Career & Professional Development Blog

Facebook Professional Success Story

We've all heard the stories and some of us have seen them happen to people we know:  a great candidate didn't get the interview or didn't get the offer because of problems with their online persona.  A scandalous Flickr.com photo or a tasteless comment on YouTube has come back to haunt many a qualified, talented person.  With all that negative news, it is nice to hear from someone who used one of the biggest culprits to her professional advantage.  Below is the message:

"I started a facebook group about two years ago for alumni of my collage. Beyond my expectations,  the group membership exploded and is now an active discussion and meeting board including student, faculty, and alumni. Another alum messaged me out of the blue, told me he had noticed my posts, and said he was impressed with my thoughts and articulation in the discussion threads. He introduced himself and mentioned he is a founding partner of small law firm. During our correspondence he asked how my job search was going and mentioned that he might be looking for a new associate. One thing lead to another and his firm just offered me the position!" 

So, as you embark on a job search, remember to pay attention to your online persona.  Make sure it helps you, not hurts you!  Start with:

1. Setting your personal Facebook or MySpace page to private.
2. Googling yourself and see what is out there. Correct any unprofessional or damaging items that you have control over.
3. Combating negatives that you don't have control over with professional activities. Here are some ways to do that:

• Start a blog about the area of law you are interested in and write frequent, professional posts.  Link to other experts in the field. 
• Join LinkedIn and flesh out your profile.  In order for LinkedIn to come up early in search engine results, you need to utilize it to its full potential.  Guy Kawasaki has an excellent article on how to do this at his blog found at 

            http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/linkedin_profil.html

• Promote your positive image. When you write a great post on your blog, forward it to your professional networks.  Send it to Digg (www.digg.com) or Slashdot (www.slashdot.org) to share with people you have yet to meet.

Carla DeVelder, Notre Dame Law School

Back to Basics

It is essential that you know as much as possible about the employer with whom you are going to interview. Spending 5 minutes reading the employer’s website or glossy brochure is NOT effective preparation! You should never use a screening interview to find out the “basics” about an employer. You want to save your precious interview time for insightful questions that convey your interest and not waste the time gathering basic information that can easily be accessed prior to the interview!
So, what are the basics and where do you find that information?

THE BASICS:

• Size Structure (associate to partner ratio, number and practice area of different divisions within the firm, number of offices, etc.)
• Location
• Areas of practice
• Involvement in the community
• Representative clients
• Current news items about the firm or its attorneys
• Diversity
• Pro bono policies
• Salary ranges
• Billable hours

WHERE TO FIND THIS INFORMATION:

• The employer’s brochure or web site
• The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) Directory (www.nalpdirectory.com)
• Lexis and Westlaw—search individual attor-neys or firms in caselaw directories to find representative clients and/or recently decided cases
• Martindale Hubbell (www.martindale.com)
• Infirmation.com
• Your career services office
• Alumni who work (or have worked) for the firm/agency

Carla DeVelder, Notre Dame Law School

Make a job description work for you!

Most job postings for law firm positions are bare-bones:   "entry level associate needed for busy family law practice"

When you apply for corporate, non-profit or academic positions, you usually get more to work with because there is a human resource professional who works with the department to craft a meaningful job description. 

Every word is in the description for a reason.  Make it work for you by mirroring every bit of its language in your resume and cover letter.  When discussing something that you have yet to do, use the specific language to link the requested or required experience to something that you have done.

Susan Gainen
University of Minnesota Law School