We are pleased to announce that attorney Holly Gilmore Moetell has joined our consulting team. She comes to us after having had a career in law firms and as an in-house counsel. Holly began her career as an Associate in the Washington, D.C. law offices of Shaw Pittman, where she represented real estate developers and lenders. After five years, she left to join Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, where she handled real estate issues and Resolution Trust Corporation matters.  Later in her career, she was an Assistant General Counsel at Clark Enterprises, Inc., a large real estate development company.  As an GC, she supervised outside counsel with respect to partnerships, loans, leases and other commercial transactions.  Holly has relocated from Washington, D.C. to New York with her husband, a tax partner at a national law firm.  In addition to her work here, she is the co-founder and Vice President of a non-profit organization, the Women in Real Estate Foundation.  Holly has a B.A. in Economics, with Distinction, from the University of Virginia, where she was a Jefferson Scholar. She is also a graduate of Harvard Law School.  Holly’s primary role will be will be as a spearhead for our Recruiting and Outplacement functions. She will also be developing our relationships in the Philadelphia / metro Washington, D.C. markets, and will providing career counseling to our clients nationwide.

To start, don’t freak out. A lot of people who have law degrees have made an attorney career change, and you can, too! If you spend enough time working on your career planning goals, almost anything is possible. Below are three alternatives to the standard attorney jobs:

1. Become a consultant. In this economy, lots of businesses are looking for ways to save cash wherever they can. For some, this translates to outsourcing their staff attorney positions to freelance consultants. As a legal consultant, you can use your law degree to give great advice, without having to step foot in a courtroom.
2. Take up freelance writing. You know all of those briefs you wrote in law school? It could be time to put your writing skills to the test and apply for some freelance writing work. There are a variety of websites online that you can use to get started, and you’ll be able to work on your own schedule (and from the comfort of your own home…in your pajamas!). This kind of career planning move could be just what you’re looking for, and is quite lucrative over time.
3. Change your legal specialty. If you haven’t been impressed with the attorney jobs from legal placement services that you’ve some across so far, maybe you should broaden your search to include attorney jobs that are outside of your specialty. Sometimes, a little change is all you need!

1. Talk to employers about your overall experience. Did you write a compelling, persuasive brief? Did you negotiate a big deal? Did you manage a team of paralegals or other attorneys? Did you use your creative problem solving skills to produce results for your clients? Lawyers tend to think in terms of their practice areas. This kind of thinking short-sells their abilities. Your knowledge of your practice area can be obtained through studying. Your abilities to manage projects, supervise others, write effectively, analyze issues and negotiate deals are inherent talents upon which you can base a career change.

2. Consider becoming a consultant. Becoming a consultant is one of the easier way of making a career change. You can even start out on a freelance or ad hoc basis to gain some non-lawyer experience, all while keeping your regular job. This is a great way to test the waters and see what kind of positions are out there. It is also a way for potential employers to see the value you can bring to them. A recent “graduate” of our program wanted to transition into the computer industry. He offered to take on some non-legal projects for a technology company, and did the work on nights and weekends. They were so pleased with the results that they hired him full-time as Director of Special Projects. FYI — set your fees high – companies are much more willing to pay contractors a higher per-hour rate than hire somebody full time, so you should take advantage.

3. Expand your practice areas. Sometimes making a career change is more about getting away from a particular segment of law. One of our clients, a solo with a general practice, was very interested in financial planning. He took some courses and began studying for his CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation. After a time, he was able to add financial planning to his practice. This new area involves making presentations before investors, typically in small groups, and this satisfied our client’s love of public speaking. Eventually, he was doing more financial planning for clients than he was lawyering! Expanding your practice area involves the excitement of learning new disciplines, and can also be a great additional revenue stream!

1. Freelance legal work. If you’ve just been laid off from your big firm, or if you have a lot of extra time on your hands, and you do not want to make an actual career change, try doing freelance legal work. You can get in touch with the contract legal staffing or legal temp agencies and get on the list for document review or other short term assignments. You can also contact law firms that do not provide services in your practice area and work out a split for business that they can refer to you. You can also approach law firms to take on some of their over flow work.

2. Freelance writing. There are all kinds of journals, papers and magazines that could use a fresh legal perspective – your legal knowledge could earn you money, without having to do any actual legal work. Write up some query letters and send them off to as many editors as you can find. Publications like Writers Digest and Editor & Publisher will have names of companies. You can also do a Google search for publications. Lawyers doing freelance writing work can command a high per-word fee.

3. Consulting work. This is one of the easiest moves for a lawyer to make. There are lots of businesses, both large and small, that are in need of legal consultants. This work can often be rewarding, and is a fantastic way to break up the monotony of day-to-day legal work. As an added bonus, contracted consultants usually are able to charge significantly more per hour than their salaried counterparts. The hardest part of making this kind of career change is finding the actual consulting gigs, so having above average networking skills are important.

Still, it’s important to remain hopeful and keep trying. Here are some tips that will help you make your big New York career change:

1. If you are not happy with your current situation, don’t be afraid to make a switch. If you’re working as a lawyer, are burned out and don’t have a positive attitude, it may be time to change fields. That doesn’t mean that your J.D. has to go to waste, though: there are all kinds of things you can do with a law degree!
2. Create a career change resume. You will need to completely refocus your old resume to show why you are qualified for a new type of position. You should focus on the skills and experiences that are beneficial to the jobs for which you are applying. If you are seeking a managerial position, talk about how you manage associates and paralegals, not your ligation experience. If you are looking for a PR or corporate communications job, focus on your writing and presentation skills, not your knowledge of civil procedure or regulatory statutes. If your plans include working for a nonprofit, make sure you include any volunteer work that you have done.
3. Don’t get discouraged. Making a career change isn’t easy; in fact, it can be harder in the metro New York region than it is in many other places. The key is to not give up. If you didn’t get hired after nailing an interview, keep applying and going out on other interviews. Also, tweak your career change resume and cover letter until you find the right formula that hiring managers get excited about.

1. Identify what you’re good at and what you can offer an employer. Hiring managers aren’t just interested in filling open positions; they are interested in gaining assets for the company. How could you be an asset? What kind of information about you does an employer need to see to know that you will be a valuable addition to the team? You need to address your accomplishments in all of your marketing materials. You also need to make it very clear about how an employer can benefit through bringing you on board.
2. Rework your resume and cover letter. Depending on the industry, sometimes it is better to stand out and be different. People looking to make a career change to a  creative industry, like publishing or entertainment, could benefit from sending out distinctively formatted resumes and cover letters as representative of their creative talents. Often times, marketing yourself effectively means taking chances and standing out from the crowd.

Utilize new technology. The job market is a crowded place right now, saturated with many highly qualified people. Some have recently been laid off from a corporation or law firm, others are recent law school grads and there are also those who are looking to make a career change. To make sure you see (and are considered for) every available job, spread yourself out over the Internet. Use LinkedIn, Facebook and Craigslist. Post your resume on every job board and social media site you can identify – you never know where your next opportunity will come from. The posting process will take many hours, but if you land a six figure job, it will have been time well spent. You should also eblast your resume to as many executive recruiters that you can find; remember, too, that recruiters typically work nationally, not locally. In addition, you should  do cold mailings to companies of interest in your targeted location or industry — just because they are not advertising open positions doesn’t mean there aren’t openings. Keep in mind that research shows only about 7% of available jobs are advertised on the web. To find that 7%, you should  set up a “job agent” to scan the Internet for appropriate opportunities. Career Strategies can perform many of these services for you through our Contacts and Connections program.

1. Brush up on your skills. Anyone who is serious about career planning knows that you’ve got to keep your skills relevant. Often times, this translates to taking a class on the latest computer programs or educating yourself about the latest things going on in your industry. If you know what you’re doing, you’re more likely to get hired!
2. Hire a professional resume writer. Sure, a professional resume writer may cost some money up front. But it’ll pay for itself within the first week of you landing a new job, and you’ll have the peace of mind that comes along with knowing your resume is 100 percent error-free.
3. Focus on social networking. Millions of organizations and people have Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages these days…including companies that are currently hiring. New media is a great way to find out about new jobs as they’re posted – getting in early may be what gets you the job. For more information check out our prior post on using the internet for a career change!
4. Try part-time work. To prevent gaps in your resume (which is a major career planning no-no), try freelance, part-time or volunteer work. Keeping yourself busy isn’t just a great way to fend off boredom, it can also make the difference between getting hired and getting passed over for (another) job.

When you have done all the career planning you can possibly think of, it may be time to hire a professional resume writer.

One of the biggest advantages of hiring a resume writing professional is that you know your resume will be flawless and compelling. One of the biggest complaints that recruiters and human resource professionals have with job applicants is one of the easiest to correct: cover letters and resumes with glaring errors.

Let me give you an example of a letter we received from a candidate just the other day:

“I saw your “ad” on Monster.Com and am interested in your services.  My interests, skills, knowledge and abilities far exceed the law and would welcome the opportunity to discuss alternatices.  Resume attached.”

Beside the obvious typo (I have never discussed “alternatices” with anyone before), and the two less obvious grammatical errors, there is an error in judgment and presentation that would be sure to turn off a potential employer.

By hiring a professional resume writer, you are doing more than just career planning: you are taking an active role in your job search, and eliminating the possibility that a grammatical or strategic error on your resume could be holding you back. Yes, it will cost more money than if you were to sit down at your kitchen table and write it yourself, but you will end up with a presentation-quality resume that is not only completely error free, but which presents your credentials and talents in the best light possible.

You can work with your resume writer to customize resumes and cover letters for each individual job to which you apply. Tailoring your paperwork to match the specific criteria of each job that you are applying for will go a long way toward getting you noticed by the hiring managers.

When you work with a professional to highlight only your relevant work history, it will look like you spent your entire life concentrating on building your skills in that particular discipline or practice area. Although a professional resume writer will cost money up front, it is a small investment that can help you secure a six-figure job more quickly, and it will pay for itself many times over.

1. Get your resume in check. When is the last time you updated your resume? Realistically, you should be updating your resume each time that you apply for a new position. Tweak your former job descriptions to fit the position for which you are applying. And make sure that your resume has RESULTS that you produced, and is not just a rehash of your duties and responsibilities. Your duties and responsibilities barely matter … what matters is how well you exercised them!

2. Create a “wow” cover letter. As with your resume, you should update your cover letter for each job for which you are applying. Take the time to do some research on the company, and list several reasons why your skills and background would be valuable to them. Remember, in job search, it is not what they can do for you, it is what you can do for them.

3. Cast a wide net as you apply for jobs. Even if you are not sure if you are qualified for a position that you are interested in, apply anyway! You have nothing to lose and you might end up stumbling into your perfect career. Job specs listed in a posting are a wish list; oftentimes companies end up hiring candidates whose backgrounds are completely different from the original spec. Give it a try!

4. Apply, apply, apply. Don’t just cast a wide net, cast a deep one, too. Post your resume on every job-hunting website you can think of. Set up a job agent to scan the web for suitable positions. Do cold mailings and emailings to companies, even when they are not advertising. Read industry trade magazines to find out what is happening in your targeted field. Set up an auto reply program so you can apply for jobs without having to actually do any work! To get a sense of the types of things you can do, check out the Contacts and Connections page on our website. Happy hunting!

Hundreds of attorneys attended the New York State Bar Association’s annual career conference held in New York City on January 25, 2010. Many hundreds more participated in the event, which was simulcast on the web.

Career Strategies founder Bruce Blackwell was one of several panelists. His presentation contained solid information about job search methods and issues in this shaky economy. As a result, the switchboard at Career

Strategies has been overloaded with calls.

“The response has been much more than gratifying,” said Mr. Blackwell, who added that because of the volume of calls and emails that have been flooding in, “it has been hard for us to get back to everyone as quickly as we would like.” He asks callers and emailers to please be patient, and assures them that their inquiries will be followed up as quickly as possible.

Other panelists included Dr. Leslie Seppinni, Author of Excuse Free Living; Kelly Hoey, White and Case, Manager of Alumni Relations; and Elena F. Kaspi, President and Founder of LawScope Coaching. NYSBA Webmaster Barbara Beauchamp also made a highly informative presentation about how to use NYSBAs social networking tools.

This is the fourth time the New York State Bar has held a career conference, and the second to which Mr. Blackwell was invited to speak. The event was chaired by Lauren Wachtler, Chairperson of the Lawyers in Transition Committee.

The day consisted of three hours of formal presentations by the speakers, and then two more hours of Q&A from the audience.

“I was honored to be asked again to speak before the New York State Bar Association’s members,” said Blackwell. “The panelists presented truly outstanding information about how to navigate through these difficult times, and the audience asked some excellent questions covering the whole range of job search and career development issues.”

For those who could not attend, or who would like to see the presentations again, the full program is available on the internet through the NYSBA website.