We had an event planned in late January that was cancelled due to weather, and select panelists and Career Professional Development counselors were gracious enough to answer the questions the moderator would have asked.
Interview I.
Did you know what you wanted to do with your law degree?
I thought I did. I went to law school with the idea of working with children in the law.
How did you know?
All my career aspirations revolved around working with children. I wanted to be a teacher, I volunteered in after-school programs, I nannied through college.
At what point in your career or education did you know this?
In my mind, I had known my goals at the start of law school. But, they quickly changed when I realized I’m much more collaborative than adversarial.
Who and what helped form your career path and goals? Did you create an intentional job search? How did you do this? What would you differently?
I tried out several different clerkships from work in a county attorney’s office to real estate title work.
How did volunteering, bar associations, or affinity groups play a role in determining and/or fulfilling your career goals?
I volunteered in a prosecutor’s office and was able to gain great courtroom experience. It helped me feel more comfortable with courtroom decorum and with communicating with judges and court staff. I also realized I had no desire to be in court.
What do you now know that you wish you’d known when you started your career
I wish I’d networked more with people in other areas of the law. I should have learned more about all the jobs available to a law school graduate so I could have been more intentional about exploring different areas of work. I didn’t seek out the advice of many people, but rather listened to only a few perspectives.
Interview II.
Did you know what you wanted to do with your law degree?
Given my degree/interest in psychology I thought estate planning and elder law would be a good fit – highly interpersonal/people focused.
How did you know?
Really just a gut feeling – confirmed by the courses I took (or so I thought – reading cases isn’t much preparation for the reality of practicing).
At what point in your career or education did you know this?
While in law school the only intentional job search strategy was to participate in OCI – I was a summer associate at a firm with an estate planning group. I was able to do work in that area and developed contacts. The firm had no intention on bringing me on as an associate but I didn’t know that. Overall, it was a good learning experience and the contacts I made led to my first job practicing and another became a contact at a different firm later in my career.
Who and what helped form your career path and goals? Did you create an intentional job search? How did you do this? What would you differently?
Most of my positions have come about because of the contacts/relationships I’ve made (and not necessarily in predictable ways).
How did volunteering, bar associations, or affinity groups play a role in determining and/or fulfilling your career goals?
I would have been more involved while in school – volunteered, taken clinics etc. There is so much more now!
What do you now know that you wish you’d known when you started your career
I’m not much of a long term planner – the question where do you see yourself in 5 yrs etc is not something I can answer and frankly something that doesn’t make sense to me. I see things much more fluidly and that’s really helped me see the value in my varied career path.
Interview III.
Did you know what you wanted to do with your law degree?
No, I had no clue what I was going to do with my law degree when I started law school. I thought maybe I’d be an entrepreneur and start my own business (even though I was not sure what kind of business it might be), and if that didn’t work out, I’d have a versatile degree to take into “corporate America.” I didn’t even contemplate private practice because I didn’t know enough about it at the time.
How did you know?
See above. No clue.
At what point in your career or education did you know this?
It wasn’t until after my first year of law school when I was a summer associate at Lindquist & Vennum did I learned more about private practice and discovered that may be my career path.
Who and what helped form your career path and goals?
Well, getting a permanent offer from Lindquist after my first summer essentially formed my path. As the proverbial saying goes, I received an offer I couldn’t refuse, so I accepted and started in private practice right out of law school.
Did you create an intentional job search? How did you do this? What would you differently?
I didn’t. I simply applied for all the summer associate positions that I possible could. I did some online searching, talked to career services, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and applied.
How did volunteering, bar associations, or affinity groups play a role in determining and/or fulfilling your career goals?
Networking in general is important because you can learn about the practice and meet others who will be good sounding boards for advice and potential direct referrals for job opportunities.
What do you now know that you wish you’d known when you started your career?
I wish I would have started networking more seriously, sooner!