You’ve heard it before – “get out there and network” or “start networking early” – and everyone processes this advice differently, absent further instruction and rationale. Some of us were made for small-talking our way around a crowd, connecting quickly and easily, and preferring to think of networking in relational terms as community-building. Some are more reserved and feel unsure as to whether networking events might be an unfair distraction from the “real work,” benefiting the chatty over the competent. Others are eager to do it well but need goals and instructions. In fact, both successful job placement and legal practice require competence in this essential “soft skill.” To network well, everyone needs preparation, practice, and a roadmap, complete with do’s and don’ts.
Do… Create a long-term networking plan that will not only answer your questions and fill in the gaps in your understanding of various aspects of legal practice, but also edge you closer to your target geographic and practice areas.
Do… Prepare an “elevator speech,” i.e., a 30-second description of who you are and what you do, as though you had only the 30 seconds between floors to demonstrate your value and to make the other person want to keep talking with you. Write your elevator speech. Practice speaking it aloud.
Do… Practice speaking aloud the answers to common interview questions, as many of these questions pop up in networking settings, as well. Where are you working this summer? What made you decide to work in Chicago? What brought you to law school? What kinds of projects have you been working on? What has been your best/worst experience in law school so far? What questions do you have for me?
Do… Optimize your LinkedIn page, and broaden your social media presence. Google your name. Check all of your social media accounts to ensure that someone researching your name would not come across anything embarrassing or damaging to your career prospects. Such content includes poor partying decisions, political outspokenness, and unkindness online.
Do… Join an American Bar Association practice group for your preferred area of law.
Do… Attend networking events set up by WashULaw.
Do… Schedule networking coffees or phone meetings when you don’t need anything from the other person (as well as when you do).
Do… Contact the Career Center for a customized list of alumni in your desired cities and practice areas, and then contact those alums for phone or coffee meetings. You are not asking them to help you land a job, though they may offer; you are asking for their wisdom, in the hope that the connection and advice will help you later.
Do… In the case of networking events, receptions, and happy hours, inform the event coordinator by the RSVP deadline that you plan to attend. Closer to the time of the event, follow up with the coordinator to request the names of others who are planning to attend.
Do… Research. Use online tools, such as LinkedIn and firm websites, to learn about the career paths, practice areas, and industries of focus for the people you expect to meet. Research whether they are featured in any recent news stories. If you are attending a firm-sponsored event, spend at least 30 minutes on the firm’s website to determine what is important to that business and what makes them proud. Think of how you can communicate how you will add value to the firm. Finally, if you may be speaking with someone from a different culture, including regional or ethnic differences, familiarize yourself with the language patterns and cultural norms you need to know in order to show respect, avoid social errors, and stand out from the crowd.
Do… Write out meaningful, measurable goals for the encounter. For example, at a networking event, you might commit to meeting five new people, obtaining their business cards (or other contact information), and setting up phone or in-person meetings within a week of the networking event. As another example, you might commit to learning about, and gaining perspective on, a certain subject.
Do… Dress appropriately. Dress like a lawyer, not like a law student. If formality is in question, err on the side of greater formality.
Do… Be clean and well-groomed. Brush your teeth one last time before the meeting or event begins. Many people will look directly at your teeth while you talk.
Do… Practice good posture and a strong stance. Truly, practice everywhere you go. Make good eye contact, and don’t let your eyes wander around the room. Listen, smile, and nod. Through these actions, you demonstrate that you are confident, interested in what the other person has to say, and fully engaged. For some, this feels obvious and natural. For others, prolonged eye contact may feel so uncomfortable as to be actually painful. Practice with friends, family, strangers in line at Starbucks, starting with the least intimidating people and working up to the most intimidating. You’ll get the hang of it. Effective presence is part of your job.
Do… After the event, write down one key fact about each person you met, so that you will have a reason to follow up. For instance, if you are told that Mr. Jackson will be in Michigan with his family next week, you can follow up in two weeks, saying that you enjoyed speaking with him at the event (or are grateful for the opportunity to have met him), hope that he had a wonderful trip to Michigan, and would like to schedule a follow-up phone call or coffee.
Do… Have an accountability buddy. Especially when you know that you will be attending events when you are already tired from a long day or a relentless schedule, you may benefit from arranging with a buddy to act as each other’s sounding boards for goals and strategies, as well as to provide accountability for following through with networking plans, both short-term and long-term, and the sending of follow-ups and thank you notes.
Do… Carry business cards, if you have them. It is the act of exchanging cards that matters, not whether anyone puts the business cards they acquire to meaningful use. Having a card shows your preparedness.
Don’t… Talk about yourself first or hog the conversation. Remember that the other person is there to network, as well, so keep the other person interested by allowing him or her the freedom to talk about him or herself. Be patient. Consider this your opportunity to practice your client interview and deposition skills by asking good questions. Eventually, the conversation will come back around to you.
Don’t… Get drunk. Summer is hot, you’re tired and thirsty, and this one can take you by surprise. One beer or one glass of white wine, consumed slowly, is usually fine and will not stain your teeth or clothes. If you choose not to drink alcohol, consider asking the server for a piece of lime in your beverage, so that it is difficult to discern whether you are drinking.
Don’t… Cling to one person at an event or let a networking meeting run beyond the time when it is scheduled to end. Be respectful of the other person’s time and objectives. You can always follow up later with someone you especially want to get to know.
Don’t… Speak unkindly about anyone or anything, even an unpopular law school course or lousy sports team, and even if the other person initiates the criticism. People often are unaware of their own negativity, but they rarely are unaware of another person’s, especially that of a job-seeker.
Don’t… Stare at your phone for a prolonged period of time, seeming to be busy with messages. This is a common way of avoiding the momentary awkwardness of arriving early or lacking a conversation partner, but it will tend to make you slouch and look uninterested. Embrace the awkwardness, and go join a conversation. That said, if another person checks a sports score on his or her phone, you are allowed to look, but keep it to less than one minute.
Don’t… Talk at length about any single non-law activity, e.g., sports. Not everyone follows sports, even hometown sports, and sports-only conversations almost guarantee that less enthusiastic contacts will drift quickly out of the conversation.
Don’t… Expect to see the fruit of your networking efforts instantly. Some of the relationships you build now won’t be obviously important in your life until much further down the road.
Do… Contact the WashULaw Career Center for further advice, mock interviews, and help finding alumni contacts and events near you.
You’ve heard it before – “get out there and network” or “start networking early” – and everyone processes this advice differently, absent further instruction and rationale. Some of us were made for small-talking our way around a crowd, connecting quickly and easily, and preferring to think of networking in relational terms as community-building. Some are more reserved and feel unsure as to whether networking events might be an unfair distraction from the “real work,” benefiting the chatty over the competent. Others are eager to do it well but need goals and instructions. In fact, both successful job placement and legal practice require competence in this essential “soft skill.” To network well, everyone needs preparation, practice, and a roadmap, complete with do’s and don’ts.
Do… Create a long-term networking plan that will not only answer your questions and fill in the gaps in your understanding of various aspects of legal practice, but also edge you closer to your target geographic and practice areas.
Do… Prepare an “elevator speech,” i.e., a 30-second description of who you are and what you do, as though you had only the 30 seconds between floors to demonstrate your value and to make the other person want to keep talking with you. Write your elevator speech. Practice speaking it aloud.
Do… Practice speaking aloud the answers to common interview questions, as many of these questions pop up in networking settings, as well. Where are you working this summer? What made you decide to work in Chicago? What brought you to law school? What kinds of projects have you been working on? What has been your best/worst experience in law school so far? What questions do you have for me?
Do… Optimize your LinkedIn page, and broaden your social media presence. Google your name. Check all of your social media accounts to ensure that someone researching your name would not come across anything embarrassing or damaging to your career prospects. Such content includes poor partying decisions, political outspokenness, and unkindness online.
Do… Join an American Bar Association practice group for your preferred area of law.
Do… Attend networking events set up by WashULaw.
Do… Schedule networking coffees or phone meetings when you don’t need anything from the other person (as well as when you do).
Do… Contact the Career Center for a customized list of alumni in your desired cities and practice areas, and then contact those alums for phone or coffee meetings. You are not asking them to help you land a job, though they may offer; you are asking for their wisdom, in the hope that the connection and advise will help you later.
Do… In the case of networking events, receptions, and happy hours, inform the event coordinator by the RSVP deadline that you plan to attend. Closer to the time of the event, follow up with the coordinator to request the names of others who are planning to attend.
Do… Research. Use online tools, such as LinkedIn and firm websites, to learn about the career paths, practice areas, and industries of focus for the people you expect to meet. Research whether they are featured in any recent news stories. If you are attending a firm-sponsored event, spend at least 30 minutes on the firm’s website to determine what is important to that business and what makes them proud. Think of how you can communicate how you will add value to the firm. Finally, if you may be speaking with someone from a different culture, including regional or ethnic differences, familiarize yourself with the language patterns and cultural norms you need to know in order to show respect, avoid social errors, and stand out from the crowd.
Do… Write out meaningful, measurable goals for the encounter. For example, at a networking event, you might commit to meeting five new people, obtaining their business cards (or other contact information), and setting up phone or in-person meetings within a week of the networking event. As another example, you might commit to learning about, and gaining perspective on, a certain subject.
Do… Dress appropriately. Dress like a lawyer, not like a law student. If formality is in question, err on the side of greater formality.
Do… Be clean and well-groomed. Brush your teeth one last time before the meeting or event begins. Many people will look directly at your teeth while you talk.
Do… Practice good posture and a strong stance. Truly, practice everywhere you go. Make good eye contact, and don’t let your eyes wander around the room. Listen, smile, and nod. Through these actions, you demonstrate that you are confident, interested in what the other person has to say, and fully engaged. For some, this feels obvious and natural. For others, prolonged eye contact may feel so uncomfortable as to be actually painful. Practice with friends, family, strangers in line at Starbucks, starting with the least intimidating people and working up to the most intimidating. You’ll get the hang of it. Effective presence is part of your job.
Do… After the event, write down one key fact about each person you met, so that you will have a reason to follow up. For instance, if you are told that Mr. Jackson will be in Michigan with his family next week, you can follow up in two weeks, saying that you enjoyed speaking with him at the event (or are grateful for the opportunity to have met him), hope that he had a wonderful trip to Michigan, and would like to schedule a follow-up phone call or coffee.
Do… Have an accountability buddy. Especially when you know that you will be attending events when you are already tired from a long day or a relentless schedule, you may benefit from arranging with a buddy to act as each other’s sounding boards for goals and strategies, as well as to provide accountability for following through with networking plans, both short-term and long-term, and the sending of follow-ups and thank you notes.
Do… Carry business cards, if you have them. It is the act of exchanging cards that matters, not whether anyone puts the business cards they acquire to meaningful use. Having a card shows your preparedness.
Don’t… Talk about yourself first or hog the conversation. Remember that the other person is there to network, as well, so keep the other person interested by allowing him or her the freedom to talk about him or herself. Be patient. Consider this your opportunity to practice your client interview and deposition skills by asking good questions. Eventually, the conversation will come back around to you.
Don’t… Get drunk. Summer is hot, you’re tired and thirsty, and this one can take you by surprise. One beer or one glass of white wine, consumed slowly, is usually fine and will not stain your teeth or clothes. If you choose not to drink alcohol, consider asking the server for a piece of lime in your beverage, so that it is difficult to discern whether you are drinking.
Don’t… Cling to one person at an event or let a networking meeting run beyond the time when it is scheduled to end. Be respectful of the other person’s time and objectives. You can always follow up later with someone you especially want to get to know.
Don’t… Speak unkindly about anyone or anything, even an unpopular law school course or lousy sports team, and even if the other person initiates the criticism. People are often unaware of their own negativity, but they rarely are unaware of another person’s, especially that of a job-seeker.
Don’t… Stare at your phone for a prolonged period of time, seeming to be busy with messages. This is a common way of avoiding the momentary awkwardness of arriving early or lacking a conversation partner, but it will tend to make you slouch and look uninterested. Embrace the awkwardness, and go join a conversation. That said, if another person checks a sports score on his or her phone, you are allowed to look, but keep it to less than one minute.
Don’t… Talk at length about sports (or any other single non-law activity). Not everyone follows sports, even hometown sports, and sports-only conversations almost guarantee that less enthusiastic contacts will quickly drift out of the conversation.
Don’t… Expect to see the fruit of your networking efforts instantly. Some of the relationships you build now won’t be obviously important in your life until much further down the road.
Do… Contact the WashULaw Career Center for further advice, mock interviews, and help finding alumni contacts and events near you.