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The best career advice you didn't get in law school

EVER WISHED THAT YOU WERE GIVEN THE LOWDOWN ABOUT REAL LIFE AS A JUNIOR LAWYER FROM THE START? IF YOU’RE IN THE EARLY

STAGES OF A LEGAL CAREER, THE FOLLOWING ADVICE MAY HELP

YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME AS A JUNIOR LAWYER.

As a summer clerk in the litigation group at a national firm in the

pre-GFC glory days, my first taste

of working in the law was coffees, extended lunches and longer deadlines. I was wined and dined and ultimately convinced that a

graduate traineeship was the path for me. Never mind that all my law electives were

human rights-related and I was not, by

nature, overly commercial.

Perhaps these warning signs should have been obvious but, as an optimist, I initially

embraced the opportunity to work at a commercial law firm. After years of study

and no savings, at last I was going to be

a lawyer. I understood that employment at a top-tier firm could be tough, with

long hours and less financial reward than

you may imagine. However, anticipating the challenges is very different from

experiencing the reality first-hand. So while

I didn’t begin my career with eyes closed, I

was probably wearing rose-coloured glasses.

Adequate information and insight could

have warned me about what being a young lawyer really involved, and thus saved me

sleepless nights and serious self-doubt.

How? I might not have become one after all. Dreary data-entry, epic billable targets and

all-nighters were just some of the trials and

tribulations I encountered in my first three years as a lawyer.

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I know that such challenges exist in many high-pressure professional workplaces, and that securing a job at a top law firm is an achievement. However, we can only live within our own experience and I wish that I had been better prepared for mine. If I had been, I might have had more realistic expectations from the outset.

Be adaptable

Law firms are first and foremost a business, and business needs will always prevail. This could mean that you do not get your first preference for a rotation, or get stuck doing discovery. Instead of viewing these situations as setbacks or taking it personally, consider them as opportunities to cultivate adaptability and resilience. These qualities are important for success in any career and are

developed through practice. Try to distinguish unpleasant circumstances from simply not getting what you want. When your career takes an unexpected and seemingly unfavourable turn, however, keep an open mind.

Set your workspace up for success

Modern workspaces assume that lawyers are all the same:

over 6ft with a body temperature suited to the tropics and no need for natural light. What else could explain the oversized chairs, and freezing, windowless offices of most junior lawyers? And they are the lucky ones. Those

less fortunate may be stuck in open-plan seating. Happily, most workspaces can be improved (within reason). An ergonomic assessment is a good place to start. This should

confirm whether key features (i.e. desk height, chair) are suitable. Also, if you need good lighting and silence to work effectively, consider using a desk lamp or head phones. Your colleagues may think it’s funny but if these small touches sharpen your performance, you will have the last laugh.

Build meaningful connections

They say that friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one!’ Working as a junior lawyer sometimes feels like a crash course in such moments, but they offer us the chance to make genuine connections with like-minded individuals. Bond over sandwich lunches, shared ignorance and common interests.

Book clubs, poker nights, after-work sports and even College of Law study sessions provide settings in which you can build personal connections with your peers. Of course, it is unwise to consider every co-worker as a confidant, just as it is unrealistic to expect to become everyone’s best friend. However, according to the simple laws of attraction and probabilities, there will be like-minded people in your workplace with whom you can connect over shared humour, passions or beliefs. In my case, they were word processors, librarians and fellow lawyers. If one day you should leave, they will be your best farewell gift.

Collect positive feedback

It is human nature, and especially corporate nature, to focus on the negatives. Supervisors manifest this tendency by highlighting what is wrong with a junior lawyer’s work, and we then obsess over how we could have done it better. Targeting areas for improvement is essential for professional development in any career, but it is equally

important to acknowledge one’s strengths.

Performance reviews are the best place to do this, so be prepared to back yourself then. Seek and record positive feedback that you receive verbally or through emails from colleagues and clients. This is evidence of good work, and should be kept for future reference, including at performance reviews. A collection of uplifting comments may also provide some perspective when the next misplaced full-stop threatens to ruin your career.

Embrace opportunities to fulfil your values

Most organisations claim to be driven by a set of

values. From top- to mid-tier law and accounting firms, government departments and community legal centres, integrity prevails as the most common value. Whether such values are reflected in the culture of a workplace is a different matter but they provide food for thought.

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What does integrity mean to you? What are your values? How do you fulfil these at work? For example, gratitude is

a strong personal value of mine. When a recent difficult transaction required some colleagues and myself to work beyond the call of duty, I gave them cupcakes after its completion. Yes, it was token, and we were all “just doing our jobs”, but it was important to me to thank them for making mine easier.

It’s a journey

The word “career” originates from the Latin cariara meaning a track or course, and the Oxford Dictionary defines it as a person’s ‘progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)’. Although organisations continue to struggle in the aftermath of the GFC, shifting employment conditions in a global market allow young lawyers today to pursue many different courses as we progress through life.

Given that I invested five years learning how to become one, the decision to stop being a lawyer did not come easily. After working for three years as a graduate and then solicitor, nor was my decision made in haste. I consulted family and friends, deliberated, and tried to work out what I would rather do instead.

Due largely to my interests and values, this was outside the law for me, but there are many diverse career paths within it that suit different individuals. In-house counsel, government/policy roles, industry or another law firm/ specialisation are all valid options that junior lawyers seeking to advance their career could consider.

Having left legal practice as a third-year lawyer, it is reassuring to know that my qualification and training at a top law firm will be invaluable tools for the next part of my career. Insight about the reality of a professional workplace, which I gleaned through laughter, tears, discussion and reflection, will also better equip me for the future. I wouldn’t give up those moments, and the experience of being a junior lawyer for anything; although at times it was a trial by fire, I came out of it a stronger person who will be better equipped to handle what life throws at me.

As you progress through your career, I encourage you to collect your own pearls of wisdom - some lessons are most valuable when you learn them for yourself. They may seem simple or obvious, but mine shaped me as a junior lawyer and as a person. They are now my proof that it was worth it - a souvenir of survival. •

SURALINI FERNANDO is volunteering at Asha Society in India and will read an MA [Master of Arts] in Governance and Development at the Institute of Development Studies in October 2012.

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