Are you like me, stuck in Sydney's lock down? Are you wondering what you can be doing, now that could impact your career? Here are 6 of my very best suggestions.
- Update your CV. Your CV is a dynamic document that should evolve as your experience grows. Pay particular attention to your matter list and make sure you include all the things that you have worked on over the last 12 months. Should that dream role come up (internally or externally) with little or no warning you are ready to go for it without too much fuss.
- Consider your career plan. Where do you want to be in 2 years? In 5 years? What can you be doing now to get there? Having a goal is one thing but working out how to achieve it is another, take advantage of the lock down to do some planning.
- Look at options for further education. Research what options are out there for further study that may enhance your technical expertise or commercial acumen. Lawyers need to be both technically excellent and commercially savvy to excel and these are learnt skills. Using your spare time to think about what courses may be open to you (and any pre-requisites that are required), and when applications need to be made is a really worthwhile activity.
- Give a thought to marketing. Think about how you might be able to market yourself so you can stand out. Can you be contributing to any relevant legal updates or blog posts about your practice area? Could you be more involved with business development? Could you instigate a marketing initiative at your firm? Are there any relevant industry contacts in your network? Think about business development and what you might be able to contribute to your firm.
- Engage with your network. Touch base with your mentors and/ or people you have admired in the legal industry and see how they are adapting to life with Covid. Suggest a coffee meeting when things have returned to normal and put something in the diary.
- Check in with a recruiter. You do not need to be actively be seeking a new role to ask them for their take on the market and what they may be seeing. Most recruiters enjoy long term relationships with people in their sector and now is an excellent time to check in (even if you are not considering a new opportunity in the short term).
Whilst the lock down may be starting to bite and every day may be starting to feel a little like ground hog day- From a career planning perspective, this is an opportune time to step back and give yourself the freedom to think about and plan for your future.
To discuss further, please call me at any time +61 413 823 687
