How Legal Professionals Can Use Documented Skills in Law Job Search

This article shows you how to strengthen your law job search, drawing on the evidence you have collected of new skills and knowledge. First, you will be shown how to conduct a post internship career review- deciding what direction to take, which skills to emphasize, and how to use your professional network wisely. Second, you will learn how to create an outstanding resume using your Job Skills file. Third, you will be shown how to make the Jobs Skills file work for you in job interviews, as well. Finally, you will be shown why you need a long-term career plan and how to create one.

The purpose of a post-internship career review is to survey where you have been professionally and determine where you want to go next. Figuratively speaking, you may want to turn left, turn right, or proceed straight ahead. Whatever career route you choose, let it be the result of a thoughtful, informed decision.


Where Do I Go from Here?

First, identify your professional strengths. Delve into your Job Skills file, reviewing the tasks you have performed and the skills you acquired in the process. In which tasks did you excel, perhaps earning praise from your supervisor? These are your individual strengths-some of which may be transferable to many different subject areas and work settings. For many interns, there will also be a number of tasks and skills that fall into certain practice areas, such as real estate or personal injury work. These are your subject matter strengths. Seeking employment in these or in closely related practice areas may be the easiest career route to pursue-though not necessarily the only one.

Now ask: do the strengths you have identified coincide with the tasks and practice areas you most enjoyed? If so, you are one of those lucky individuals whose career choice is clear. You know what you enjoy doing and you have now gained expertise in doing it. You can proceed straight ahead! Your task is simply to find offices needing your kind of know-how.

On the other hand, if the tasks you have performed most often are not necessarily the tasks you most enjoyed, then you may need to plot a turn in your career path, mainly emphasizing the individual strengths you have identified. Consider how your new skills and knowledge may be applied in distinctly different work settings. For example, knowledge acquired in performing plaintiffs' personal injury work might be equally useful in an insurance company. The skills developed in working on real estate foreclosures may also be useful in a municipal tax office or in the mortgage department of a bank-and so on.

Look for a wide range of uses for the strengths you have identified. Start with offices outside of but related to your internship work: the government entities, service organizations, corporations, businesses, and opponents with whom you interacted. Further broaden your view by talking to paralegal acquaintances, graduates from your school, and your career advisor.

Explore positions that differ from your internship setting but nevertheless require similar skills. For example, fact-gathering and communications skills developed in a litigation practice may be valuable for working in government agencies, health maintenance organizations, and nonprofit associations. Research and writing skills acquired while working on an appeal might prove valuable in the office of a legal publisher. Organizational skills and a knack for details are useful in many employment settings.

Which Skills Should I Emphasize?

Job candidates should emphasize the knowledge and skills most wanted by the employers they have targeted. To know what employers want, read want ads carefully for any buzzwords they contain. Use those words in your cover letter and resume" whenever you can do so truthfully.

Buzzwords may be specific to certain practice areas, such as abstracting (real estate) or trial prep (litigation). If a term is ambiguous, phone the employing office for clarification. For example, the term file management means different things to different people, so further explanation is essential to detailing your skills appropriately.

Often, buzzwords are of a more general nature. Self-starter and works independently are common examples. In your Job Skills file, look for instances in which you performed as the employer's buzzwords suggest. Use those same words wherever you can do so honestly and be prepared to back up your claims with specific examples.

In addition, try to phrase your descriptions in terms that are appropriate to the work you would like to do. If you are switching fields, some skills might be best described in generic rather than legal terms. For example, a litigation intern seeking employment in a public service agency might claim to have "indexed scores of documents" rather than "indexed pleadings, discoveries, and motions."

As you identify skills that prospective employers want, let your Job Skills file be your final reference point. Claim all the skills you can, looking for their broadest possible career application. But always be sure there is evidence of the skills you say you have. If no example can be cited, do not claim the skill.

How Do I Use My Professional Contacts?

Typically prospective employers ask job candidates for professional references or comments from other professionals regarding the candidate's experience, skills, and suitability for a certain position. Most students see their internship supervisor and coworkers as their primary sources of such references. Other professionals with whom you had frequent contact may also be willing to provide a reference-limited, perhaps, to addressing the nature of their professional interaction with you.

Professional references are conveyed in a letter of recommendation addressed to the prospective employer or in a telephone call initiated by your potential employer. It is the employer's prerogative to decide which method is preferred. If the employer's preference is not clear, then you should ask, so you can let your reference providers know what to expect.

Job seekers need to know that something of a protocol surrounds the reference and recommendation process. Job candidates should never give someone's name as a professional reference without permission from the person they have chosen. Listing as references your supervisor, coworkers, or even the program director at your school without their knowledge is often considered professionally naive, if not downright presumptuous. You want your reference providers to say flattering things about you, so do not risk offending these people. Get their permission in advance.

A good approach is to ask your chosen professionals if they are comfortable about providing a job reference for you. This approach invites a discussion about any hesitation they may have so you can be aware of it before doubts are conveyed to prospective employers. If you sense reluctance on anyone's part, omit that person from your list, if you can, and ask someone else to provide the needed reference.

There are other ways in which your professional contacts can help you in your legal job search. Some of these additional tactics may actually be more productive than job references.

Consider asking knowledgeable professional acquaintances to help you in some of the following ways:
 

• Provide a half-hour informational interview about current job prospects in an unfamiliar specialty area and the skills needed for a career in that field
• Give you an informal evaluation of your professional strengths and weaknesses, identifying areas in which improvement would heighten your job prospects
• Review your resume for suggestions regarding its content, format, and appearance
• Keep you informed of job openings as they become aware of them
• Provide opportunities for part-time or freelance assignments-or even volunteer work-to develop more marketable skills

See the following articles for more information:
 

• 21 Major Interview Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
• The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews
• How to Talk About Other Interviews in Your Interviews
• How to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question
• How to Answer the Do You Have Any Questions for Me Interview Question