Interview

3 Questions to Ask in an Interview

  • On November 27, 2016
An interview is going well if conversation flows. Do not awkwardly save all your questions for the end. Instead, work good ones into the conversation. Some samples below: “How did this role come about?” This question, if asked positively, is a nice way to get context and history — you need to know if there […]
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Career Management, Women & Minorities

How to Get the Promotion & Raise You Deserve!

  • On November 13, 2016
I came back last week from the annual NAPABA conference and am summarizing useful pointers from the seminar “Pushing to the Top: Women Attorneys in High-Tech Culture.” Speakers included Hogene Choi (Baker Bott partner), Sarita Venkat (Apple senior counsel), Emily Ward (former PayPal VP), and Yuri Mikulka, (Manatt partner). Their tips apply to lawyers of any race […]
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Departure

Top Warning Signs that It’s Time to Change Jobs

  • On November 6, 2016
Four clear signs you should change jobs:  If your job is too easy (you feel like you can do it in your sleep). If your company drives you mad. Perhaps the values clash with yours, or your colleagues’ work styles hold you back. If people at work intentionally make your life miserable. Sometimes you have […]
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Interview

5 Crucial Questions to Ask a Potential Employer

  • On October 30, 2016
At the ACC career panel at Facebook mentioned below, panelists suggested great questions to ask a potential employer when assessing whether to move: How is Legal perceived by the client? By the team? By the manager? What are the company’s priorities? Look for themes, and try to understand the culture (you can get at this […]
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Career Management

4 Tips on Building Relationships (Key to More Opportunities)

  • On October 23, 2016
For those who missed the October 10 ACC career panel at Facebook, leading lawyers stressed the importance of building relationships, the key to getting more career opportunities. Four tips from panelists:  Build relationships early, and be kind to everyone. You never know who will be important later. People’s jobs have been saved by junior colleagues who backed them […]
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Career Management

Top 5 Career Tips from Lawyers at Leading Companies

  • On October 16, 2016
I recently moderated at Facebook the ACC panel “When to Leap & When to Lie Low: Optimizing Both for Maximum Career Growth.” Serving as panelists were Allison Mull (DGC, Facebook), Johanna Ravelo (AGC, Facebook), Garth Bossow (DGC, Airbnb), Hannah Gordon (GC, San Francisco 49ers), Duane Valz (GC, Zymergen), and Valerie Alabanza-Cary (Director, Juniper Networks). Some key takeaways: […]
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Career Management, Networking, Presentation

How Lawyers Should Pitch Themselves to Clients

  • On October 9, 2016
While lawyers easily advocate for clients, they often have a hard time selling their own services. A leading rainmaker, James Gilliland of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, breaks down how to market yourself. These tips apply to not only firm lawyers building books but also in-house lawyers who also need to build relationships: Listen to your clients so […]
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Interview

How Important is Body Language in Interviews? Huge!

  • On October 2, 2016
Body language played a big role in the first presidential debate between Hillary and Donald. A New York Times journalist could tell, even with the sound off, how well each candidate was performing by his or her body language: Hillary was composed and smiling with “studied serenity”, Donald the opposite (fidgeting, smirking, interrupting, gesturing manically, sighing, etc.). Because […]
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Cover Letter

How Important Are Cover Letters?

  • On September 25, 2016
So how important are cover letters? Not very. Here’s why: If I have your cover letter, I also have your resume. If the resume is well crafted, I should be able to glean immediately your area of expertise, your schools/level/training, typical clients, relevant experience, and accolades. I also should be able to tell from your […]
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Career Management

3 Different Paths to the Top

  • On September 18, 2016
The career path to the top used to be linear – you built your career by slowly taking on more responsibility – but now work is increasingly cross-functional. The New York Times analyzed three ways to the executive suite (below). Quoting Marc Andreesen, the article noted that most successful leaders need a mix of product, sales, finance, […]
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