Tuesday, January 27, 2009

New Law Grad? Participate in a Survey--Your Answers May Be Published!

If you're a recent law school graduate, I'd like to hear from you: share your experiences and insight about the first year on the job as a new lawyer, and your answers may be published in an upcoming book. I'm surveying recent law graduates working in all different fields, practice areas, and work environments.

The survey is below; please copy and paste your answers into an email or attach them as a Word document and send to Ursula Furi-Perry at ursula at furiperry.com

PLEASE NOTE: By filling out and submitting this questionnaire, you agree to have your comments reprinted in full or in part in Ursula Furi-Perry’s book, Young Lawyer Careers Revealed (working title, Jist Publishing, forthcoming January 2010.) Please note also that your comments will be attributed to you in the book, with your name, your law school, your year of graduation, and your current position printed.


Name:

Law school you graduated from:

Year of graduation:

Please list the position you held during the first year after you graduated law school:

Please list your current position if not the same as above, and please briefly describe the “journey” that took you to it, if applicable:

Please describe briefly some of the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities that you handled on the job during your first year as a new lawyer:

How did you find your first job? What do you think helped you land the job?

What career plans would you like to make in the next few years? What are your immediate career goals?

What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your work and your career so far, and why?

What would you consider the most frustrating or challenging part of the first year on the job as a new lawyer, and why?

What makes the first year on the job potentially the most difficult?

What skills and character traits have helped you make your first year on the job a successful one?

To what extent are the following factors important to you (please describe whether they are “very important,” “somewhat important,” “not very important,” or “insignificant,” and please feel free to elaborate on your choices where applicable, describing why you chose a particular label):

1. Work-life balance:
2. Associate or new employee retention:
3. Starting salary:
4. Associate/employee training and professional development:
5. Firm or employer diversity:
6. Pro bono work or contribution to public interest work on the job:
7. Getting meaningful and varied assignments:
8. Finding the “right fit”:

To what extent are you satisfied with the following factors in your position as a young lawyer (please describe whether you are “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “not very satisfied,” or “dissatisfied,” and please feel free to elaborate on your choices where applicable, describing why you chose a particular label):

1. Work-life balance:
2. Associate or new employee retention:
3. Starting salary:
4. Associate/employee training and professional development:
5. Firm or employer diversity:
6. Pro bono work or contribution to public interest work on the job:
7. Getting meaningful and varied assignments:
8. Finding the “right fit”:

How do you maintain balance between your work as a young lawyer and the rest of your life? What advice would you give to other young lawyers about balancing their obligations and managing their time and workload well?

What training have you received during your first year on the job?

How do you keep up to date on your field? What professional development activities do you participate in?

How important is networking to you, and why? What does networking mean to you? How do you maintain your professional network, and what networking advice would you share with others?

To what extent did your law school experience prepare you for the first year on the job as a new lawyer? Did you concentrate on any particular academic area or participate in a clinical or practical program—and if so, did it help you on the job as a new lawyer?

How would you describe your relationship with your partners or superiors during your first year on the job? What advice would you give to other young lawyers on maintaining a successful working relationship with superiors?

What makes a position the “right fit,” in your opinion? How did you determine that your first job would be the “right fit” for your early career?

In your opinion, what makes a young lawyer “professional?” What factors go into professionalism?

How do you ensure that you maintain honesty and integrity and comport with ethical rules? What advice would you give to other young lawyers on ethics and professionalism?

What advice would you give to recent grads and law students on job hunting and finding that key first position?

What surprised you most about your first year on the job?

Can you share a particular moment or task you handled during your first year that you are proud of?

Can you share a particular moment or task that made you cringe?

Is there anything about the first year on the job that you would do differently in retrospect?

What general career advice would you give to upper-level law students or recent law grads?

Please feel free to list any other insight that you think would be important to share in this book:

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