In-House Counsel

A Comprehensive Guide To Prepare For And Launch Your Fall Job Search

Detailed strategies to help you get ready and motivated for the fall job search season.

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interview resume job search huntThe high heat indexes across the southeast this year may seem like fall is definitely not in the air yet, but as we move into mid-August, school is back in session, summer travel is ending, and Q3 is in full swing. You might have also realized there are only four remaining calendar months in the year, and thus, it’s time to start thinking about the fall job search. Before you start applying for roles, or tapping into your recruiter network, there are some things you’ll want to do to get all of your ducks in a row.

Think About Your Next Move And Chart Your Goals

I term this step as taking inventory of your current growth and determining where you want to go next. One area where you might want to start is reflecting on is performance evaluations from the last year to three years. Here are also a few questions to ask yourself:

  • Have you grown exponentially in the oversight and responsibilities portion of your work?
  • Are you feeling stagnant in your current role? What’s making you feel stagnant?
  • Is there opportunity for you to grow more, or have you reached the ceiling at the company?
  • Is there another rung on your career ladder you want to hit before you exit the company or your career as a whole?
  • What’s your five-year plan? 10-year plan? What’s your career exit strategy? Is a board seat in your future?

As a legal resume writer and coach, lawyers and in-house counsel come to me in search of their next executive career opportunity, but some might be unsure what that next move looks like. If so, I strongly suggest (and have emphasized repeatedly) obtaining executive coaching to help you get unstuck or unclear before you begin updating your resume and firing it off. It will also elevate your confidence level as you begin to interview and engage with legal recruiters because you’ll know exactly what type of role you’re looking to undertake and what type of company you’re looking to work at.

Make Sure Your Legal Resume And LinkedIn Are Optimized And Align

As I’ve written previously, your legal resume and LinkedIn profile need to be optimized for maximum visibility and traction. Additionally, each need to align with the other. Your legal resume and LinkedIn will be a snapshot of your legal career, and a reader will quickly skim the information to grab important data, recognize your specialty practice areas, and understand the scope of experience. Dates, job titles, and company names need to align and synchronize between the resume and LinkedIn profile.

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While your legal resume will be more formal, your LinkedIn will want to also showcase the common themes within your brand. To ensure proper optimization and alignment between your resume and LinkedIn profile, you’ll want to do the following:

  • Ensure your brand positioning is clear and targeted. Do a brand audit and focus your attention on brand clarity. If you’re applying to roles that focus on niche areas of the law (e.g., cybersecurity, data privacy, labor and employment, etc.), a reader at first glance should know those are your areas of expertise. Include them in your LinkedIn headline and at the top of your legal resume.
  • Don’t send the reader on a fishing expedition. It shouldn’t take the reader finding out at the bottom of page two that you worked at an Am Law 100 firm. Front-load important details and key differentiators. Legal recruiters are looking for these when hiring for a specific role. If you’ve got public company experience, use the ticker symbol in the descriptor about the company and let the reader know in the top third of the resume and first few lines of your LinkedIn profile that you bring experience working for multiple public companies.
  • Understand and communicate your unique value. If you’re looking for a new general counsel role, or you’re seeking your first-ever general counsel role, study job postings and see the patterns of keywords within those roles. It’s then time to apply those keywords and show actions you’ve undertaken that make you a good fit. For extra advice on writing a general counsel resume, read my article, How To Write A General Counsel Resume (And Market Yourself Strategically), which provides step-by-step advice on how to approach the process of the general counsel resume.
  • Focus on the key areas of LinkedIn that push you higher in search results. Your headline, about/summary section, job titles (experience section), education, and skills sections will matter. Pin your top three relevant and high-level skills (note: they should not include Microsoft Word!).

Target Your Job Search

Job search strategies have changed dramatically in the digital age. It’s no longer a situation where you can apply via a job board site and wait for a response, or apply to only a few positions and wait. If you’re an experienced general counsel, or senior-level corporate counsel, you’ll want to tap into recruiter searches, commonly referred to as accessing the hidden job market. For reference and deeper insights, read my article: How General Counsels Can Activate The Hidden Job Market (And Connect With Executive Recruiters).

I recommend creating an Excel spreadsheet and organizing all aspects of who you’re reaching out to, what company they’re at, when you reached out, and detailed notes about your outreach and follow-ups. You’ll want to continuously update this spreadsheet as you move further into the job search process. It’s imperative to have outreach to multiple recruiters as each recruiter works with different client companies. Don’t be afraid to ask a trusted colleague, peer, or mentor which recruiters they’ve worked with in the past. It’s all about building the relationships and networking.

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Speaking of networking, nourishing your LinkedIn network should be a routine part of your relationship building — connect with lawyers who are in your niche practice area, industry, at and above your career level, and in other locations. You never know who may hold the key to the door for your next role. Set a schedule for your job search — this will include time set aside for researching companies and specific roles, networking with recruiters and other lawyers, applying to roles as well as outreach and follow-ups, and practicing for interviews. For additional job search strategy tips, read my article, How To Create A Job Search Strategy That Actually Works.

Create E-Notes And Networking Letters

As you begin targeting your job search, you’ll come to realize that templates and frameworks for creating cover letters, e-notes, and other variations of outreach will be imperative for moving forward with ease. While other professions are naysayers when it comes to cover letters, the legal profession still holds true to the statement that the cover letter isn’t dead.

Create a master cover letter template that you can use as the main framework and simply tweak as you go along. Have different variations of templates for quick e-notes that you can easily utilize when reaching out to a recruiter for the first time. These may include an e-note for a follow-up, an e-note for a post-resume application follow-up, and a follow-up e-note when you’re waiting for an answer back about the next round of interviews. The key is to be prepared, professional, and proactive.

Have a question about launching your fall job search? Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.

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