Coronavirus: Webinar, Career and Leadership Links and Other Updates

Like many of my friends and colleagues and indeed many of us across the globe, among the changes in my life lately are a house full of people all day every day, including two teenagers working on remote learning through their schools. They have been pretty good about managing their emotions around the need to be stuck at home and have even found some time to join in FaceTime calls with their grandparents. (Yep, that’s our dog Carter in the bottom right hand corner!)

Coronavirus: In Sickness and In Health

As I’m reading the headlines at least four or five times a day – trying not to look more than that and get sucked into the never-ending void of the COVID-19 news cycle – I have also been fighting off a stomach bug since Monday. Normally I can take that into stride, but I must admit the fact my symptoms were a potential warning sign for coronavirus gave me some pause, even as I have been “sheltering at home” for over almost twenty days.

Since I live in Connecticut, which is one of the hotspots in the U.S., the choices are rather limited: If you feel well, stay home. If you don’t feel well, stay home. Don’t go to the hospital or otherwise put a strain on medical resources unless you absolutely need it, for your own safety and because you just might save a life. So that’s what I did. 

Thankfully, I’m on the mend!

Like many of my friends and colleagues and indeed many of us across the globe, among the changes in my life lately are a house full of people all day every day, including two teenagers working on remote learning through their schools. They have been pretty good about managing their emotions around the need to be stuck at home and have even found some time to join in FaceTime calls with their grandparents. (Yep, that’s our dog Carter in the bottom right hand corner!)

IMG_5385

Drawing has emerged as a new interest in my daughter’s life, including graphic representations like the one above she made of a “happy coronavirus.” (Irony notwithstanding, the virus is alive, well and probably pretty pleased with itself, if we can personify it for just a moment.) She has also turned our living room into an art studio as of late, and we are waiting for a pack of easels from Amazon to arrive so we can host a homebound family painting night this weekend, which is cheaper than a night at a paint bar and hopefully just as fun if not more. In the meantime, she has tuned into a few Bob Ross videos to expand her range in acrylics.

IMG_3274

It’s an interesting segue into a topic I discussed on a webinar this week (see directly below) about finding your interests and strengths as part of building out your career, especially in the context of a job search or career change. Many of us are finding that we are rising to the occasion and discovering strengths we did not know we had, as our normal routine is interrupted and we are searching for creative solutions to novel problems that face us in the course of our “new normal.”

For my part, I am finding that certain tasks I found challenging before, particularly because they did not feel rewarding, hold my interest much longer than they had a few short weeks ago. Housework is certainly among these! Holding down the fort takes on a whole new meaning in the midst of a pandemic. Keeping order means our mental health stays intact, which in turn helps all of us able to do our part in flattening the curve.

Leading Your Job Search Through a Career Change Webinar

Stomach pains this week notwithstanding, I joined as a co-presenter of Leading Your Job Search Through a Career Change, with Linda Harvey, for the University of Chicago’s Alumni Association on Tuesday afternoon and am happy to share the video here.

Linda takes you through key steps to conceptualizing and planning a career change – and how that might be affected by this brave new environment – and I follow up with advice about how to brand around the change and facilitate your transition.

COVID-19 Leadership and Career Resources

I have started putting together curated resources on crisis and career leadership through the coronavirus pandemic, including a section with specific links for attorneys. Click here or go to AnneMarieSegal.com/covid-19 to access them. I hope they are helpful, and I will be adding to the list from time to time as I come across new resources.

5th Anniversary

Wednesday, April 1, was the fifth anniversary of Segal Coaching! It’s hard to believe that five years have passed. As excited as I am for this milestone, it pales in comparison to all of the chaos of recent weeks. Like many other special occasions that are being postponed, I guess I’ll be celebrating this anniversary sometime in the summer or fall. 

Cupcakes with sparklers

Segal 24/7: LinkedIn Profiles

If you are polishing up your LinkedIn profile – whether it’s for a new job, promotion, recruitment of new candidates or to showcase your talents and increase job security in a current role – feel free to sign on to my free class on Personal Branding: The LinkedIn Checklist.

2020 Article Series

I have decided to postpone future articles in my Board of Directors and Yoga Mantra series until the burdens of coronavirus are lifted, so I can free up time for other projects to help those who are struggling to find their footing during the pandemic. 

I do plan to continue my Modern Career Warrior interviews during this time, but I’ll be shifting my focus to those in the medical field and other “essential workers” and may change the format and length in the coming months to account for their limited time available.

April’s MCW is Francisco Lasta, an occupational therapist whose career spans the domains of medicine, design and technology, with a healthy dose of emotional intelligence. Among other projects, Francisco consults on artificial intelligence, virtual reality and telehealth, and his ideas and innovations are directly relevant for the global health crisis we are currently facing.

I am very excited to (finally finish editing – delay all mine! – and) post my interview with Francisco soon, hopefully by the end of next week, in honor of his dedication to the field and in time for OT Month.

Copyright Francisco Lasta

That’s my Monthly Redux on this beautiful (and scary) day of April 3, 2020. I’m off to host a Zoom happy hour shortly with a few friends, so it’s time to sign off the computer for the afternoon. Stay safe and support each other where and whenever you can!


Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach and writer based in Connecticut. To learn more about her, you can visit her About page or LinkedIn profile.

Image credits: Top two photos © 2020 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved. Artwork in top photo © 2020 Tamara Segal. All rights reserved. Video courtesy the Alumni Association of the University of Chicago. Birthday image sourced from Adobe Images. Bottom photo © 2020 Francisco Lasta. All rights reserved.

Interview with Catherine Sorbara: Modern Career Warrior Series @AnneMarieSegal.com

CATHERINE SORBARA is our Modern Career Warrior for February 2020. My interview with Catherine spans her early move from Canada to Germany to pursue a Ph.D., work for the Royal Society of Chemistry in Cambridge, move to industry as she became Chief Operating Officer of Cheeky Scientist and 80-women leadership journey to Antarctica with Homeward Bound.  She then relates how that monumental trip transformed her view of our collective (human) place in the world, strengthened her commitment to working in service of the environment and illuminated the next steps of her career trajectory.

MCW INTERVIEW WITH
CATHERINE SORBARA

CATHERINE SORBARA is our Modern Career Warrior for February 2020. This article is part of a series of mid-career retrospective interviews featuring inspiring and innovative professionals at AnneMarieSegal.com.

Catherine Sorbara in Antarctica.

Image: © 2018 Oli Samson. All rights reserved.

My interview with Catherine spans her early move from Canada to Germany to pursue a Ph.D., work for the Royal Society of Chemistry in Cambridge, move to industry as she became Chief Operating Officer of Cheeky Scientist and 80-women leadership journey to Antarctica with Homeward BoundShe then relates how that monumental trip transformed her view of our collective (human) place in the world, strengthened her commitment to working in service of the environment and illuminated the next steps of her career trajectory.

AMS: When we met, you were Chief Operations Officer of an organization that helps people with Ph.D.’s build out their career options. Shortly after that, I heard about your participation in a women-led trip to Antarctica.

CS: Yes, I was at Cheeky Scientist, which helps scientists and others trained for a career in academia build their careers in industry, when I heard I was chosen for the Homeward Bound outreach.

AMS: I am tempted to jump in and ask you about Antarctica, but let’s lay the groundwork first.

CS: Starting with my Ph.D. program?

AMS: Well, it seems like that may have been the first of many big changes in your life, at least from a career perspective. You went from living in Canada and finishing an M.S. in Neuroscience at the University of Ottawa to studying Medical Life Science and Technology at the Technische Universität München. What prompted you to move to Germany?

CS: Since I was a teenager, I have always wanted to live in Europe. I grew up near Niagara Falls, and the furthest place we went on vacation was Toronto, only 90 minutes away! I never had the chance to travel internationally, despite having family roots in Italy. So when I was accepted into the Ph.D. program, I was more than ready to make the move. My last hurrah was the Boston Marathon, and off to Germany I went!

AMS: Studying in Germany satisfied your travel bug while advancing your career goals.

CS: Yes! That’s one great thing about being a scientist. It gives you the opportunity to travel and meet interesting people. The position in Germany also drew me because I could do innovative, advanced research on neurodegenerative diseases, looking at things at a cellular level.

AMS: Is that what you did in the master’s degree program as well?

CS: Before that, I was focused on Alzheimers, another neurodegenerative disease. In my Ph.D., I shifted my focus to multiple sclerosis (MS).

AMS: I saw your list of publications on LinkedIn, which is a bit intimidating for your average reader. Your titles range, for example, include “Pervasive axonal transport deficits in multiple sclerosis models” to “A reversible form of axon damage in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis.” Can you translate this for non-scientists who want to understand what you were working on?

CS: Sure. We were looking at MS from the perspective of how cells communicate with one another. We wanted to know if there was a break in communication from one cell to another that led to or exasperated the disease.

AMS: It certainly sounds easier when you explain it that way. How did you do that?

CS: We did live cell imaging of the spinal cord in animals. We could fluorescently label cells and organelles and watch the movement before and during the disease, including the breakdown of the immune system.

AMS: Did your hypothesis bear out? Was there a breakdown in communication?

CS: Yes. There is indeed a miscommunication between cells before any symptoms of MS actually appear.

AMS: Miscommunication between cells and organelles? Or are the organelles communicating information from cell to cell?

CS: It’s cell-to-cell communication through the organelles. Here’s an easier way to think about it. Imagine train tracks. The tracks are located in the arms of each neuron cell and help pass information from one neuron cell to another. Organelles, such as mitochondria, are moved along these tracks to aid in the distribution of this information.

AMS: So MS blocks the movement of the organelles?

CS: Yes. Early in the disease, these organelles become stuck on the track and can’t bring the communication from one cell to another.

AMS: That’s scary as well as fascinating.

CS: It is! Of course, one of the next steps, of course, is to try to fix the train tracks – which are actually neural pathways – to prevent the disease.

AMS: Is this what you might be doing now if you had stayed in academia?

CS: It definitely could have been.

AMS: What changed?

Cathy Sorbara presenting in Antarctica

Cathy Sorbara giving a presentation to other women leaders in Antarctica.

CS: I interviewed for a postdoc [postdoctoral fellowship] at University of Cambridge. I came in, gave a presentation and met everyone in the lab. Everyone seemed to like me, and I was feeling really good about my chances of landing it. Then I got a phone call from the professor the following day.

AMS: Not what you wanted to hear?

Click HERE to continue reading this article.


 

For the FULL INTERVIEW, please:

click here (PDF version), or

visit AnneMarieSegal.com/mcw-catherine-sorbara (online version).


 

Modern Career Warriors @ AnneMarieSegal.com
Technology, the “gig economy” and globalization have irrevocably altered the modern career. Launched in January 2020, MODERN CAREER WARRIORS is a series on AnneMarieSegal.com that explores the lives of professionals leading robust, resilient and multi-dimensional careers. 

DEPTH, COURAGE AND INTENSITY radiate from these Modern Career Warriors, who defy the odds and define their own paths.  While they may, like the rest of us, feel side-lined or even defeated at times, their inner drive keeps driving them to their own personal best and inspires others to do the same.

Feel free to post a question or “like” this post below, and click here to explore more articles in this series. Thanks!


 

Anne Marie Segal Cropped Website Final 2019 Barragan

Anne Marie Segal, founder of Segal Coaching LLC, is an executive coach, resume writer and author of two well-received books on interviewing and career development. She served as a corporate attorney for 15 years, including roles at White & Case LLP and a prominent hedge and private equity fund manager, before launching her coaching practice.

Based in Connecticut not far from New York City, Anne Marie partners with clients internationally on executive presence, impactful communications, graceful transitions and other aspects of professional and personal development. 

Article © 2020 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved.

Article images: © 2018-2019 Catherine Sorbara unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Image of Anne Marie Segal: © 2019 Alejandro Barragan IV. All rights reserved.

No portion of this article may be reproduced without prior written permission from Anne Marie Segal (or the copyright holder of any image above), other than limited quotes that reference this article.

Interview with Sandy Baggett: Modern Career Warrior Series @AnneMarieSegal.com

SANDY WORKMAN BAGGETT is our Modern Career Warrior for January 2020. This article is the first in a series of mid-career retrospective interviews featuring inspiring and innovative professionals at AnneMarieSegal.com.

Holding a highly prolific career, Sandy has been a federal prosecutor in three countries, led at least ten “once in a lifetime” cases and was recognized as one of the top 100 women in criminal investigations by Global Investigations Review.

MCW INTERVIEW WITH
SANDY BAGGETT

 SANDY WORKMAN BAGGETT is our MODERN CAREER WARRIOR for January 2020.

Sandy is the first in a series of mid-career retrospective interviews featuring inspiring and innovative professionals at AnneMarieSegal.com.

My interview with Sandy covers her journey from Judge Advocate (JAG) and Captain in the U.S. Army to federal criminal defense attorney based in Spokane, Washington. She is eagerly awaiting Spokane’s “real winter” – with an average of eight to ten inches of snow – and loving every minute of it!

We also take a world tour of Sandy’s roles as a prosecutor on three continents, including with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office (New York City), Serious Fraud Office (London) and Attorney General’s Chambers (Singapore), and as a criminal defense attorney at a top U.K. firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Singapore and New York City). 

Sandy Workman Baggett - Modern Career Warrior @ AnneMarieSegal.com

Holding a highly prolific career, Sandy has led at least ten “once in a lifetime” cases and was recognized as one of the top 100 women in criminal investigations by Global Investigations Review. Her global expertise has given her a remarkable level of flexibility to create her own career trajectory. Finally, I couldn’t resist getting the scoop on her house renovations, including a chicken coop in the backyard, as a single mom of three boys.

AMS: When I met you around 20 years ago, you were a JAG Corps lawyer, married and living in a cozy house in New Jersey with a quaint front porch.

SWBDon’t put that in! About the 20 years, I mean.

AMS: Do you remember your push-up challenge? One time you had at least eight friends over one evening, and you could do more push-ups than the rest of us combined.

SWB: That does sound like me. Always up for a challenge.

AMS: Fitness hasn’t changed about your life, but it seems like just about everything else has.

SWB: I’m the same person I’ve always been, just more confident of myself and closer to my core. And yes, I am all about keeping healthy and exercising.

Sandy Baggett - Modern Career Warrior @ AnneMarieSegal.com/mcw-sandy-baggett.

AMS: Speaking of challenges (and physical fitness), how did your early work in the Army set you up for the rest of your career?

SWB: Military training is truly unparalleled. One of the most important things you learn is how to be an integral part of a well-functioning team. It translates to everything else in your career.

AMS: Your next stop was an apartment in Queens, and you moved from JAG to the Bronx D.A.

SWB: Yep. We lived in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Long Island City, with a great view of Manhattan from our rooftop!

The D.A. was where I learned to prep, lead and win important cases. I specialized in violent crimes, like murder and armed robbery by drug gangs. I also worked on the Cold Case Squad.

AMS: Like the show Cold Case with Kathryn Morris?

SWB: [Laughs.] Not exactly like that, but some of the cases were pretty compelling. And it’s important work.

AMS: Then you moved to Singapore. Literally on the other side of the planet.

SWB: Yes, it was quite a change. I loved it there. We moved after my ex-husband was offered an expat role with a U.S. firm. Neither of us spoke Chinese, but that didn’t stop us. I didn’t have a work visa at first but soon joined the law faculty at the National University of Singapore.

AMS: And you started a family in Singapore.

SWB: That’s right. As you know, when I was younger, I was never really focused on having children. But I ended up having three, all boys, and never looked back.

AMS: Career-wise, what was your next move?

SWB: I became a Prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Chambers focused on Financial and Securities Offenses, which are looming issues in Singapore (just like everywhere else), especially because of its strategic location in Asia.

AMS: What was that like?

SWB: It took everything I learned in the D.A.’s office and brought it to a much larger scale. I was prosecuting all of the major crimes under international law: corruption, wire fraud, money laundering, sanctions, you name it…. I also became a global expert on U.S. and U.N. sanctions on North Korea and continue to get calls about that here in Spokane.

AMS: You told me that you’re fortunate to have had at least ten “once in a lifetime” cases in your career as a federal prosecutor. Can you tell us about a few of them?

SWB: Two were especially interesting. In one case, I prosecuted Chinpo Shipping after they financed a shipment of nuclear weapons on route from Cuba to North Korea. It was the first criminal prosecution for violations of U.N. sanctions of financial assistance to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs. It was covered in the Washington Post and other publications.

AMS: Like your earlier cold cases, this sounds like it could be the plot of a movie.

SWB: So true! The other is the Rolls Royce global corruption case. I collaborated on that prosecution during my secondment to the Serious Fraud Office in London. We generally think of Rolls Royce for cars, but these were multi million-dollar bribes for government contracts in their aircraft and energy divisions. The Department of Justice ((DOJ) coordinated a $170M global settlement agreement.

And last year I was recognized as one of the top 100 women in criminal investigations by Global Investigations Review. That was rewarding. I was honored to be among such good company.

AMS: How did you decide to leave government service in Singapore to join a top international law firm? Was that something you have always wanted to do?

For the FULL INTERVIEW, please:

click here (PDF version), or

visit AnneMarieSegal.com/mcw-sandy-baggett (online version).


 

Modern Career Warriors @ AnneMarieSegal.com
Technology, the “gig economy” and globalization have irrevocably altered the modern career. Launched in January 2020, MODERN CAREER WARRIORS is a series on AnneMarieSegal.com that explores the lives of professionals leading robust, resilient and multi-dimensional careers.

DEPTH, COURAGE AND INTENSITY radiate from these Modern Career Warriors, who defy the odds and define their own paths.  While they may, like the rest of us, feel side-lined or even defeated at times, their inner drive keeps driving them to their own personal best and inspires others to do the same.

Feel free to post a question or “like” this post below, and click here to explore more articles in this series. Thanks!


 

Anne Marie Segal Cropped Website Final 2019 Barragan

Anne Marie Segal, founder of Segal Coaching LLC, is an executive coach, resume writer and author of two well-received books on interviewing and career development. She served as a corporate attorney for 15 years, including roles at White & Case LLP and a prominent hedge and private equity fund manager, before launching her coaching practice.

Based in Connecticut not far from New York City, Anne Marie partners with clients internationally on executive presence, impactful communications, graceful transitions and other aspects of professional and personal development.

Published on January 23, 2020.

Article © 2020 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved.

Article images: © 2019 Sandy Baggett. All rights reserved.

Image of Anne Marie Segal: © 2019 Alejandro Barragan IV. All rights reserved.

No portion of this article may be reproduced without prior written permission from Anne Marie Segal (or the copyright holder of any image above), other than limited quotes that reference this article.

Introducing Corporate Board Service: A New Monthly Series Launching in January 2020 @ AnneMarieSegal.com

Corporate Board Series - From Vision to Close - AnneMarieSegal.com.jpg

If you are considering corporate board service among your goals for the New Year, mark this site for a 10-part series launching in 2020.

During the second week of each month (other than August), AnneMarieSegal.com will feature a new post on a key topic for prospective corporate board members, with particular emphasis on landing your first board role.

The first article, coming out on next Monday, January 13, 2020, is Articulating Your Vision for Corporate Board Service. For the full list of upcoming articles in the series, please click here.

If you are or wish to be on a corporate board and would like to provide input or be interviewed for this series, please contact me as soon as possible by email or through the Contact Page on this site.

To join my monthly email list, click here.

I have some other exciting series and articles launching in the New Year, along with a new course on Segal247.com. Excited to share them in the coming weeks!

 


 

Anne Marie Segal Post Banner

Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach, resume writer and author of two well-received books on interviewing and career development. She served as a corporate attorney for 15 years, including roles at White & Case LLP and a prominent hedge and private equity fund manager, before launching her coaching practice. 

Based in Connecticut not far from New York City, Anne Marie partners with clients internationally on executive presence, impactful communications, graceful transitions and other aspects of professional and personal development. She also hosts an online learning site at Segal247.com.

Accelerating Your Job Search as a Junior Law Firm Associates Targeting an In-House Counsel Role

Handsome businessman smiling outside the office building

A client and friend of mine, who is a relatively recent law graduate (let’s call him Jamie), feels like he is running out of steam and options. He has now worked at two mid-sized law firms and encountered the same issues at both of them:

(1) lack of real training or diversified work,

(2) disinterest by the partnership in developing his (or others’) careers,

(3) false deadlines,

(4) extremely high stress,

(5) misrepresentations about the number of hours expected, and

(6) compensation that does not keep pace with the above demands.

Jamie has now set his sights on an in-house job, given the above as well as some personal health issues, which make the stress and hours even less bearable.

The common wisdom is that attorneys, once they are already at a firm, try to build up (and out) their experience until they hit the four or five-year mark. That way, they come into an in-house role ready to add value, hopefully possessing some business skills, an expertise in an area of demand and/or solid corporate generalist skills. In other words, they have more to offer an employer and less need to be trained from the ground up.

But sometimes, the common wisdom fails.

For Jamie and others who are not getting the benefit of the law firm bargain, they may feel like they have little incentive to stay. They will not be significantly more prepared after two, three or four more years with a firm. They may handle very little work that is relevant to a future in-house role. Further, their commitment to practicing law, self-image and physical health can erode very quickly in the macho, every-lawyer-for-themselves environment that embodies many current law firms.

Here’s my job search advice for Jamie and other junior lawyers in this situation:

(1) Meet in-house lawyers, in-house recruiters and business people. Broaden and leverage your network, and invest your networking time in individuals who can and are motivated to make connections for you. Start with people you already know and ask them who else they know. Keep this priority going and find a way to organize yourself around the effort so you can use your time efficiently.

If, like Jamie, you face both health concerns and limited free time, see if there is a way to make these connections in a recreational setting, if those connections have similar interests and goals. Meet for rock climbing instead of drinks, for example, all things being equal. Or choose a scenic city walk over a sedentary coffee. If you are connecting by phone, consider standing or walking in place (if you can keep your concentration going) to get some blood flowing.

(2) Figure out what skills your need to land the right jobs and find a way to get them. Job descriptions are the first step informationally in that regard, but also look to online articles, company websites, conferences and the information you can glean from your network. (See #1 above.)

Your skill-acquisition may well include specialized skills that are highly relevant to in-house roles, such as privacy and cybersecurity. This could be through a formal certification program (such as CIPP) or simply by taking a seminar in, for example, GDPR. Other legal skills, such as contracts, employment law, litigation and compliance are always helpful. If you can round out your skills, it will serve you well in most in-house legal departments.

(3) Find ways to take on leadership roles. Find internal and/or external opportunities to grow your leadership capacity, a key competency for any in-house attorney. Whether you follow the in-house road up to General Counsel or take a detour, consider what organizations value in their GCs and set your compass accordingly. Roles in non-profit or professional organizations, such as the ACC or a bar association, can provide valuable opportunities to grow both your network and your leadership skills. So can smaller commitments, such as helping organize an event or CLE. Over time, these organizations may also offer the chance to build out your public speaking or writing skills, which can double as thought leadership and help distinguish you from other junior lawyers.

(4) Launch a job search and personal branding campaign. As you are retooling your skills and redirecting your value proposition toward your new audience, take a look at your LinkedIn profile and resume to make sure they (a) reflect what you can offer to future employers, (2) include your certifications and special skills and (3) align with what you will say about yourself in an interview. If you reasonably confident that it won’t have a negative impact on your current role, consider turning on Open Candidates and populating it to match your targets.

(5) Opportunistically consider alternate options. Even if transitioning to a role as in-house counsel is your main target, consider other opportunities if they arise or could be easily pursued (without overtaxing your available time) and they represent areas in which you would enjoy growing your career. For some, this may mean being open to non-profit or government positions. For others, a hybrid business-law role might make more sense, if it fits their interests and strengths and they happen to have (or can create) the right connections.

(6) Get “smart” about what an in-house role is like, especially at your target organizations. Through online research, try to develop a composite picture of the range and scope in-house roles. For example, if you are a litigator, which organizations could make special use of your skills and how can you position yourself to get in front of them? Where can you get information about specific questions, such as compensation? How can you learn what it’s really like to work in a specific industry or company? Even if some of the insights you find are not geared toward lawyers, they can help you understand the mindset of your interviewers.

This inside knowledge will help you size up the move and calm your nerves. It also can help you avoid mistakes in the interview process by not making assumptions about in-house practice that do not match up to reality. Having some “street cred” – i.e., savvy about the environment you wish to enter – gives you a clear advantage over the competition and will ease your transition as well.

(7) Use job boards sparingly. A few job boards, such as the ACC’s In-House Jobline Listings, are geared directly toward in-house roles. LinkedIn, as well as other sites, also offers the opportunity to set a specialized search and let company recruiters know you are interested. (Start by setting up a job alert and then follow the prompts.) Yet even these specialized tools have their limitations and can be a large time investment for little reward, as hundreds if not thousands of candidates may apply for every role.

(8) Reach out directly to organizations that interest you and follow up any prior leads. As you are building out your networking connections, find ways to get to know people within organizations that interest you, so you can better understand the culture and business model (or mission, as the case may be) and be on the short list of candidates who are informed first when a role opens up. Have your pitches about “why you” and “why them” (i.e., what interests you about, and what value you can add to, this particular organization) ready to go for a cover letter, elevator pitch and/or interview. You never know when the call may come, so it pays to be ready when it does!

Feel free to make a comment, post a question or “like” this post below. Thanks!


Anne Marie Segal Post Banner

Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach, resume writer and author of two well-received books on interviewing and career development. She served as a corporate attorney for 15 years, including roles at White & Case LLP and a prominent hedge and private equity fund manager, before launching her coaching practice. Based in Connecticut not far from New York City, Anne Marie partners with clients internationally on executive presence, impactful communications, graceful transitions and other aspects of professional and personal development. 

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn Pulse here.


You may also like:

Eight Core Qualities of Successful General Counsel and How to Achieve Them

Get It Together: Organizing Your Job Search

Successful Career Transition, Stage 1: Start with a Creative Mindset

 

 

Introverts + Professional Networking: My Own Story of Networking with (and Finally Meeting) Dorie Clark

If you follow me on LinkedIn®, you might have seen yesterday’s post that, after years of following her work, I finally met a mentor of mine, Dorie Clark, in person. Coincidentally, during a coaching call today with a CFO client about networking, the story of how I first “met” Dorie became highly relevant to our conversation.

I put the word “met” in quotes above, because for a long time my interactions with Dorie were simply online conversations, virtual high-fives and back-and-forth comments, given the busyness of business that we all have come to call life. As my client and I were brainstorming this afternoon about ways she could build out her networking and thought leadership, the idea of leveraging LinkedIn naturally became part of the conversation.

With Dorie’s recent “Land Your Book Deal” workshop and last night’s dinner with her and follow conference participants fresh on my mind, I confirmed that yes, online networking certainly can work, if you choose to network with people who are good match for you and make the effort to grow the relationship. And yes, I do practice what I coach and have real-life examples of forging professional relationships online that emerge and take form offline as well.

After first hearing about Dorie and reading her work, I became an immediate and huge fan. Many months after that, I quoted her and J. Kelly Hoey (another bright light to watch and learn from!) in an article I published. When I went back to retrieve this article for my client, I was surprised (and also not surprised) to see that it is from 2 1/2 years ago!

Again, I am practicing what I coach: networking is not transactional. Identify key relationships that make sense to nuture and invest your time and energy there, because you find shared, evolving and long-term value in the connection. Don’t be in a hurry to see some “payoff.” The payoff, in many cases, is in the relationship itself.

With Dorie

In case you would like to read the article in which I quoted Dorie and Kelly back in March 2017, I’m reprinting it below:

Introverts make better networkers.

That’s what J. Kelly Hoey, author of Build Your Dream Network, told a packed room of lawyers and investment professionals at the New York City Bar Association in late January of this year. After interviewing numerous sources for her book who are highly effective networkers, she realized that many of them self-identify as introverts.

The idea that introverts can truly shine at networking strikes many professionals – including many introverts – as a foreign concept. If they prefer being alone to lighting up a room and are driven more by introspection than connection, how can introverts be great at networking? After all, extroverts more easily strike up a conversation, keep it going and follow up with less fear. By their nature, they crave interactions with others. So how are they not the best networkers?

To get to the right answer, we need to be asking the right question, and that is: “What is the purpose of networking?” Effective networking, after all, is not an exercise in having the most Twitter followers or connections on LinkedIn. It is not, in fact, a numbers game at all. The goal of networking is to build an interconnected group (i.e. network) of individuals with whom you can create – over time and with meaningful energy invested – mutually beneficial relationships. A smaller network of more powerful relationships has infinitely more value than a so-called Rolodex of people who are weak contacts at best.

If you are looking for a place to start, remember that everyone already has a network. Everyone on the planet, in other words, has fellow alumni from high school, college, professional programs, work colleagues, neighbors, family, friends and/or other groups of people who form a network. Add to this basic network the people you may meet at yoga, tennis, church, the public library, nature walks, car shows, birthday parties or the myriad of other activities that may populate your day, and you may already have hundreds or even thousands of connections. If you start to actively associate with those in your existing network with whom you have a professional affinity, rather than envisioning networking as something that “other people do” or “only others do well,” you will make that first step toward actively creating an integrated network that works for you, rather than only belonging to a passive one created by default, not design.

The key to tipping the balance is to reframe the act of networking. It does not need to be a business-card exchange in a crowded event with strangers – something Kelly calls “random acts of networking,” which is generally ineffective – but it instead can be seen as an ongoing project of building relationships. By their nature, introverts are very thoughtful about how and with whom they communicate, so although they may not network in as many settings with as many people, they are more suited to creating a greater return for their ongoing efforts.

So how, as an introvert, can you effectively network in a non-threatening way?

Just as you would invest your money wisely, you can target your time invested to achieve the greatest return on such investment. This means, as I said above, that you first understand why you are networking so that it is a purposeful exercise. Are you building a network for a career transition that you foresee undertaking in the next 12 months, for example? If so, you will want to network with people who are in your target field or have undertaken similar transitions, who can help you along your way. Are you planning to write a book? You may wish to build a network of authors and experts in your area of writing, as well as others who are at the same stage in your writing journey, so you can support and share ideas with each other.

On a practical level, Dorie Clark, author of Reinventing You and Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It and a self-proclaimed introvert, has great advice for other introverts who wish to grow their networks. As she offered in an interview with Forbes contributor Kathy Caprino: “There are plenty of new and interesting people to meet who already have some connection to you, so ask for suggestions from friends and colleagues about who they know that they think you should connect with.”

Connecting with warm contacts, in other words, is a good place to target your networking efforts as an introvert. As Dorie says, you will already have a starting point, and the common ground will allow you to build a professional relationship more quickly. In addition, if you grow a network through current connections, your target networking audience will be hand-chosen rather than arbitrary leads, so they are likely to be better matches in any case.

This emphasis on warm connections does not suggest that introverts should avoid conferences and other big-ticket events altogether. Rather, in their characteristically thoughtful way, introverts can carefully choose and plan a limited number of events that are likely to bring results and how to achieve them.

As I mentioned in my own book, Master the Interview: A Guide for Working Professionals, to network effectively, you need to show that you actually value the other person. Many people miss this crucial point, which is one reason so many introverts (as well as ambiverts and extroverts) have formed a negative impression of networking. They have been “networked to” rather than “networked with,” and (wishing to escape further uncomfortable interactions such as those in the past) have turned off to networking altogether.

Showing you value the other person by focusing on the relationship – and not what you can “get out of them” – can transform networking from what may feel or seem like a selfish, needy or transactional endeavor to a fundamental human connection among people who can enhance each other’s lives. With this end in mind, introverts, as well as extroverts, can create a network that works for them.

Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach, resume writer and author of two well-received books on interviewing and career development. She served as a corporate attorney for 15 years before launching her coaching practice, including roles at White & Case LLP and a hedge and private equity fund manager. Anne Marie is based in Stamford, CT and serves an international clientele. Her online learning platform is accessible here.

This article, other than the introduction, was original published on Forbes.com and is accessible here. Image above copyright 2019 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved.

 

 

Should You Attach Your Resume to Your LinkedIn Profile?

Have you often wondered if you should attach your resume to your LinkedIn profile? Maybe it would help boost your job search?

Don’t.

Why not?

1) If your home address is on it – which it shouldn’t be; only use city, state and zip or equivalent – you are putting your information at risk for identity theft.

2) You also may find (or never know) that people are borrowing your information and creating a resume that is essentially a copy of yours with another name on it. Because they do not need to post that publicly – unlike a LI profile – they can secretly trade on your goodwill and dilute your brand.

3) If you have one form of resume posted on LinkedIn and bring another (targeted) resume to an interview, you may compromise your credibility (i.e., if the two versions do not to match).

In other words, you will have less control of your personal branding in the interview because your audience will have already seen your resume. They may not even read a new one.

Instead of attaching a resume, put the important information and keywords directly into your profile, so the LinkedIn algorithm can do its work to match you to the right jobs.


Website Anne Marie Segal 2019 Barragan Square Say CheeseFor more LinkedIn tips, click here.

To find or follow me on LinkedIn, click here.

– Anne Marie Segal, Executive Coach


Image of Anne Marie: Copyright 2019 Alejandro Barragan IV. All rights reserved. 

Remaining images: Adobe Images.

%d bloggers like this: