Seven Tips for Continued Career Success

A recurring topic of conversation for my colleagues and me is continued professional development.  At this mid-level stage in our careers, we ask ourselves how we can help ensure forward progress toward professional goals. 

Forward movement does not always mean changing employers or promotions.  Significant changes may be few and far between depending on a professional's circumstances.  What may be more practical is to consider alternative, creative ideas for continued career growth.  Practicing mindfulness in your profession may produce more subtle results. 

A good place to start is to notice trends or changes in your industry, and pay attention to those patterns and pursue opportunities that align with your values, interests, and skills.  Thereafter, consider these options to stay engaged with your developmental process.  A few specific tips include:

(1)  Make one new "cold call" a month.  I recall I was riding with my mother in the car one day explaining my interest in getting to know a local lawyer because his practice area fascinated me.  I explained that I only knew of him and that I could only discern a few facts about him based on his LinkedIn profile.  When she asked me why I couldn't reach out to him, I did not have an answer.  I explained that I felt I would need an introduction or another formal method of contact.  Being the saleswoman that she is, she suggested I simply "cold call" him by reaching out via LinkedIn and invite him to lunch to learn about his practice area.  Despite being somewhat afraid at this unconventional method of connecting with people, I followed her advice.  This particular lawyer and I now enjoy a collegial relationship in which we exchange ideas about our jobs and roles as lawyers and advisors for our clients.  Be bold about making connections.  Ask for referrals.  Make new friends.

(2)  Volunteer.  Spend some time researching whether a volunteer opportunity is right for you in terms of time, effort, and interest.  Take a board member or other staff member out to lunch to learn more about the organization you are considering.  Support a cause that interests you to stay connected to community.

(3)  Research and pursue a speaking engagement.  What do you know?  What are you good at?  What do other people tell you you're good at?  Start small by offering to add value by speaking/teaching at a non-profit organization's monthly board meeting or volunteer to speak at a community event on a substantive legal issue in your area of expertise.  Re-engage with your alma mater, and identify whether there are any speaking opportunities in front of students.  Research opportunities for speaking engagements at local, state, national, and even international levels by identifying organizations whose missions align with your interest.

(4)  Write an article.  Research various publications whose interests and tone align with your personal brand and area of expertise.  Offer to write an article on your area/s of expertise, and see if there is corresponding interest on the other side.  Even if the publication is not interested in your precise topic in the moment, make it a point to follow up to see when your area may become relevant to their audience in the future.  Don't give up!

(5)  Take a class.  Study a topic that is interesting to you or one that you have been putting off for a long time.  Sign up for that Portuguese class at your local community center, or enroll in that Spanish for lawyers class hosted by your local bar association.  Obtaining a new skill through taking a class is a great way to add to your resume.  Explore opportunities to study an advanced degree in an area that interests you or could help you perform your job duties better.  It may lead you to the next person, skill, or opportunity to help you make that incremental change.

(6)  Break bread with an old or new friend.  Do not forget about nourishing the relationships that have supported you throughout the past years in terms of references and recommendations -- those folks who know you and what you're good at.  Make time for breakfast, coffee, or a happy hour to keep these relationships alive and keep your friends and colleagues updated on what you're doing.  It's all about self care -- both personally and professionally.

(7)  Refresh your LinkedIn profile.  Lastly, here are a few quick tips for improving your LinkedIn profile that you should be able to complete in five minutes or less for immediate impact:

(a)  Create a customized URL, and make sure to include in on your resume and cover letter if job searching.

(b)  Add connections periodically as your network grows.

(c)  Add community service.  I notice that this is the most forgotten aspect of developing a LinkedIn profile, yet it is a common question in job interviews and applications, nominations for community awards, biographies for speaking on panels, etc.

Enjoy the process of developing your professional background in alternative ways that may seem like small steps now but may have the potential for large impact for your future.  

© 2017 Melanie Glover. All rights reserved.

First image above:  Shutterstock.

Making an Internship Count (Even After It's Over)

By now you’ve worked long hours, made relationships, collaborated on projects, and completed your internship experience.  Hopefully, you’ve grown through the hard work and learned a few things along the way.  As you look back, you can see that you have had a positive, worthwhile experience while interning because you set it up for success and worked hard during the experience. 

So, now what?

Of course, your internship experience is valuable content for your resume.  However, there are other ways to make an internship experience even richer after it is over.

(1) Recall your work, and write it down.

Take some time to reflect.  Write out each task you completed, and think about specific action verbs to describe what you did.  This will help you develop an entry about your experience for your resume.  Once developed, add the details of your experience to your resume and LinkedIn profile, or write a post for your blog or an article about your experience for your school.  Consider speaking on a panel at your school about your internship, or ask a professor how you might showcase your experience further.  More exposure and visibility helps build credibility around you and your experience.

(2) Provide feedback.

Describe to your supervising professor or supervisor at your internship what you spent most of your time doing and what could be better for the future for other interns.  Think of any related-to-your-internship advice that you could provide to others.  What skills are necessary for a successful internship?  What work did you enjoy?  What could have been better?  Keep it positive, but don't be afraid to provide constructive criticism to help future interns, the internship site, and any supervising professors understand what went well and what could be better for the future.  This feedback helps you demonstrate your interest and own your experience while being an honest voice for others to learn from you and interact with you.  

(3) Ask (sooner rather than later after the experience) for a letter of recommendation.

Ask for a letter of recommendation from the supervisors and colleagues with whom you worked most closely.  When you ask, be prepared to have a letter or at least bullet points already written about your work with that person.  This makes it easier on the person you're asking for the letter if you have something already prepared, and it allows you to control the message somewhat by helping narrow the focus for the tone and intended audience of the letter.

(4) Stay in touch.

Send a handwritten thank you note after your experience to your former supervisors and colleagues.  Connect with your former supervisors and colleagues on LinkedIn.  Send an old-fashioned, handwritten holiday greeting once a year.  Send an e-mail once in awhile to keep them thinking of you (e.g. "this article reminded me of project ABC that we worked on together last summer.  I thought you would find it interesting.").  This will help you to stay at the top of their minds if you need a future reference.  

(5) Just keep going.

It may be difficult to consider at this point in your career where your focus should be.  As aspiring professionals, we should focus on what value we can add to a potential employer instead of creating self-serving experiences.  Your first internship experience may not lead to your dream job, but trust that each experience moves you that much closer to where you would like to be.  The skills, relationships, and knowledge you acquire throughout an internship experience can only help you develop professionally and personally.  Have confidence that you've made important steps toward advancing your career, and you do so with each step you take or experience you accumulate.  Trust the process; enjoy the journey; and stay encouraged that each internship is another step toward your career goals.

© 2017 Melanie Glover. All rights reserved.

First image above:  Shutterstock.

Storytelling: How to Start Advocating for Your Future Self Now

Let’s start with some honest perspective:  your first job may not be your dream job.  However, keep in mind that your first job out of school or first position when starting a new career does not have to limit what type of professional you are five or 10 years from now.  In fact, neither do the second or third jobs you may have.  Obtaining some experience is a start, and what you do with it while obtaining it – and after you have it – are key factors in positioning yourself for the type of future career you desire.

Your professional brand develops with and through your experiences and reflection.  Because you are largely in control of your own voice, the good news is that you get to develop and put forth the message.  Regardless of where you start as a professional, consider each step in your career as a component of your personal brand.  You get to choose what you do with the experiences you have by how you characterize and describe them to others.  You can create messaging about your experiences on your resume, online professional profiles, and in your professional and personal interactions in the tone that best reflects the path you seek to pursue.  

Telling your own professional story involves focusing your career path by changing the way you think and speak about it to others.  To do this, consider these steps:

(1)  Get clear about what career or direction you want.  Even if striving toward clarity means defining two or three different career directions or positions that interest you, the important task here is to identify them.  Written words are best because they help you visualize and be more precise and intentional in your descriptions.  Practice describing these positions or researching job descriptions that might interest you.  For example, type into a job search site various combinations of keywords that interest you, and see what types of fascinating jobs pop up.  You might be surprised what creative positions are out there that just might be what you're looking for.

(2)  Focus on transferable skills from your previous and current work.  Consider your first research projects, client interactions, leadership opportunities, meetings, phone calls, etc. to add substance to your professional profile.  Don’t forget internships and volunteer experiences!  Come up with real examples of substantive work you have completed in which you acquired skills that you could use for another employer in a different context.  Recalling precise examples helps you better prepare for a conversation during a networking happy hour or job interview about how you are now equipped to take on similar yet new challenges given the skill development you've been doing.

(3)  Draft and share the messages you want to be heard.  Considering your interests (from point (1) above) and transferable skills (from point (2)), come up with some key talking points that you wouldn't mind sharing with a friend, family member, or colleague about the new story you wish to tell about yourself.  What are your new interests (point 1), and what skills are you building upon from your previous or current work to aim toward where you want to go (point 2)?  Then, practice delivering that message about the type of professional you are and the one you want to become – even if the experience you have is not in the area in which you would like to grow.  An honest yet creative approach will help you use each experience – even the not so glamorous ones – for your professional development. 

Example:  Let's say you have an interest in the health field, but your work experience is in marketing.  Once you start writing and sharing your story (interest plus skills) with others whom you trust, people may start to think of you for an opportunity like serving on the board of a non-profit organization that needs your expertise to develop a branding campaign for a particular service they offer.  From there, you can develop real, specific experience related to your desired direction.

As a professional, and especially as a young or new one, remember that you are always working for yourself by defining your accumulated experiences related to the ones you desire in a positive, confident way.  Your everyday professional development is largely in your thoughts and words.  You are ultimately responsible for the professional you become, so try not to rely on someone else to develop you into the professional you wish to be.  Ensure that you meet your professional goals by identifying and promoting messaging that is true to who you are as a person and skilled worker to attract the career opportunities you most desire.  

Be your own best advocate!  Through personal storytelling, start aiming now for the types of experiences you wish to help define a better version of yourself for the future.  After having practiced law now for over six years, please know that it only gets better from here.

© 2017 Melanie Glover. All rights reserved.

First image above:  Shutterstock.

Looking Back to Step Forward

Sometimes we have to return to the places we’ve been to understand just how far we’ve come since last standing in those places.  Madrid is one of the places for me.

Madrid has represented people, places, restaurants, malls, schools, apartments, art, street fairs and festivals, tests, walks, meals, cooking classes, and so much more for at least a third of my life.  It was here I grew up and became an adult, learned how to cook, taught English, began studying law, and survived and defended myself – with the help of many friends – in a language not my own.

Revisiting this place is always nostalgic for me.  I loved living here, and the pictures my mind holds of each memory are like a fresh painting with each glance I take of a monument, plaza, or street sign I had seen at least once before throughout the past 10 years.

Revisiting a familiar place is part of this self-care journey of introspection and continued growth.  To understand how far we have been, we have to remember where we have come from. 

In Madrid I was young, recently out of college, and excited for numerous new experiences.  Ten years later, I have now graduated from law school, started my legal career, and identified a specific practice area I would like to pursue.  I’ve gotten to know myself, and I’ve owned my unique interests and opinions in various contexts.

On a recent visit to Madrid while sitting in a gelato shop waiting for a friend, I overheard two Americans ordering at the counter.  I recognized their accents right away, and we struck up a conversation. 

They were just like me 10 years ago:  studying abroad, pursuing legal internships, and practicing Spanish.

Palacio Real, Madrid

We shared experiences, and they asked me what I currently do.  I explained to them how my steps in Madrid had led me to my current role in international law; how I used my Spanish skills daily; how to make the most of their time in Spain; about law school should they pursue it (they were both interested); and beyond.  Their eyes were wide the entire time.

At the end of our conversation, I realized the insight, progress, and strength that coated my words as I had spoken them.  Our conversation was short, but its depth had meaning I had hoped for not only these two young women but also for myself. 

Looking back, I realized I had accomplished the goals I had set out for myself when I arrived in Madrid, when I left Madrid, and since I had lived there.  While Madrid might have been the birthplace of many of my professional and personal goals, it was also a point of reflection along my journey.  Madrid had been one of the stops on my train ride, and to acknowledge it in its entirety, I needed to glance back at it ever so briefly.

“Don’t look back” is a phrase that has never helped me to acknowledge where I have been.  It’s never helped me with acceptance.  While it’s important not to linger in the past, it’s also important to spend some time in the present and acknowledge the importance of past lessons in life.  The contrast between past and present paints a new picture:  one of nostalgia paired with one of growth measured by the distance between those old warm feelings and where you now stand. 

I’ve never been so happy to share gelato with strangers whom I could mentor and learn from in a mere 10 minutes.  My recipe for growth nowadays is this:  be still; look back and acknowledge; step forward; repeat.  Of course, enjoying a little gelato along the way doesn’t hurt.

© 2016 Melanie Glover. All rights reserved.

Writing Your (Professional) Story: Tips for Young Professionals

Part of self care is developing yourself both personally and professionally as well as learning how to tell both sides of your story.

Throughout the past few years, I have met with interns and paralegals – those just starting in the legal profession – about “what it’s like” to be a lawyer.  This summary includes just a few tips I find myself sharing every time.

When job searching, everyone wants to stands out – but how?  While I do not believe in any set of hard rules for drafting a resume or creating a professional profile, I have learned a few general tips to begin establishing yourself in print and the digital space.

Keywords and Summaries

Being a professional requires strong communication and writing skills where precision in word choice and order is critical.  The words you use to create a resume or LinkedIn profile should match the language you use in your job search.  Become familiar with the terms commonly associated with the role you seek in the company and region you seek it.  Read job descriptions in the field you are looking to get an idea of the vocabulary currently used in the industry.  Then, try to connect your experience, education, and skills to the descriptive words you have identified by drafting a summary about yourself to place near the top of your resume.  This helps show a potential employer that you already have demonstrated knowledge or experience in the role you are seeking.  If your experience is limited, that’s okay.  This is still a valuable exercise that will help you position yourself to start moving in the direction you want to go by identifying relevant experience and skills for the job or industry you wish to pursue.

Links

Building a professional profile requires not only a polished, thoughtful, and genuine resume but also an online presence.  Consider spending time developing a LinkedIn profile by filling out all of the sections relevant to the next step in your career:  include publications, leadership positions, a link to your blog, languages, etc. to demonstrate credibility and tell your story further.  A link on your resume to your LinkedIn profile will provide a potential employer the opportunity to gain additional insight into who you are and why you want (and should get) the job for which you are applying. 

Unique Traits

What makes you different?  We all have a story.  Perhaps you studied abroad and acquired language skills or knowledge about a particular issue important to a potential employer, or maybe you served in the Peace Corps or military.  If you have had a unique experience – especially if relevant to the position for which you are applying – be sure to add it.  At the very least, it may help you establish a personal connection with the individual reviewing your resume, which could help make a lasting impression.

Specificity

Stay away from ambiguous adjectives and verbs when describing professional experiences.  Use precise adjectives, verbs, and numbers to provide concrete information about what you have done and what you can do.  Always be honest, and aim for specificity to avoid appearing vague or misleading.

Keep in mind that your resume is only part of your professional profile, and it should be consistent with (1) the message you want to send about yourself, and (2) any other material about you that may be accessible (cover letter, letters of recommendation, online articles you have written, online articles about you, your online presence, etc.).  Connect your previous experiences and skills to the job you are searching for with detail and accuracy to put forth the best version of yourself.

© 2016 Melanie Glover. All rights reserved.

First image above:  Shutterstock.