Legal Authority Is the Most Effective Way to Get Your Next Legal Position.
Legal Authority puts you in control of your job search and gives you unrestricted access to all the opportunities that you specify you are interested in. Our services include:
Free Resume Critique: We will provide you with suggestions to improve the impact and effectiveness of your resume.
Free Market Evaluation: We will provide a market evaluation to give you an assessment of your overall marketability.
Free Consultation: Our Employment Advocates will set up an appointment with you to identify areas of the country and types of employers you might be interested in.
"The most common means of obtaining a job was a letter or other "self-initiated contact" with the employer..."
You are in line to enter a club, and the group ahead of you gets a hearty welcome from the maître d’ and is seated at a table in the front by the stage. When your turn arrives, you are greeted indifferently and seated in the back by the bathrooms. Your companion turns to you and says, “They must know someone.” You hear about a former colleague who just has taken a fantastic job with a great title and even better pay. Your former colleague is now light years ahead of you on the career path. You think, “She must know someone.”
In both scenarios, you are right! It is all about who you know (and who knows you).
The idea of networking is as scary as public speaking to most people. But a network is nothing more than a circle of friends.
Family and Friends
We all have a personal network of family and friends. Some of our friends we consider really close, practically family. Some of our friends are merely acquaintances whom we see maybe once a year, and some are colleagues with whom we have lunch. Our family members are similar in that we may be very close to some and less close to others.
Your family and friends are the people you call to:
get advice from
complain to
confirm your thought processes
ask for referrals
just chat
Your personal network gives you access to the people known to the people you know AND to the people they know AND then to the people they know AND then to–you get the idea. If you need a recommendation for a caterer for your parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, your Aunt Barbara may have a friend who just threw a party for her parents (which was soooo beautiful, according to Aunt Barbara); and she can recommend her caterer. You may now get special treatment because you were referred to that business by Aunt Barbara’s friend.
Your personal network need not be limited to your family and friends. Just think about all the other people you come in contact with in your daily life. Your dentist, your doctor, are all part of your network and can give you referrals.
It works the same way in the world of work. While you may have access to some great work advice and maybe even some business contacts through your personal family/friends network, you still need a business/career network.
Business and Career Colleagues
The building of your career network should start no later than college; for many, it starts in high school or earlier. People are the lifeblood of your network. The more people you know, the more information you have; and the more people and information you have access to over time, the more successful your network.
All of these people can and should be part of your network:
people you went to school with
people you work with
people you meet at conferences or seminars
people you meet at social gatherings
people who support the same organizations that you do
Are you getting the idea that it can be anyone and everyone you meet? You’re right.
Just as your friendships move along the spectrum from casual to “I wish we were sisters,” your business/career network relationships will also range from non-essential to vital. And, just as with friends, people may drop in and out of your network.
Maintaining Your Network
Just as you have to develop and maintain your family and friends’ network over the life of those relationships, the same is true of your career/business network. Your family and friends expect a certain level of communication on your part in order to maintain the connection. Some of this will be in-person visits. Some will be by phone or the annual holiday newsletter. However you do it, there is an ongoing communication between you and your family and friends. You have to let them get to know you.
You need to do the same for your business/career network. Keep in touch with people from school that you like and respect. Keep them current on your career changes, and keep yourself current on their career changes.
As you meet people throughout your working life, maintain a detailed contacts database with information you gather over time about their careers, families, interests, and anything else that gives you a connection to them.
People maintain their networks in a variety of ways, such as:
sending birthday cards/gifts
sending articles of interest
meeting for lunch, dinner, and/or drinks
attending sporting or arts events
calling occasionally to chat
For some people in your network, you may do all of these things and more! For others, it may be a once-a-year holiday card and phone call. Remember two things: First, your contact should always be sincere and well thought out in terms of who this person is and your relationship to him/her; and second, the idea is to keep the lines of communications open so when you really need to talk to that person, your call will be taken.
Other Peoples’ Networks
You’ve started your network and have been maintaining it, and one day someone calls you to see if you have any information about a job at your company. It is now time for you to realize that in creating your network, you have become part of the networks of the people in your network. It is important that you provide some “value” to the person calling you because you will expect the same if you call that person. Depending on who the person is and how important he/she is to you within your own network and career goals, you may provide different information. This is okay. If the person is a fairly casual member of your network whom you do not know very well, you may refer him/her to the human resources department and give him/her the name of the person to call and permission to mention your name. If the person is very important to your network, you may ask for his/her resume and personally deliver it to the person making the hiring decisions and give your personal recommendation.
Remember, you will also be ranked within the networks of others and may get different levels of assistance. This is why it is so important to devote time and energy to building and maintaining your networks. What you get out of your network is only as good as what you put into your network.
Just fill out our Sign Up Form and we will contact you to set up an appointment to talk to you about your job search. We will interview you in depth over the phone to understand what type of legal employment you are seeking. If you would like, ask us for a resume critique, and we will provide you with suggestions to improve the impact and effectiveness of your resume. In addition, we will provide a market evaluation and give you an assessment of your overall marketability. This critique and market evaluation are absolutely free, and there is no obligation to continue. We are committed to helping you find a job, whether you decide to use our full services or not.
Legal Authority has helped thousands of attorneys and law students find new opportunities and new careers throughout the country. While we can't speak for each and every one of our clients, the growing list of customer testimonials is a proven track record of our success!
The reason is simple. Legal Authority is a convenient, inexpensive and reliable way to help jobseekers apply directly to almost any legal employer in the country. With a database that can not be offered by any other job boards, classified sections of legal newspapers, legal recruiters, on-campus interviewing programs, or job fairs, Legal Authority is able to give its clients the exposure they need to get hired. And it requires very little effort. Legal Authority does all the grunt work for you, from customized cover letters and envelopes to professionally crafted resumes. All you do is sign, seal and deliver. We've been told by our clients that the hardest part of the process was deciding between job offers!
It's hard to guarantee the level of success that you will have in your job search, however, if it's any indication of how people have felt about our service, our growth has come almost entirely from word of mouth in the legal profession. Legal Authority's satisfied and happily employed clients have continuously referred us to their colleagues, friends and family. We hope you let Legal Authority work for you in your career journey.
Sign up for a "Free, No Obligation Resume Critique" and "Free Market Evaluation". Let us tell you how much potential you have!
We're So Confident That Our Services Work We'll Give You $1,000 in Free Services if it Does Not Work
Testimonials
What Our Clients Are Saying
I sought a job in Chicago even though I hadn't taken the Illinois Bar. Legal Authority said no sweat. The result: 10 calls and two solid offers. - Richard D.
Just wanted to thank you for all your help. I found a great little firm where I'm much happier and I owe it all to you. This place is just the right size, not too small not too big, and the people are... - Veronica
I honestly thought I had no chance because I haven't passed the bar yet, but I just got called for an interview! THANK YOU! - W. A
