they interest you, click on the “follow” button and “voila,” this user’s tweets will now appear on your page (you are now “following” them in the Twitter vernacular). Twitter also has some handy web tools that will check your existing contact lists for Twitter users and help you to identify your friends and colleagues already using the service. You also can search for people directly via the Search page.

Once you’re following a few people, you are ready to start tweeting yourself. You can do this from the website, your phone, your Blackberry, or any number of different ways. The catch is that you have to limit each entry to 140 characters or less (including links, punctuation and spaces).  You can tweet about anything you like, but if you’re using Twitter to help search for a job, it’s useful to tweet about professional topics relating to your field.  If you read an interesting article or blog entry, for example, write a short, catchy lead and then include a link for other users to the information source.  If your tweets are interesting and useful to others, you’ll quickly start to amass followers of your own, each of whom will now see your entries on their own page along with others they follow.
How does using Twitter help you find a job? Well, honestly, that’s not entirely clear right now, but there is no question is that it is a vast resource for communicating directly with thousands of people in the legal industry — lawyers, recruiters, hiring coordinators, legal scholars, and others — and gaining an insight into their daily (or hourly) thought processes. Unlike Facebook, your fellow Twitter users don’t need to “approve” you as a friend for you to follow them (although you can be blocked), and users routinely follow 500 or more others.  Like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can communicate privately or publicly with other users through sending direct messages and posting “replies” to users that appear on their public page.

Another critically important feature of Twitter is that it is an effortless way to keep up to date on news and information.  Many organizations also are using Twitter — including major legal publications, law firms, legal blogs and newspapers.  By following these users on Twitter you will receive an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the current state of the industry.  Many organizations are even starting to list new jobs on Twitter.  Seek out and follow legal practitioners who have interesting tweets and don’t be afraid to contact your fellow Twitter users directly to ask about job opportunities.  Twitter still has the feel of an emerging technology and users are extraordinarily helpful to each other in providing information and introductions.

In summary, Twitter is a little hard to describe, but once you start using it you will see that it can be an extremely effective tool in your job search.  Like the other services described above, it won’t supplant traditional networking, but by expanding your connections and broadening your knowledge base, it will improve your chances of success in your job search.

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Feb200911

Gary Sedlik  

0

To Temp or Not to Temp

It is an inescapable reality these days that many firms are laying off lawyers at all levels, from junior associates fresh out of law school to partners with 25 years of experience. Many of these newly unemployed lawyers – even those with stellar credentials – may be finding it more difficult than expected to find a new job as quickly as they had hoped. With bills to pay, unemployed lawyers are increasingly turning to contract or “temp” agencies for short-term projects that bring in some income, albeit not BigLaw income. Several candidates have asked me recently if there are any downsides to working as a contract lawyer while job hunting. There are – but there are also many potentially upsides.

First, the downsides.

  • The Stigma: The truth is that some firms simply will not consider hiring a lawyer if her resume reflects one or more stints as a contract lawyer. Whether this is fair or not is beside the point. Some firms and lawyers have this bias. The good news is that – given the sheer number of lawyers out of work and the increase in those turning to contract lawyering as a stop-gap – this view is likely to become less prevalent, at least with respect to the current crop of downsized lawyers. Also, with the rise (and success) of new, more respectable “hybrid” contract lawyer firms (such as Axiom), the traditional stigma that some firms have associated with contract lawyers is likely to diminish as firms evolve.
  • The Distraction: Some believe that working as a contract attorney will prevent you from dedicating yourself to what should be your primary focus – finding a new job. The thought is that time “wasted” shuffling papers around in a dark basement for low pay would be better spent making calls and sending out resumes for “real jobs.” While it is true that a contract position may require your full attention for a period of weeks or months, it shouldn’t stop you from continuing your job search. No matter how resourceful you are, you can’t really spend your entire day, every day, searching for a job. Most of your job search can be conducted after hours and on weekends. And contract agencies (and employers) typically are understanding if you need to skip a morning of work for an interview for a permanent job.
  • The Boredom: With rare exceptions, contract work is boring. And tedious. And mind numbing. And possibly humiliating. My advice: get over yourself. You are still getting paid more than most skilled laborers on an hourly basis. Further, keep reminding yourself that every hour, every day, every week, gives you some additional financial stability so that you can support yourself in finding a new position.

Now, some of the positives.

  • The Income: I already mentioned the fact that contract work can help you pay some of your bills, but you may be pleasantly surprised at just how much money you take home. Sure your firm was billing you out at $350/hour, but how much of that did you actually keep? Sadly, probably not a lot more than you’ll receive from your temp job.
  • The Brain Activity: Being out of work is not fun. Even if you have a financial cushion, day after day of Oprah re-runs, Mario Kart and Halo marathons, sleeping past noon and trying to find stuff to do will rot your brain. Although contract jobs may not always be the most fascinating legal work, at least they keep your mind in the game.
  • The Resume: While some firms disdain contract work on your resume, all firms will question large, unexplained gaps. At a minimum, taking a contract position will ensure that you do not have significant gaps of unemployment. It also shows firms that you are ready, willing and eager to work.
  • The Leads: Working a contract job means that you are around lawyers all day. Take advantage and be social, friendly and interactive. Let everyone know that you are looking for a permanent position. Do good work. When one of these lawyers hears about a new job – at his firm or somewhere else – he just might tell you about it!
  • The Experience: Contract lawyers typically are hired to fill a desperate and immediate need. Prior subject matter experience usually is not required. Take advantage of the opportunity to beef up your knowledge base and improve your resume by learning as much as you can about the subject matter of the transaction or litigation you are assigned to. It may come in handy for your next position.

Conclusion

While contract work may carry a historical stigma with some firms, there are many potential advantages – in addition to garnering some immediate cash flow – that make it an attractive option for those waiting out the current fiscal crisis. Be sure to seek out a reputable contract agency and use the experience to your benefit. It may even lead you directly to your next (permanent) legal position!

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Jan200909

Gary Sedlik  

0

When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Back to Basics

I’ve noticed an uptick in recent weeks in news stories, blog posts and general chatter about all of the “opportunities” available to attorneys in these harsh economic times. For example, there have been numerous articles about what a great time it is to put out your own shingle or to shift to a boutique law firm that may be able to weather the economic downturn better than BigLaw. While my personal career success is dependent upon attorneys moving from one firm to another, I recognize that there are many attorneys more concerned about hanging on to their current jobs than undertaking a dramatic (and potentially risky) new venture. What is the best strategy to hang on to what you already have?

Well, it’s simple: Get Back to Basics.

While there are a lot of factors outside of your control that may affect whether you keep your job (economic times, partner business development, cases settling or transactions being put on hold), there are a host of things that you can do to keep yourself off of the short list of the next round of layoffs or firings. All of them boil down to one essential strategy: Demonstrate to your employer that you are valuable and, ideally, indispensable.

By this I don’t mean that you should send a firm-wide email outlining your positive attributes, but rather that you should strive to outperform expectations and to raise your profile so that the decision makers know what you are doing. In tough times, the strongest performers survive. What does this mean?

  • Be loud, aggressive and persistent in seeking new work. There may not be much, but everyone in a position to dispense work should know that you want to be first in line. Take partners to lunch or coffee. Visit partners’ offices and remind them that you want to work with them. If you are aware of specific new matters, ask the decision makers directly to staff you on them.
  • Volunteer for the most unattractive and unpleasant assignments. Be enthusiastic about completing them quickly, professionally, and without complaints.
  • Talk about yourself. Be sure that everyone knows your skills, expertise and interests. This is not the time to be a wallflower or to downplay your capabilities.
  • Be positive. No one wants to work with (or to give work to) someone who is negative, complaining and unpleasant.
  • Be a team player. Demonstrate that you are willing to do whatever it takes for the success of clients and the firm.
  • Latch onto successful people. If there are partners, counsel or other associates in the office who seem to be busier than most, do whatever you can to connect yourself to them. Success breeds success.
  • Lastly, and perhaps most importantly: Do excellent work. Now is not the time to be making careless mistakes or, frankly, any mistakes. Your goal should be to exceed expectations on every project.

None of these strategies is new, innovative or pioneering. But that is the point. Getting back to basics is the surest way to making sure that you are recognized for the right reasons, and to improving your chances of hanging on to what you have, at least until you want to make a move.

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Dec200811

Gary Sedlik  

0

Fewer New Partners = Senior Associate Logjam

As firms go through the annual pomp and circumstance of announcing a new class of partners for 2009, one trend is unmistakable — for most firms, the honor roll is getting shorter. Although the press releases and tombstone ads are just starting to trickle out, even a quick perusal of the most recent announcements reveals a fairly drastic reduction in new partner promotions.

For example, in recent days, Weil Gotschal announced a class of seven new partners this year, compared with 20 new partners last year. Similarly, McDermott Will & Emery anointed 27 new partners this year, compared with 42 last year. Wilson Sonsini added eight new partners for 2009, five fewer than the 13 it promoted in 2008. Likewise, only 10 new partners were added to Cleary Gottlieb’s ranks, just more than half of the firm’s 19 new partners in 2009. (See a chart of some of the firms with California offices that have announced new partners here).

To be fair, others are holding relatively steady, or even increasing modestly. For example, Gibson Dunn added 13 new partners this year, compared with 14 last year. Dorsey & Whitney remained steady for 2009 with 17 new partners, matching the same number elevated to the partnership for 2008. Andrews Kurth actually increased the number of partner elevations from five in 2008 to seven in 2009, as did Latham & Watkins (just barely), which elevated 30 new partners in 2009 compared with 29 in 2008.

But for most of the firms that have announced their numbers, the trend seems to be pointing to a reduction in new partner promotions of 35-40% from 2008 levels.

Unfortunately, a reduction in the number of new partners also means a corresponding glut of senior associates, all of whom will now rejoin an ever-increasing logjam of partner candidates for the next go around. While in the past senior associates might have been able to threaten their firm with a departure if they weren’t made partner, in these wavering economic times many firms may actually welcome the attrition. So what should you do if you fall into the ranks of recently unsuccessful partner candidates?

For most, the best strategy right now is to hunker down and make sure to continue to keep busy until economic times improve and you can make a move (if that is what you decide to do). While it is perfectly natural to feel angry, upset, and betrayed, you simply cannot afford to disengage in this economy. Unfortunately, while your anger boils over and you endlessly re-hash the litany of broken promises, your workload may start to decrease as the firm shifts new matters to eager up-and-coming associates who may not have enough on their plates.

As hard as it may be, you need to make sure to do everything you can to remain motivated and focused at work, and to demonstrate that you continue to be an integral part of the team. Making yourself appear indispensable will quickly lead others to believe that you are indispensable, which can only raise your profile and your value to the partners observing you. If you decide to stick it out for another year, your hard work, professionalism, and focus may just be the ticket to being promoted next year. On the other hand, if you decide to move on, you will have a positive mindset, higher self-esteem, and excellent references to provide to your future employers.

In contrast, for those few senior associates with a book of portable business, now could be an excellent time to make a move if your firm didn’t show you the love you deserve. Many firms are stumbling over themselves to find more work, and although your business may not have been enough to get your current firm to promote you, it may be more than enough for another firm that is eager to get work in the door. Investigate smaller, regional firms and offices, most of which are eager to welcome new business generators, even if your book isn’t enough to get you recognized at BigLaw. You may be pleasantly surprised at the level of interest shown by these smaller firms, which not only can offer you partnership, but may also offer a more stable and satisfying future.

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Dec200803

Gary Sedlik  

1

Broaden Your Scope to Improve Your Job Search

One mistake that many candidates make is to focus their job search too narrowly on a tiny geographic region or a small group of law firms. For many reasons, this narrow focus can result in fewer opportunities and — equally as important — lower quality positions, than the candidate might otherwise find by “thinking broader.”

There have been numerous recent articles discussing how mid-size firms and firms in smaller markets are better positioned to ride out our current economic storm. These firms tend not to over hire, typically keep their overhead low, and generally are more in tune with the ups and downs of the economy. Further, as clients look to cut costs, many are shifting work (and funneling new matters) to smaller firms in regional markets that have lower billing rates than BigLaw.

For these reasons, to increase your chances of a successful job search, you need to think outside the box — and the major cities. For example, if you are conducting a job search in Los Angeles, expand your search to Orange County, Riverside and Santa Barbara. If you are looking at San Francisco, broaden your scope to Oakland, Palo Alto, and even Sacramento and other smaller regional markets.

In most cases, not only will your expanded search yield more interviews and offers, but you will be pleasantly surprised by the sophistication of the practices at these smaller firms, not to mention the relaxed atmosphere and improved lifestyle.

Remember, you never have to accept a job offer, and it doesn’t hurt to explore! Give it a try and I guarantee you will be pleased with the results.

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