Junior attorneys: Be mindful of your assignments. Is your firm preparing you for the kind of work you want to do in the future?

I was coaching a 3rd year litigation associate. He worked at a fantastic top-tier litigation boutique. He said he was getting excellent training and working on some plum assignments. But he felt unhappy … rudderless.

After several career counseling sessions, which included some testing of his aptitude, skills, interests, values, and lots of discussion, he realized he was in the right field — litigation. But he did not want to be a general litigator.

Through our conversation, he concluded that he wanted to learn about employment law, adding that he could see himself eventually taking this specialty in-house.

Thankfully, his law firm had this specialty. He immediately sought out one of the partners to ask her if he could help out. So, junior attorneys: Be mindful of your assignments. Are they preparing you for the kind of work you want to do in the future? In short, it is about finding the kind of work that makes you happy and allows you to thrive and “progress in work.”

Stay tuned for more tips.

Published by Sheryl Odentz on LinkedIn on December 8, 2020. 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 following services: 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