Guidance in career after law school by Mary Harblin, Director of Career Services, Syracuse University College of Law
by Barry Perlman
Since July, Syracuse students have been able to put this experience to work, now that Harblin is on board to help them. She received her B.S. in Family and Community Services from the College of Human Development (now the College of Human Services and Health Professions) at Syracuse, a course of study initially designed to lead students into public service agency administration. But she, like many of her classmates, ended up in the human resources arena. Harblin spent 13 years in corporate HR in the greater DC area, eventually serving both in-house recruiting and outside consultant roles at a few different companies - including her most recent stint as a contract recruiter for Digex, a subsidiary of WorldCom that specializes in web hosting.
While there, Harblin fell victim to, as she describes it, "the WorldCom pink-slip party" that came as a result of that company's massive workforce downsizing. "Being in HR," she recalls, "I had a good sense of what was coming, based on adjustments in assignments and recruiting workload I'd been seeing, so I was prepared." Luckily, Harblin was able to summon the quintessential career counselor optimism: "Things happen and lead to better things," she declares matter-of-factly. Correspondingly, upon relocating to the Syracuse area to be near her family, she spotted a job listing on the university's website that would lead to her current position.
Though she'd never worked in a legal-specific career capacity, Harblin was no amateur when it came to placing lawyers in jobs. Previously, she both hired for corporate in-house legal openings and retained outside counsel in a variety of situations, not to mention her regular recruitment of attorneys for placement in non-traditional positions. For instance, while working for GE's Global eXchange Services division, Harblin brought on attorneys as IT product managers. "They had a different approach to the position than straight-up marketing people," she explains. "They had the ability to learn, to look at the issues involved and get a brief overview of the product, and they had the management skills to interact with the engineering team and decide whom they wanted to collaborate with. They excelled in contractual areas of the role, looking at what to do with potential patents developed in collaboration with other companies and how to maintain proprietary information gathered as a result of channel-marketing efforts. Their excellent skill base led them to succeed where people might not initially think an attorney would be a good fit."
As Harblin points out, a lot of law-school career services offices are facing a similar situation, an increasing number of students choosing to forego practicing in the traditional firm environment. She builds this reality into the counseling she provides. "In addition to advising them on how to approach traditional practice, I encourage them to broaden the scope of their thinking to realize a law degree is marketable in a number of ways." Another example of an alternative career path is human resources, Harblin's own original field. "Attorney skills are very applicable [to HR] in terms of developing policies and procedures for companies, overseeing how to appropriately, ethically, and legally manage your workforce in compliance with the state and local regulations that pertain to a particular employee population. They are also quite successful at insuring that companies effectively administer individual employer policies consistently, to reduce liability."
Now that she's in the legal world, one aspect of this new career that's taken Harblin some getting used to is the widely accepted involvement of institutions with NALP (National Association for Law Placement), the governing body that sets forth guidelines for law student contact with career counselors and potential employers. "Coming from the corporate sector," Harblin explains, "I find it unusual how the timing of many different facets of the job search, including how offers are handled, is managed through voluntary affiliation with a governing body, not by state or federal order or mandatory relationship." It's this built-in formality and tradition of the law profession that Harblin is still familiarizing herself with, though she admits the NALP-imposed regulations are useful in providing structure to students. "We're not supposed to have dialogue with first-years until November 1, to keep them focused on academic performance since good grades are the easiest way to ensure a productive career search. Establishing the practice of strong academic performance early sets the foundation for that."
Still, Harblin finds many students chomping at the bit to get going on their job searches right from the beginning, rather than gradually getting settled into the academic routine. And that fervent approach makes a lot of sense to Harblin, who sees the search as a long-term commitment. "The first couple months of your law school career is the only time you don't have to act in the search capacity," Harblin believes. "After that, your first-year typically unpaid summer assignment will lead directly to the quality of the second-year summer position and whether that will be a paid situation or not. The second-year position is an opportunity to potentially earn good money and receive an employment offer in the fall of the third year, which takes huge pressure off the remainder of the law school experience. If students know they've secured employment, then they can focus on completing their education and studying for the bar."
That's why, according to Harblin, building one's resume very early on is essential for establishing a fruitful career after law school. "In conversations with students, I tell them to try as hard as they can to secure a highly professional position that first summer. Then, as they progress in internships and employment, I ask them, 'What have you enjoyed the most and the least so far?' and lend their answers the importance they deserve in terms of leading them where they want to go."
Obviously, good interviewing goes a long way in landing those coveted summer positions, and Harblin advises students with less professional experience to hone their skills. "Many who transition straight into law school from undergrad have never interviewed for more than a job at The Gap or the country club, and it can be very challenging to suddenly interview for a very professional position." Not surprisingly, Harblin advocates networking and alumni outreach as very good strategies for job-seeking students. "Students must make a strong personal effort to think about their own sphere of influence, how to leverage relationships they may already have in their lives to assist them in making connections. Ask yourself who you know that may be able to introduce you to someone who can help in your search or offer you a job."
In addition to keeping good grades and securing solid professional experience, Harblin recommends students make efforts to be well-rounded individuals, affiliating themselves with student groups that pertain to a practice area they're interested in or wanting to explore. "Most law students attending a good institution come out with a certain level of functionality. Employers want to know what else about them is unique, what else they bring to the table." Harblin stresses this "whole person" approach is key to impressing potential employers. "As one managing partner at a high-level firm in New York told me, employers are wondering, 'Would this be a good person to work with at 2 a.m.?' In other words, which candidates would still be pulling their weight late at night - and maintaining a good sense of humor about it?"
Ultimately, beyond the specific practical advice she gives, Harblin tells all her students the same thing: "The people who are happiest are the ones who derive satisfaction from what they do for a living. If you like what you're doing, it shows." Thankfully, Harblin enjoys helping students find jobs so much that she looks forward to coming to work everyday, and her own satisfaction lets her serve as a model of precisely what she preaches.
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