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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Resume

Top 3 Surprising Resume Tips (Distilled from 6!)

  • On September 11, 2016
I’m again distilling many excellent career tips, this time from 6 to 3, for you busy lawyers. (Feel free to review http://www.everyvowel.com/resume-2/post for the science behind the tips.) Three resume tips you must follow: Quantify your achievements. Metrics add color and make your accomplishments stand out. If you closed the year’s biggest deal or were on the […]
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Career Management

Tips from a Judge Apply Beyond the Courtroom

  • On September 5, 2016
Although interviewing isn’t the same as appearing before the court, I see many parallels. You have to present a story with themes, highlight strengths of your case, and minimize weaknesses. Judge Angela Bradstreet in a recent interview with The Recorder gives a host of good tips for attorneys appearing before her that would apply equally to interview situations. These tips seem obvious, […]
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Interview

Top 5 Job Interview Tips (Culled from a Huge List!)

  • On August 28, 2016
Get ready for employers to awake from summer slumber to focus on hiring again! The post 12 Surprising Job Interview Tips breaks down interviewing and includes helpful sample language over what it calls a 12 minute read. I’ll help you busy lawyers by summarizing the 5 best ones below. I’ve skipped the ones that don’t apply to […]
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Interview

What are Interviewers Thinking? A Quick Explanation

  • On August 21, 2016
Interviewers generally ask candidates the same questions. What are they thinking? Here’s the thought process behind these basic questions.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Interviewers want to know you will stay awhile. I have seen candidates answer that the role would be a good stepping stone. That would be an answer to stay away […]
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Career Management, Interview, Networking

What Does Senior Management Want?

  • On August 16, 2016
Understanding what senior management wants is key to moving ahead. I like this New York Times interview with Liz Rodbell, the president of a major retailer, because she shares these insights:  Show appreciation. An early leadership lesson she learned was to thank people: “The behavior seems so simple, but it’s the importance of saying ‘thank you,’ and taking the […]
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