This is the second article in a series of six articles that explore non-traditional career options for attorneys both within and outside the law.
You know you are unhappy; what you don’t know is what to do about it. At this stage, the most natural questions lawyers ask themselves are, “What kind of job can I get with my law degree and experience? Who will hire me?” Those questions won’t help you. Whether you are in law school or out in the “real world” practicing law, you need to shift your initial focus.
In the 17 years I have coached lawyers, I have learned that it is more powerful for you to ask, “What do I want to do?” Stop looking to others to tell you what you can do next. My guess is it hasn’t worked that well for you anyway. Instead, start directing the course of your career and creating your own personal list of options. As I mentioned in the previous article, there are many opportunities for lawyers within and outside the law, and you really can find success on your own terms. But you have to start by knowing what those terms are and what is right for you before forging ahead to the job search stage. To do this, spend some time figuring out what will make you happy. Giving yourself the gift of time to do some self-assessment is absolutely critical to charting your own course and finding work that you will enjoy.
Transitions Aren’t Always Comfortable But They’re Necessary
Does the idea that there are no immediate answers to your urgent question of what to do next depress you? Does the prospect of unlimited options overwhelm and possibly even paralyze you? If so, it might help you to know that those feelings are very normal and common. Just the thought of making a nontraditional career change can make most lawyers feel vulnerable, isolated, and insecure. On top of that, the notion that there are no quick answers can be overwhelming. Lawyers often lead extremely pressured and hectic lives with little time for anything else. Not knowing what you want, worrying that you may not be able to find a job that will pay you as much, and the fear of telling family, friends and colleagues that you want to make a change can all contribute to feeling paralyzed and staying stuck. I encourage you to put up with the unavoidable discomfort and uncertainties that come with transition and take this next step anyway. You may want to find some support, though, so consider talking to someone who is also going through a career transition so you can share thoughts and impressions, or perhaps work with a career coach.
Answer A Five-Question Self-Assessment
The following questions and exercises will assist you with some soul-searching and reveal a lot of key information about you, why your current job is not a good fit, and what you need to have in your next career to be happy. It’s the fundamental first step to crafting you own, personal definition of a successful career. As Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the popular What Color is Your Parachute?, explains, “Most job-hunters who fail to find their dream job fail not because they lack information about the job-market, but because they lack information about themselves.” 1 I suggest you get a journal to record and process your answers and ideas.
1. What isn’t working for you? This question helps you figure out whether you are in the wrong career or just in the wrong job. If you are already sure you no longer want to practice law at all, it will help you begin to hone in on what to avoid in the next career choice. That’s helpful because if you have not identified what you dislike now, you may be likely to experience that same problem elsewhere.
Think about your current job and identify the root(s) of the problem. Be specific; think about it from all angles: the work you are doing, the environment, your typical day, what’s missing. Now do the same thing for any prior jobs you have had as a lawyer. Many miserable lawyers have met with me for the first time feeling so burned out that the only option they can see is to leave the law completely. After doing some self assessment, they sometimes discover that the cause of their misery is actually the people with whom they are working, the schedule they are keeping, and/or the area of law they are practicing. Making a few changes allowed them to practice law in a way that they loved.
2. What is working for you? Now think about what you enjoy in your current job. It’s easy to forget the good things when you are dealing with negative challenges and living in the stress cycle. Again, think about it from all angles and get specific. Go back in time and do the same thing for any prior jobs, legal and nonlegal, you have had in the past.
3. Why did you go to law school? Take a moment to reconnect with your original motivations for taking the LSAT and investing three years of your life and a lot of money to venture down this path. Was it because you wanted to do some good in the world or because you didn’t know what else to do? Did you seek the prestige and high pay commonly associated with being a lawyer? Maybe you come from a family of lawyers. Maybe no one in your family had ever gone to law school before you. Perhaps you were attracted by the intellectual stimulation it promised. Whatever the reason, reacquaint yourself with your original reason(s). These underlying motivations are clues to what is most important to you as you move forward.
4. What is your definition of success? This is very personal: only you can decide how to define a successful career and life. As author and columnist Anna Quindlen wrote, “When your success looks good to the world but doesn’t feel good in your heart, it isn’t success at all.” 2 To answer this question, I invite you to dig a little deeper and take a look at eight different components of your life that have a major impact on what will make you happy in the long run. I talk about these eight career factors in a series of articles that I wrote for previous issues of The Complete Lawyer, and will reference relevant articles after each point.
? Your Stage of Adult Development. Whether you are at a turning point or in a building stage has a tremendous impact on how you view choices and make decisions (The 8 Critical Turning Points Of Your Life).
? Your Natural Talents and Abilities. Think about how you are hardwired and what you naturally do well. If you work against your abilities, work feels like labor and tasks can feel like torture. If you work with them, everything is easier and more fun. Talents are completely different from acquired knowledge, skills, and interests. You cannot change them and you need to know what they are (What Are Your Natural Talents And Abilities).
The sad truth is that many people often find themselves in jobs that do not allow them to capitalize and utilize their strengths. In a recent Gallup survey of more than 10 million people worldwide, only one-third of workers said that they have the opportunity in their jobs to do what they do best every day. 3 However, those people who do have the opportunity to use their strengths in the workplace are “six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life” than their co-workers.4
-Your Skills and Life Experience. This refers to what you have learned in life, your expertise. Unlike natural abilities, which are set for life, skills can be practiced and learned. On the flipside, if you don’t use them you can lose them (What Are Your Options? Exploring Alternative Careers).
-Interests and Fascinations. Consider what draws your attention, and gives passion and energy to your life (What Are Your Options? Exploring Alternative Careers).
-Your Core Values. What do you think is worth doing in life? What you hold most near and dear to your heart? (How Core Values & Family Of Origin Impact Your Career).
-Your Family of Origin. Think about the messages about work and success that you received from your family (How Core Values & Family Of Origin Impact Your Career).
-Interpersonal Style. This refers to your personality and preferences, and how you interact with those around you. (Match Your Personality With Your Job).
-Your Goals. Ask yourself what you want to do in life, and what you want to accomplish (Use Your Long-Term Goals To Motivate You).
Once you have examined these various aspects of your life, go one step further and create your personal vision statement (Your Personal Vision Statement: A Template For Change). You can really have fun with this part: play around and discover what your ideal workday would look like.
At the end of this process you will know more about what is important to you and what you really want to be doing. Then you will be ready to decide if you are going to be able to achieve those things as a lawyer, or if you need to look elsewhere. For example, would switching practice areas be a possibility? Working as a lawyer doing labor and employment law could be as different from being a divorce lawyer as it is from many of the non-legal jobs. Or maybe you still like practicing law but it takes so much out of you that there is no time left for anything else. If you could find a way to have more work/life balance, you might actually like practicing law again.
Don’t give up on being a lawyer until you have done some self-assessment and examined the possibilities for change. In the next article we will take a look at some nontraditional ways of practicing law that you can consider in the mix.