- Today, I'm debunking the three biggest myths
about your legal career.
By the end of this video,
you're going have a whole new perspective
on what's possible for you and your career.
Welcome back,
and if you're new to this channel, I'm Annie Little.
I'm an ICF certified coach and a former lawyer,
and I started this channel for lawyers
who are looking for practical advice
for how to land, lead, and succeed
in the legal profession and beyond.
All right.
The first myth is that you need to stay in your job
for at least one year before you can leave.
All right.
This is arguably the biggest myth
in legal career land,
and it's based on a fear
of being labeled a job hopper,
but it's just not the hard and fast rule
that we tend to think it is,
or maybe we even wish that it were
because at least it gives us some sort of guideline
on when we should or shouldn't be looking to change jobs.
But, like I said, it's not true,
and let's take one of my clients who is amazing,
and she has had seven jobs in nine years.
So not only has she left one job
before the one-year mark,
she's left multiple jobs before the one-year mark, okay?
Seven jobs, nine years,
I know we're lawyers, but you can still do the math on that,
and with all of that experience,
she was able to still land in her ideal job.
So the key is being able to explain why
you left that job or jobs before the one-year mark
and how what you learned
and the experience and skills that you gained
in that experience
is going to translate into immense value
for this potential employer.
All right, big myth number two.
You are too old
to make a career change,
make a job change, okay?
And listen, I hear this from people
who fall into an age range anywhere from like 35 to 55.
So, the whole being old age thing,
it appears to be kind of relative.
But, this myth is fueled by a very real fear
of age discrimination,
and that's legit,
like, age discrimination is a true bias that exists.
At the same time,
as a lawyer,
you have the benefit of your legal practice
becoming better and better over time.
You can think of yourself as like a fine wine,
let's objectify yourself,
and you know that like as you age,
you get better and better and better.
And of course, there is an ultimate expiration date,
but that expiration date is so much further out
than you would ever expect.
So when you feel like you're ready for a job change
or you're just considering a job change,
I really want you to reframe
all of your years of experience
as an asset rather than a liability.
And the third myth is what I call the first job myth.
And what this myth is about is that your first job
is what determines your entire career trajectory
as a lawyer.
Honestly, this is the myth that I despise the most.
And as with many things,
I blame this on the environment in law school
and like the toxic competitiveness that was foisted upon us.
And the entire time we're there, we're getting this message
that our first job out of law school
is the most important one,
and if you don't get the best possible job
right after you graduate, your entire career is screwed,
but that couldn't be further from the truth.
While yes, there are some types of jobs that have
name recognition or just higher clout,
like if you clerk for the Supreme Court,
I'll give that to you, okay?
But that is not necessary for you
to do the types of things you want to do in your legal
career.
The most important features about any job that you have
are the skills and experience
that you gain while you're there.
That is what makes a lawyer,
not working at some big name firm
or organization or whatever,
where, arguably as a new associate,
you're not even gaining much in the way
of actual practical, legal skills.
And so what this comes down to ultimately
is your ability to communicate the value
of the skills and experience that you've gained
from whatever jobs you've had in the past
and being able to communicate how valuable that is
to future employers.
And I want you to hear this.
Your ability to do that and to make it easy for an employer
to see you filling that role,
and being the best possible candidate in front of them,
that is going to carry way more weight
than any fancy name or job or whatever.
And I get it, you're a lawyer,
you may want more evidence than what I'm providing here,
and you may want to know my sources, right?
How do I even know this is a thing?
So, my main source of information comes from my experience
coaching lawyers since 2012.
So I can tell you that based on
what I've worked on my clients with
and what clients are currently doing in my program,
these myths are officially busted.
And so if you want to see more
of what that sort of process looks like,
I've put a link in the description
so you can go and check out my program.
It's called Make Your Next Move,
and you can see what goes on in there.
And when you're feeling like you're ready
to make your next career move,
I would love to see you in my program.