Sometimes lawyers aren’t sure what kind of job they should be going for, e.g., public or private, big company or small? Here are some gating questions that will help guide your decision:

1. What is your location, e.g., San Francisco, Peninsula, Silicon Valley? Do you want in-person/hybrid or fully remote? Your answer will weed out many companies as you focus on only where you are willing to commute to. Most companies have some kind of in-person component, ranging from 3+ days per week to a couple days a month.

2. What is your risk tolerance? This question can determine whether to go with a public or private company and help you evaluate a company’s size and industry.

3. How much money do you need to make (e.g., you have a big mortgage, tuition to pay, parents to support, etc.)? If you need to make a high dollar amount, a public company (and maybe a FAANG type company) is what you are limited to.

4. What is important to you, e.g., a specific industry, culture, mission, growth, stability, area of law, management opportunities, etc.? And sometimes equally important is what are you trying to get away from, e.g., stagnation, politics, bureaucracy… Start researching companies to understand what they offer. Understand your priorities and trade-offs.

5. What is your end goal and timeline for it? For example, if you want to be GC, you should pick up important skills like counseling C-Suite, reporting to the Board on tough issues, managing a budget, supervising a team, scaling the business, and saving money. Private companies often want to see success with leading a company through exit opportunities (M&A, IPO), and public companies want experience with SEC reporting. How soon you have to achieve your end goal affects whether you should take small steps to get there or hold out for bigger positions and aggressively network to get there.

Once you know what you want and what you don’t want, filter your job search with the questions above. Target companies and industries to follow. That way you will be ready when a target has an opportunity (and is hopefully thinking about you already). Also, pursue multiple opportunities/paths at the same time (definitely not sequentially) for maximum return on your time.