Determining Your Next Career Move: A Guide for Attorneys and Executives Over 40

Yesterday I spoke with my elder daughter, Lindsay, about her career. She just turned 41 and is having a career re-evaluation. She is right on time: Consistently over the years, the most common age for people to first reach out to Career Strategies for help is, you guessed it, 41.

My daughter has been a UX designer (something to do with websites) and an account executive for a tech company for the last 7 or so years. Before that, she did marketing communications and brochure production for a financial services firm. In college, she made money as an event photographer and as a waitress. She is also an orchestral-quality string bass player and a fine pianist.  She is a talented young woman with very diverse skills.

The tech company recently laid off my daughter and most of its staff. She’s not sure what she wants to do with her career. She could easily get another UX job, but she’d gotten bored and become generally unfulfilled by the work. She is ready for a change, but not sure to what!

Sound familiar?

Like my daughter, you have solved complex problems for your clients. But roteness and boredom may have set in, especially because you have mastered your practice area and for the rest of your life, you know it will be the same thing over and over and over.  Making this realization brings about a period of reflection and the question: “What’s next?”

Lindsay asked me if I could help her figure out her possible career options. I understand the transferrable skills of lawyers and executives, and can help them identify the realistic new career possibilities, but I’m not real swift when it comes to viable career alternatives for techies or musicians.  The best I can do for her is to offer general advice.

You may find this advice helpful, too.

1. Reflect on Your Achievements

Start by listing your career accomplishments. Consider the cases you’ve won, the deals you’ve closed, the projects you’ve led, and the results you have produced for your clients or companies. Don’t take these things for granted. You are solving problems every day at work. Start by listing them.

2. Identify Your Core Skills then Divide Them into Likes and Dislikes

What makes you good at what you do? It’s not your experience – it is the skills you have developed while gaining that experience! Make a list of your skills. Include both hard skills (such as specific legal expertise, negotiation, strategic planning) and soft skills (such as leadership, communication, problem-solving). Next, divide the skills into two columns – skills you enjoy using more and skills you enjoy using less. What skills are you most passionate about? Write them down.

3. Analyze Your Work Preferences

What aspects of your work do you find most fulfilling. Do you enjoy client interactions, courtroom appearances, strategic decision-making, or mentoring junior staff? Conversely, consider the tasks that you find less interesting. Perhaps it’s research or hunting for clients or dealing with personnel issues. Looking at your work function preferences will help you determine the type of work you want to focus on next.

4. Assess Your Values and Motivations

What drives you in your career. Is it the pursuit of justice, financial success, intellectual challenge, or making a positive impact? What makes you feel good about what you do? Understanding your core values and motivations will guide you towards career options that align with your personal principles. What would provide a sense of fulfillment and meaningfulness in your next job? Start making a list.

5. Evaluate Your Work/Life Balance

What do you want for work-life balance? At this stage in your life, you will have different priorities than you did when you first got out of law school or college. Back then, putting in 70 hours per week at the firm wasn’t such a big deal, but when you are 40+ you may want to spend more time with your family and be able to get to your kids’ soccer games and school plays. You may want to have more time to pursue your personal interests. This is an opportunity to ensure your next career aligns with your priorities. I have worked with numerous 40+ attorneys who want to exchange their 2,400 billable hours so they can spend time with their families … or start one!

6. Dare to Explore New Opportunities

Don’t be afraid to explore new opportunities within and outside your current field. Attend industry conferences, trade shows, networking events, and seminars to learn about emerging trends and potential career paths. My lawyer clients have transitioned into legal and non-legal positions in broadcasting, sports, auto racing, Wall Street, academia, motion pictures, fashion and more. They didn’t have experience in these fields, but they brought intellectual agility, issue-spotting, problem-solving, negotiation and many other skills that made them valuable … and employable.

7. Don’t believe in the Myths

There are many myths about career change for professionals. A big one is that you have to go back to the bottom career rung again. Another is that you will make less money. A third is that you can’t compete against people who have experience in the industry or job function that you don’t have. Bull. I say again: Bull. I have been navigating major career transitions for lawyers and senior executives for several decades, and I know these are just myths. You can go in at a high level, make as much money or more than you have been making, and can triumph over candidates with more experience on point than you. Those are facts.

8. Be Prepared. Study and Learn What you Need to Know. Fake the Rest.

At one point in my career, the TV and home video production company that I was with (and to this day still love) was sold to a VC and dismantled. I was out of a job. But, using a create-a-job technique that I now teach my clients, I coaxed an interview with a computer technology company.  I did not know a file server from a process server, but before the interview I learned everything I could about the company, its products, its competitors and its people. When I went in for the interview, I knew almost as much about the company as they did. I got the job, and later became an inside member of its Board. I have a friend, in his early 60s, whose company failed during Covid. He’s a liberal arts – analytical kind of guy, not a techie, but he saw an opportunity in a nearby company in another industry that was looking for an analytical type. The job required knowledge of Sequel, a very complex data integration program that does SQL inquiries. (I have no idea what that means). So in his 60s, he took on the challenge of learning Sequel and he got the job over people who knew the program cold. Why? Because he brought other skills to the table that the techies didn’t.

9. Embrace Change and Stay Positive

Finally, embrace the change with a positive mindset. I work with clients who are looking to make positive changes in their lives. They are nervous, skeptical and scared, but they want more out of their lives. Career transitions can be daunting, but they also present opportunities for growth, reinvention and reinvigoration. Stay open to new experiences and be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Remember, it’s never too late to find where you belong.

If you are an attorneyor senior executive and you’ve been thinking about exploring your career options or discovering “what else is out there” for you, or if you are not sure how to even start that process, get in touch with me today for a virtual cup of coffee. You will receive a confidential, no-cost consultation to discuss your situation and goals, and will also get expert advice on how to launch your job campaign.

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