A news article by Paul Black.
On September 24th, GSU College of Law’s Career Services Office welcomed Ari Kaplan, author of The Opportunity Maker. Mr. Kaplan spoke to an audience of approximately 150 law students and staff on how to market oneself and create opportunity, even in the midst of the Great Recession that we are now experiencing. In addition, Kaplan’s book develops his ideas in greater detail, and is well worth the read- so much so that I would encourage you to get a copy. What follows is a synopsis of five of his key ideas, followed by two of my own.
Make yourself stand out
In his presentation, Kaplan began “with a vision and a story”—the vision being that law students needed to learn ways to make themselves stand out from the crowd—and the story being about how he rented a red truck while in Phoenix, and how it stood out among the smaller white sedans in a parking lot. I did not really see the relevance of Kaplan’s red truck story, but his book provides multiple chapters on different ways to stand out: blogging in law school, creating panel discussions, even creating a day to raise awareness for a cause.
At GSU, however, it seems that leading or even starting your own student organization is a good way to stand out and be recognized. This year, two of my friends in law school have launched new student organizations: the Thomas More Society (for Catholic law students) and BYOB (Be Your Own Boss) for students who eventually want to be self-employed.
In five years, long after these students have graduated, these groups will probably still be well established, to the point where law students will see them as a natural part of the social environment, and to the point where guest speakers likely will have heard of the organization even before being invited to speak.
Build relationships and keep in touch
When it comes to building relationships, Kaplan’s advice for the shy is simple and direct: “Just get involved in something.” This might mean your undergrad alumni organization, your religious congregation, a community or volunteer group, or the chapters of local bar associations.
As for keeping in touch, Kaplan’s recommendation to use mailing lists is one that needs some further explanation. It does not mean that you spam your extended list of legal contacts every time you need help or have a success story to share. It does mean that you keep them in mind each day when you run across interesting articles, want to share good news about your work that is relevant to their practice, or want to hear how their work is progressing.
In these ways, you are not simply clinging to them for guidance or further connections. Rather, you become part of their network, and you eventually add value to it. Much of Kaplan’s presentation focused on the effective use of social media (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), all of which Mr. Kaplan believes should be harnessed towards the overall goals of making yourself stand out, and of staying in touch.
For my part, Facebook is far too useful as a way of staying in touch with friends to be narrowed into a networking site. But that’s why I have a LinkedIn profile, and why I keep it detailed, frequently updated and focused exclusively on marketing and networking.
Take advantage of being a law student
I have never had attorneys want to pet me, as Kaplan quipped was the emotional response of lawyers to law students. (If only I were cuter, right?) However, I have probably spoken to three or four dozen lawyers over the past several years in an effort to learn more about their practices. Better yet, in many cases, I have enjoyed their company over breakfast or lunch, where (as Kaplan also observes in his book), they often share incredible insights about how they got into certain areas, where they struggled and how they find satisfaction and success in their work.
Sometimes, I paid for my lunch; sometimes, the mentor paid for both of us. At the end of the day, as Kaplan points out, you have to eat—so you really have no excuse for not scheduling time to meet with mentors. He recommends doing so at least once a month (and then meeting with a broader variety of mentors more frequently thereafter), which I think is a good goal, and one that I have met, at least after surviving the first year of law school.
Get published
While working for a large law firm in New York over nine years, Kaplan found time to publish more than 150 articles on topics that he strategically identified as being fresh, relevant and ripe for publication, such as electronic discovery and law firm marketing. Given the demands of being a large firm associate, I don’t know when Kaplan slept.
But I do know that even law students who are not writing a Note for law review still have broad outlets to explore their interests in writing, and that there are dozens of journals and contests who are eager to reward and publish law student’s papers. Your best bet: Find an area of law that you find interesting. Identify the hot topics in that area. Write a paper for a course in that area (writing requirement, anyone?) Submit the paper to a contest that might publish it.
Alternately, start with a comprehensive list of law student writing competitions (such as this one: http://www.law.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=89323) and see which topics interest you enough to write a paper.
Get rid of self-doubt.
In Kaplan’s presentation, he described a line of garbage trucks between him and the Hudson River, where he was on his way to swim. It made him think twice about swimming in the Hudson. For my part, I would have thought twice, too, which is why I like the more straightforward observation from one of his prior articles: law students often overanalyze and freeze up when they consider contacting a potential mentor, or pursuing a certain opportunity.
As someone who has sent many emails to practitioners whose practices I have found interesting, I think Kaplan’s advice here is spot on. The worst thing that a potential mentor or contact can do is say “No” or simply not reply. Finding the courage to ask, Kaplan notes, is the first step to finding great mentors. After that, it is a numbers game. But, as in dating, you will never know what relationship might develop until you find the courage to ask. Having a list of people whom you want to meet is a great way to start.
Stick to your passion and play to your strengths
So much of law school- especially in the first year- is about how you can perform on issue-spotting exams, in appellate advocacy situations, or on law-review writing competitions. While I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from putting forth their best efforts in these arenas, I would also encourage students not to forget the passions and the skills that brought them to law school in the first place.
In my case, I have always been interested in urban planning/land use policy and in elder law. Finding ways to pursue these interests in papers written for law school and in other, non-school outlets (such as attending local zoning meetings and volunteering for the BeltLine) has introduced me to organizations and people who share my interests, and from whom I have found new directions for my own career-building efforts.
Know when to scale back
Part of playing to your strengths is recognizing when, in spite of your best efforts, you simply do not have the passion, the talent, or the time to pursue certain coursework or certain areas of practice.
In spite of our tendencies towards perfectionism and our (usually) strong work ethic, even law students have only 24 hours in a day. So when you find yourself spread too thinly, take some time (maybe a couple of weeks) to assess your priorities, and decide whether you might not need to scale back. While this certainly doesn’t mean that you should simply raise your hands in despair every time you feel overwhelmed (after all, that’s an understandable and common feeling when you are confronting large amounts of new material on a weekly basis), it does mean that you should not ignore constant feedback that you are overcommitted and under-rested.
If you, like me, are among the mere mortals who actually requires eight hours of sleep to function properly, do not fool yourself into thinking that copious amounts of caffeine and/or nicotine will make up for any shortfalls. Likewise, if you falter at first, do not give up. After all, if law school has been any indication of what is ahead, then the practice of law is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.
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