Fast forward several years. You are a mid-level associate at some big law firm and you are loving it. You are doing really well, getting excellent work, working with interesting clients, and happy that you found your calling. On the other hand, maybe you are not so lucky. You can’t see yourself continuing down this path. You are confused.
If the latter sounds like you, you might want to think about hiring a professionally-trained career counselor who will take you through a linear process to help you examine your situation and your natural aptitudes, skills, interests, values, personality style, and more. Perhaps at the end of the day, you find out that practicing law is a good fit for you, and you just need to make a few tweaks, such as finding a different firm, boss, specialty, or geography. Maybe you thank your lucky stars that you have invested a bit of time and money in a career counselor to help you figure things out before it becomes much more difficult to make a change. At the very least, you will have a better sense of what to look for.
Published by Sheryl Odentz on LinkedIn on May 15, 2019. Sheryl Odentz is the founder of Progress in Work LLC, an award-winning career management firm that provides lawyers and other professionals within the legal industry the skills they need to “progress in work” and maximize career success. Her three core specialties are in business development training/coaching, executive/leadership coaching and outplacement/career transition counseling. For more information, contact Sheryl at 212 -532-6670 or sodentz@progressinwork.com.