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Career Services Handbook - Career Planning: Self Assessments and Networking Self-Assessment The most logical place to start your career planning is by learning who you are and who you want to be. You can do this by engaging in a process called self-assessment. Self-assessment is simply the process of asking questions about yourself that will yield answers which will help you to make good career decisions. There are hundreds of career planning books on the market that contain self-assessment exercises (See the Appendix for recommendations.) Before you begin your job search we recommend perusing one of these books and spending time on the exercises it offers. When you know who you are and what you want, you will become that much more attractive to potential employers. Career Exploration The next phase of career planning is to take the information that you discovered about yourself and match the results with legal (and, if appropriate, non-legal) practice areas and settings. Your goal is to identify and research work environments where you will thrive. In addition, the transferable skills that you identify during your self-assessment will make your legal interviews easier to approach in spite of your nonlegal experience. You will have the opportunity to discuss what you have learned with your career counselor. Additionally, you should make an effort to attend panels at the Law School as well as other local programs sponsored by bar associations and practice groups. OCS sponsors several programs throughout the year where we invite alums or area lawyers to talk about their practice, what they like (and dislike) about their work, and to give general advice to students who are trying to gain experience in that area. You might also consider volunteer or part-time work in settings that interest you. Ultimately, the best way to research a particular setting is to spend time there and determine if it really suits you. Spring semester is the best time to sample different types of practice areas (and gain valuable experience while doing so). There are numerous opportunities as a first-year to do pro bono work where you will get direct legal experience working for local nonprofit organizations. OCS also maintains an extensive job listing system where local employers advertise for part-time academic year internships and paid positions. If you are not able to procure a full-time paid legal position for the summer, you might also consider obtaining a part-time volunteer position as a means to discovering more about possible settings that appeal to you. Networking You should constantly be networking with professionals in the areas that you are contemplating. You can generate a list of contacts (family, friends, faculty, previous employers, etc.) and make a point of contacting them to talk about their work. You can also ask OCS career counselors for names of alumni or consult with Seton Hall faculty, who will, under the right circumstances, provide students with a few of their colleagues in practice to contact. Another excellent networking resource is a bar association. All of the bar associations sponsor various events throughout the year that provide you with the opportunity to meet a wide range of people from multiple areas of practice. Most bar associations offer student memberships for a nominal fee of between $10 and $20 per year. Finally, you might consider attending a NJ Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) seminar after your first year. These seminars are often free to students and provide you with the opportunity to learn more about your subject matter of interest and meet other attorneys from that area of practice. The panelists are usually highly respected practitioners who are very approachable during breaks or at the end of the session. Consider the advantage of meeting a panelist from a firm you will be interviewing with the following week, or simply being able to highlight in an interview that you attend such seminars. While you may not always be formally networking, you are always networking. Anytime you come in contact with anyone remotely connected to the law, you are networking. You make an impression on everyone classmates, professors, alumni, law students from other schools, paralegals and legal assistants. You should always be gracious and pleasant. Its a small world! The classmate you ignore today may be the partner at the firm you are trying to court tomorrow; the paralegal may become your co-counsel. You never know where or when you will run into people from your past. In order to make future chance meetings as pleasant and rewarding as possible, treat everyone with respect today. Remember, you are always on. Although you are in school, you are a professional now. Think of the Law School and all of its events as your office. Follow this golden rule and your future will be a bright one. |
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