In-House Counsel

Hire My Future, Not My Past: How To Leverage Your Potential In The Job Hunt

Being hired on your potential instead of your accomplishments is an uphill battle.

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It’s the typical interview for any legal position: instead of discussing your talents and skills, you’re asked to list the career milestones you’ve hit. Forget being asked how you’ll add value, or your vision for the organization — enjoy essentially re-hashing your résumé! Lawyers seeking to transition from one sort of legal position to another are automatically at a disadvantage if it’s their “first time” being a startup lawyer, litigator, general counsel, etc. And if a lawyer wants to transition to a non-legal role, they’re in for an even rougher journey of shedding the “just a lawyer” label. However, there are ways to get your dream job based on your potential, not your accomplishments.

Look for tight labor markets. In a fast-paced economy, where technology is changing quickly, people with the desired specialty, experience, or knowledge are increasingly unavailable. In these situations, employers tend to be more open-minded and focus on an applicant’s overall potential.

Identify organizations with strong and unique learning requirements. Some organizations have very strong learning requirements either because the industry is complex, their product is unique, or their leaders are unorthodox. Therefore, they often aim to hire the sharpest, most capable candidates available and teach them to do what is needed. Consider being curious about a company’s unique learning requirements. Demonstrate that you have been following the business and will do the work to keep up.

Prepare a repertoire of stories that showcase your acumen, strong interest, and potential for a desired job or industry interest. In preparation for the interviews and in all your communications, prepare three to seven stories that showcase your potential. Consider identifying the actual value of previous experiences. A well-prepared story that explicitly highlights your relevant commitment and lessons learned is the best way to establish that you have what it takes to do a job you never done before. Preparation is the key because it is very hard to come up with relevant and well-articulated examples when you’re put on the spot!

Make sure all your communications align with the organization’s unique core values. Many companies are values focused. Everything they do is a result of strong beliefs and world views. Demonstrating that you are a strong value “fit” is a great premise for building a case to hire you based on potential. You want to build a case that you will remain motivated and committed to actually applying your potential long-term, and that you will be a natural fit on day one.

Position yourself as an open-minded newcomer that can consider creative approaches that experts will miss. Sometimes it takes a newcomer who is not tainted with expectations and experiences to solve an existing problem. So-called “experts,” even the most capable, are not always sufficiently motivated to deliver an out-of-the-box creative solution. Building a compelling case that your outsider status is an asset is often a helpful approach to convince a manager that an expert or insider is a much greater risk.

Articulate why you enjoy learning and how it aligns with you and your career goals. Describe your goals and ambitions beyond the position you are applying for. How will this job, even though you haven’t done it before, fit into your long-term vision, direction, and focus. Provide examples, both personal and professional, of where you learned something complex quickly and enjoyed the process. For example, explaining how I never have done the same job twice and that learning motivates me has been very helpful when I have been making a case for being hired based on my potential.

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Share your plan to learn missing skills or knowledge and discuss what you have done so far to get there. Demonstrate that you are responsible for teaching yourself and showcase the concrete steps you have already taken and will take to get there. Explain the classes you will take, the projects you will seek, and the mentors you will attract to get up to speed on a reasonable timeline. Ultimately, you want to convince the company that your integration will be simple, efficient, orderly, intentional, and ultimately successful.

Being hired on your potential instead of your accomplishments is an uphill battle. However, breaking free and making transitions is an important part of growing as a professional. By implementing these strategies, you will make a more effective case for yourself as a first-timer at whatever new position you seek.

Olga V. Mack is an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to serve on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw to prepare women in-house attorneys become general counsel and legal leaders and WISE to help women law firm partners become rainmakers. She embraces the current disruption to the legal profession. Olga loves this change and is dedicated to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and inclusive than before. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack.

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