In-House Counsel

Things To Do Before You Quit Your Job In The New Year

It's recommended that you consider your long-range and short-term career goals.

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Dear Boss i Quit. Written on old typewriterAs we approach the end of December and the start of a new year, your mind might be toiling with the idea of moving on to greener pastures in your legal career. You’ve seen the headlines that the job landscape has become a job seeker’s paradise and the year of the “Great Resignation,” with rapid hiring, more room to negotiate higher salaries, and even opportunities for permanent remote work. Before you have one foot out the door, I recommend considering your long-range and short-term career goals, reflecting on your past performance evaluations, and pre-determining your financial requirements.

Consider Your Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

Whenever I consult with a potential client who is considering a career change after a decade or longer at a company or firm, I ask them to carefully consider where they see themselves in the short term and the long term. Most of my clients have been in the professional workforce for 15-plus years, and they are in the C-suite (at a general counsel or chief legal officer role) or positioning themselves for entry into the C-suite as the current second or third in command of the legal department. Your career exit strategy plays as much importance as deciding your next career step. That means considering what to do when you’ve reached the ceiling in your career and how you intend to wind down into retirement. There are several questions to ask yourself:

How long do I want to be in my next role for? Is it going to be the final rung in my career ladder? At what age do I want to retire? How do I want to navigate my retirement strategy? Many lawyers and C-suite leaders in general desire to obtain a few paid board opportunities as part of their career winddowns. If you’ve been at a company for an extensive period (a decade or two decades, for example), the next shift in your career might be the final stomping ground. What type of company do you envision yourself working for? Does the role encompass a hybrid focus (e.g., chief compliance officer and general counsel)? Do you plan to negotiate a specific term length for the C-suite role? These are important questions to ask and why I always recommend writing down your five-, 10-, and 15-year career plans.

Review Past Performance Evaluations

Performance evaluations are also intricate pieces of your career trajectory — they provide an enormous amount of self-diagnosing into your goals, objectives, and accomplishments. They also provide feedback from your executive counterparts and give terrific insight into things you’ve done well (which should be highlighted in your resume and LinkedIn profile) as they apply to your soft and hard skills. I always suggest reviewing your past performance evaluations as a starting place to understand the biggest projects you’ve led or undertaken and how those experiences are viewed by your executive counterparts. Performance evaluations provide important ingredients for future career recipe success. Always keep a copy of your past evaluations — you never know when you will need to review them and reflect on specific transactions or projects you’ve led. Performance evaluations are also a good starting point if you haven’t updated your resume for many years.

Pre-Determine Your Financial Requirements 

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Before making the decision to depart from a company, consider how your bonus structure works and what you would be potentially giving up if you were to leave before you receive your bonus. Most company bonuses are paid out at the end of Q1 or in the late summer. Consider whether a shift into a new industry (healthcare, technology, manufacturing, etc.) can equate to new financial opportunities for higher earning power, or even the shift from a start-up to a well-established and mature company. The key is to always do your due diligence, make a pros and cons list, and weigh things carefully. I’ve witnessed clients shift from Biglaw to in-house with a sharp decrease in their initial pay yet acquire a larger playing field for fast-track career growth to other opportunities. I’ve also witnessed clients shift from a general counsel position at a private equity company to a deputy general counsel role at a publicly traded company with a five-year succession plan for the general counsel seat. The key is to determine what the five- to 10-year plan will look like for you at the subsequent company.

Remember, January is a time of abundance for career opportunities — as you begin to wrap up the final weeks of this year, don’t leave your career goals or your resume and LinkedIn profile out there in the dark.

Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.  

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