© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Kelly Noblin – (August 29) – Alana Newhook has the job many sports-loving lawyers and law students fantasize about: She is the only in-house counsel for the Dallas Stars.
Last week, I had the privilege of asking Alana that and other questions over lunch. Her story is an inspiring tale of how strategic career planning resulted in the job of her dreams.
To start, Alana told me she was from Toronto, Canada, and that most of her family members are die-hard hockey fans. I immediately expected her to say she had a family connection to the owner of the Stars.
Or, I suspected, she would tell me that this was one of those “too good to be true” stories in which luck intervened and perhaps she just happened to sit next to the general manager of the Stars on a long American Airlines flight as he was reviewing resumes for an open position.
Wow, was I wrong!
Alana’s job was not the result of favors or fortune, but forward-thinking and hard work.
As a veteran legal recruiter and former career counselor who has talked with literally thousands of attorneys, I was blown away and honestly inspired.
I realized that while Alana’s story is striking because of her relative youth (and the palpable passion that is evident when she tells her story), the keys to her success are timeless and can apply to anyone at any point in any career.
Let’s dig in to Alana’s tips for success.
Be Strategic.
You hear lots about being strategic these days. In terms of career planning (or life planning for that matter) what does it mean?
In Alana’s case, it meant having an acute sense of what she wanted to be when she grew up and a laser focus on doing what she needed to do to get there. She realized that she did not want to pursue a career in medicine, like most of her family had and like most of them expected her to do.
Instead, she wanted a career in sports law.
Even as a first year law student, she realized that her law school was located in a challenging legal market and geographic area and that graduating from SMU in Dallas would give her more opportunities to gain strong legal experience quickly.
Accordingly, she gave up law review at her school and the comfort of having family close by and transferred to SMU.
Bottom line: Do some soul searching and figure out what you want to do. Have a goal and be as specific as possible.
If self-assessment is not your strong suit or you were not blessed with self-awareness, make yourself do this at least once a year – like an annual dentist appointment or a birthday present to yourself.
Take a break from the daily grind and take stock of where you are and where you want to be. If you want to be an in-house transactional attorney and you have just made partner in your firm’s litigation section, you’ve got some explaining to do. Trust me, no one is going to manage your career for you.
Be Persistent.
In all my years of legal recruiting, I have never seen a job posting for Associate Legal Counsel of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
You may have your goal firmly in mind, but there may be several years and many obstacles between you and your dream job.
Again, think strategically about what you need to make yourself qualified, marketable, and ultimately competitive for that job. If you lack requisite experience, do what you have to do to get that experience.
In Alana’s case, because she transferred law schools, she was unable to join law review her second year of school. She knew she needed to hone her writing skills and have a vehicle to exhibit those writing skills. She found a sports law blog and volunteered to provide legal updates.
She then reached out to a publisher and wrote sports law related articles, one of which was later quoted in The New York Times.
When there was a sports management conference in Atlanta, Alana paid the travel expenses herself to attend the conference, which was long before she had a job in sports law.
Alana was persistent and worked very hard to make contacts and learn the industry.
Be Prepared.
In this era of information overload, there is no excuse for not being prepared. If your strategy and persistence have paid off and you are finally in front of someone who has the ability to recommend you to other key contacts or even to offer you a job, do not blow your chance by being unprepared.
You may have adequate answers, but if you fail to ask insightful questions that show you understand the industry, the economic challenges, and the company’s competitors, you will fail to distinguish yourself.
While our economy is strong and the legal market is active, employers remain picky and the process is competitive. Most importantly, you should aim to convince your audience that you have something (skills, experience, intelligence, enthusiasm) that would make their life easier or make their organization run better.
Being prepared goes hand in hand with being fearless – you have to make the most of your chances. If fortune knocks on your door and you happen to sit next to that CEO who is searching for a new General Counsel, be ready to tell her why she should consider you. Have your elevator pitch ready!
Be Fearless.
As everyone knows, networking is critical to career success.
Networking simply means getting to know people, developing relationships, learning from others, getting help from others, and giving help to others. At its best, networking is more of an attitude and less of an item on your to do list.
Also, technology and social media have made networking easier, but it can also give us a false sense of being connected. You may have 500+ LinkedIn connections, but have never had coffee with an in-house attorney and asked him how he got his job, what he likes about it, what he does not like about it, or what he would do differently.
Alana explained that if someone that she met offered to answer her questions, she took them up on the offer. She followed up and asked for a meeting and was well prepared and fearless when she met them. She was bold in communicating her passion and her willingness to bet on herself.
Alana’s conviction about her career goals and her confidence in herself were impressive, but the more I talked to her, I realized they were the result of hard work and strategic planning.
In addition, she has a strong sense of duty to help others and pay it forward and has a likeable graciousness and humility. She acknowledged her appreciation for the leadership of the Dallas Stars – specifically Jim Lites, Jason Farris and Brad Alberts – in taking a chance on her.
While this approach came quite naturally to her, these tips can be learned by anyone and implemented at any point in one’s career.
Kelly Noblin is a founder and recruiter with Newhouse + Noblin, a legal and executive search firm. An alumni of the SMU Dedman School of law, she previously served as Assistant Dean of Career Services for the law school.
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