West author Ari Kaplan (The Opportunity Maker) is featured in a post on The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, titled “Make Yourself Useful: A Chat about Job-Getting with Ari Kaplan.” Ashby Jones talked to Kaplan about job networking for lawyers.
Kaplan, of Ari Kaplan Advisors, outlined his advice for job hunters to make and maintain meaningful contact with people from all walks of your life, which can lead to building out the network that lands you the job you want.
Kaplan told Jones, “the kind of networking I’m talking about sometimes takes more effort. But with a little bit of effort, people can really surprise themselves. Let’s say you want to meet the general counsel of a Fortune 500 company, which, might make a lot of sense for a job seeking law student or lawyer. Even if you don’t know any, there are likely a few ways to go about this. You might find one that’s an alumni of your law school and call him or her up, ask if you can come in to chat.”
Kaplan says any meeting you get, that comes out of your networking should be mutually beneficial:
“… the benefits to you are probably pretty obvious — you get a connection with someone in a position of authority and power. But how do you bring him or her something of value? It’s harder, perhaps, to think along these lines, but not impossible.”
Kaplan told Jones the job offer may take some time to get, but your approach to the job hunt and the networking should not feel like a burden.
It’s about making yourself useful, Kaplan said. “Every great rainmaker finds a way to consistently serve as a resource to clients or prospects. I’m a strong believer that the best way to self-promote is to promote others, and then let it reflect back on your character.”
Read the entire WSJ Law Blog post for more of Kaplan’s great advice.
By the way, Kaplan also got some press recently in the Houston Chronicle. In a story titled “Author says lawyers need networking updates,” Kaplan gave his view of the difference between networking and relationship-building:
“The difference is sincerity. Networking has a connotation that conveys the image of collecting business cards. Piles and piles of cards. Relationship-building humanizes the art of meeting and finding community with other people. Once you identify those common interests it’s no longer networking. It’s really just staying in touch.”
For more with Ari Kaplan, listen to a Westcast podcast we recorded with him about his book, The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development. I found it applies not just to legal careers, I think the tactics and advice could and should be used in many lines of work.
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In Practice | Practice tips |
