Job Hunting PDQ

[mustardseed2007]

PDQ

ugh guys. There's a shake up going on in a related company to us. None of it directly deals with me and I haven't done anything wrong, but with things going how they are going I feel like I need to get my resume together so I at least have an exit strategy. I would actually be doing this with the complete blessing of my boss, if that tells you how things are. This is my first job out of law school and I'm in an assistant general counsel kind of position. There aren't a lot of things out there like what I do and so I'm a bit at a loss. How do I go out and even begin to look. 

There is some amount of networking I can do, which may be the answer here. I'm wondering if I should see a career counselor...or a recruiter? 

Although my job has given me a lot of skills, it's still a very niche area that I work in and there aren't a lot of stable companies out there that do what I do. I might really need to think outside the box here. 

Do I sound like I'm freaking out? Cause I am a little. I really should have seen this coming but I thought I had a few more years before I had to go down this path. But bottom line I should have made more moves earlier than this so I'm so mad at myself. 

[mommyatty]

Ugh. I’m in something of the same boat in terms of being in house in a niche area. I’m spending time networking, trying to start speaking at CLEs, and working with a recruiter who handles in house jobs.

One of the odd things I’m finding is that in house job titles are... weird. Like in my company there is only one person with the title of AGC but 3 who are GCs and one CLO. The CLO is the head honcho. The GCs are VPs, and the AGC is an AVP. The rest of us are general attys or senior general attys.

Another odd thing is the number of in house jobs that demand you have spent time in Big Law. I was at a government agency and then in house. Never wanted to be at a firm after clerking in law school. But be aware you’ll have to explain that choice. You would think clocking in at #10 in my class would prove I could have gone to Big Law if I wanted to, but no dice.

Good luck! Job searches suck, so I hope yours is short.

[k3am]

I'm in a similar position in terms of working in a relatively niche industry with a skill set I don't feel is very transferable. After two major shakeups at my old job, I decided it was time to make a move. I reached out to a couple of folks who had moved on to other companies, had lunch, let them know what was going on, that I knew they didn't have any job openings for me but that they probably knew someone who did. And they did.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having taken steps in the past - start taking them now. It sounds like you have some time, so plan on starting out the new year with a new mindset. Good luck.

[shakinros]

Ugh I’m sorry. I’ve been in a similar place of feeling like my career is too niche and I’d never work anywhere else. Spoiler: it wasn’t true.

It’s smart to think about this stuff now. it’s not possible for 5-years-ago you to have known to prepare for some other company’s meltdown.

[mustardseed2007]

mommyatty, yes what you say about most jobs wanting you to have spent time in big law...that is a huge concern of mine. I knew when I was taking this path that it was unusual and it concerned me...but I did it anyway. Ugh. Hopefully this isn't a huge life mistake. I feel like I can explain it away also (not top 10 in my class though, but I did well...it was other connections to the company that made me go this direction though). But these are the moments that I wish I had done certain things a bit differently.