In-House Counsel

How To Write A Resume For A Career Outside Of Law (And More Alternative Careers To Consider)

The way you frame your resume for an alternative career outside of law will look and feel different.

By  
on

resume job search applicant application lateral move lawyer associate partnerIn last week’s column, I delved into alternative careers for lawyers who want to leave law. I received a tremendous influx of emails and messages on LinkedIn in response to the article. Many of the readers expressed gratitude for the detailed piece and encouragement as often it feels like being trapped in the hamster wheel (i.e., the practice of law) with no way out. I want to reassure those who feel stuck, scared, or unsure if it’s okay to leave law, your feelings and emotions are completely normal and valid. I had them too, for a lot longer than I wanted to admit.

When I graduated law school in 2003, there was a dearth of material and advice out there about how lawyers could leverage their law degree for a career outside of law. Like many, I felt pressured to work in Biglaw and make Biglaw money. Saying you worked at “X” firm grabbed fast attention at bar association events, it looked good on your resume, and it impressed your parents and their friends. While I’ve worked with many lawyer clients who stayed in Biglaw for over 20 years (rising from associate through equity partner) and ultimately decided their exit strategy is a general counsel role or a paid board seat, there are many other lawyers who also go into Biglaw and quickly realize it’s not the end-all-be-all that law schools and on-campus interviews glorify. There are more options and opportunities out there than what’s told or showcased to us during law school.

Throughout my legal career, I experienced a variety of law firm environments (Biglaw, midsize, and small firms) as well as in-house environments, giving me an even wider perspective on the profession. For example, as a midlevel lawyer, I took on an associate general counsel role for a Florida-based insurance company and worked as the second in line to the general counsel. I then ended my 12-year legal career with a subsequent in-house counsel role centered on litigation at a Fortune 200 insurance company.

Both of those roles highlighted and reinforced the things I loved doing as a lawyer – taking depositions, writing lengthy motions and briefs, and arguing them in court. Yet, those roles also reinforced that my true passion for writing and speaking could be successfully leveraged outside of law. I remember the shock when I told people I was leaving law to be a career coach and resume writer. Some laughed at me. Others congratulated me with resentment. Yet, what I realized in the end is that life’s too short to be anything but happy and fulfilled in your career.

To this day, I remain very closely connected to the profession. My law degree has opened and continues to open doors across numerous avenues. I have the privilege and honor to partner with some of the country’s top executive-level lawyers on developing and conveying their best assets while also helping them find career happiness in law and beyond. I get to speak to bar associations, in-house counsel organizations, and law firms about personal branding for lawyers (in and outside of law). I share this with you because my pivot out of law led me to something incredibly rewarding, fulfilling, and energizing.

Additional Alternative Careers Outside Of Law

There are dozens of careers outside of law where you can still leverage those transferable legal skills and find the trifecta of financial, professional, and personal success. Some of those additional careers include real estate, public affairs, governmental relations, legal services and legal technology, strategy, risk, financial services, and entrepreneurship.

Sponsored

Real estate is a competitive industry that’s well-designed to help lawyers stand out in the marketplace. The benefit to working with a real estate agent who’s also a lawyer provides unwavering confidence and credibility when it comes to the negotiations, research, and contracts aspects of the real estate process.

Public policy work enables lawyers to thrive at the intersection of government relations, advocacy, and law. There are various directions to go in government affairs — from an executive capacity to legislative advocacy, policy development, and advisory for a trade association or federal government committee or agency.

The digital age has also increased opportunities in legal technology and legal services, with many legal technology companies being founded by practicing and nonpracticing lawyers. Strategy, risk, and financial services are other arenas that enable you to leverage your discipline, passion for detail and creative analysis, knowledge of regulatory and compliance laws, as well as a solid ability to examine things from multiple angles and the “it depends” mindset.

Entrepreneurship opens the doors to many opportunities, leveraging your ability to read and interpret contracts, draft terms of service, build relationships, develop business, and advise. As you can see, the list is never-ending with possibilities.

Writing A Resume For A Career Outside Of Law

Sponsored

Once you’ve narrowed down the alternative legal career you want to pivot into, now it’s time to write an effective resume for a career outside of law that lands you a job interview. Many lawyers struggle with this part, especially because legal resumes are centralized on framing your experience solely around the legal work you do and have done.

In fact, one lawyer wrote in last week:

Thank you so much for your piece on alternative careers for lawyers. It was timely. I’m trying to transition out of the practice of law into a compliance management role at a bank. I’ve applied to numerous jobs with no luck. I’d appreciate any advice on what I’m doing wrong.

In situations like this, it’s often because the format of the resume is the same as the resume you’ve used from law school forward (which is outdated and out of touch with today’s resume writing trends in the corporate world). Resumes now follow a modernized format (and font) with a formulaic style: branding statement at the top, short professional summary with a roadmap of relevant skills and career highlights, a professional experience section that includes a paragraph of your leadership functions and responsibilities, and then bullet points that frame the experience in key competency areas. That style and format is nothing like what we were taught in law school and used in the practice of law.

The way you frame your resume for an alternative career outside of law will look and feel different from the resume used to apply for a litigation associate position at a law firm that regurgitates your resume template from law school.

For example, if you’re applying for the “Head of AML Compliance” position at a bank, your reader is not going to be focused on your ability to write fancy memos of law for the managing partner, draft a motion for summary judgment, or that you achieved the highest billable hours each year of all associates.

You’ll need to delve into factual examples in the STAR format (situation, task, action, result) regarding fraud-related litigation matters, pertinent compliance regulations or laws you’ve become well-versed in, strategic initiatives you’ve assisted with, and investigations and audits you’ve conducted.

Using the example from above, begin researching “Head of AML Compliance” roles or “AML Compliance Manager” roles and highlight the keywords. You’ll quickly notice how job postings center on keyword repetition, and many of the same keywords appear in multiple job postings (a pattern). Be sure to explore people on LinkedIn with the current title you’re pursuing — observe how they position their skill set and consider asking for an informational interview to gain more first-hand insights into the position. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a recruiter who specializes in that niche and inquire about opportunities as well as breaking into the industry.

Deciding to leave law and pursue an alternative career is not the end. It’s simply a new path on your long career journey.

Have additional resume and job search questions? Connect with me on LinkedIn.

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.  

Topics

, , ,