Guest post regarding becoming a lawyer and building your own brand.
It’s the age-old story: young person goes to law school, young person graduates from law school, young person needs to find a job in the legal field. The problem comes when there isn’t the abundance of legal jobs there once were, and the competition for the jobs that exist has never been fiercer. Social media like Facebook and Linkedin are now the go-to tools for landing the legal job. In order to gain an edge over the competition, being savvy with the social media environment is now key to the job seekers chances of success and standing out from the crowd. Use these proven methods and tips to apply when venturing into the social media job hunt.
Build Your “Brand”
Think of yourself as the product and the employers or companies as the commercial targets. Any successful branding campaign places the product, in this case the job searcher, into the minds of the consumer, the employer. Design your Facebook and Linkedin accounts so you catch the attention of the potential employer. For legal professionals this means placing deliberate photos that represent the professional you.
Conduct an extensive Google search to find any unwanted or less than flattering references to yourself and ensure these are removed, altered or deleted. The idea is to ensure that you are presented in a positive light to your potential employers. It is becoming standard practice for employers to undertake a Google search of the job seekers name. You need to ensure that what is returned in a Google search represents your work in the legal field to date, even if it is volunteer work, work you have had published or articles you have written.
Use All Tools Open To You
In order to maintain a visible web presence it is critical to take advantage of every social media tool and website relevant and visible to the legal community. Facebook and Linkedin are two of the larger sites but attention needs to be paid to Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr. Build your “brand” and make accounts for every site possible. Again, this is for professional purposes so keep family pictures, references to relationship status and photos of the drunken night in Vegas off the sites.
One of the key places to start is LinkedIn. Do you have a profile on their? Is the profile complete and more importantly update to date with you current work experience, achievements and skills? Are you part of any legal groups? Do you contribute to these groups? Linkedin can be a great way to build relationships with owners/ directors at the Law Firm you are looking to apply to, even if you are just looking for work experience.
Quora.com is another social website that you should be engaging and building a voice on. It is a question and answers website but for professionals and business owners. You can follow legal topics and reply with your thoughts and advice or comment on what ever people have said.
Build a Blog
Ideally a professional blog should be built and maintained during your law school career so it is full of relevant entries that are relevant to your career choice. For example, if there were a major case in the state or region to which you want to practice, the blog would contain several entries and references to the issue. It must be used for professional entries only (avoid controversy) and needs to be updated and enhanced regularly.
It will also increase the chances of your work appearing in Googles results if someone searches for your name. It is very easy to start a blog and one can be setup in minutes. The first step is to register your name as domain name if you haven’t done this already. It is not required to start a blog but it’s part of protecting you and your brand.
Build a Web
Once the blog is developed and all social media site accounts are thriving it is time to build a web. Cross-link and reference each social media site to the other and tie them all into the blog or CV/resume Internet website. If you think you are overdoing the web build, you aren’t. Link your information to any available site; friend every contact; “like” anything relevant to your legal job dreams.
Print and Electronic
To wrap up the advantages of social media make sure every website or account is listed on any paper or print CV/resume. Include the sites and URLS that you contribute to and engage on. Talk about how you engage in the social community on legal topics and answer questions.
Eric Cedric writes on professional vocation issues and social media trends for how2become.com. When he is not writing he is pursuing his true passion of aviation.
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