• Friday, March 29, 2024
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How to start planning for career success in 2023

How to start planning for career success in 2023

The end of one year and the start of another is typically when our thoughts start to turn reflective about our work and home life. Some of the questions we begin to ask ourselves when it comes to our legal career may include: are you where you want to be? Did the challenges of this year highlight that you’re not entirely happy in your current role? Are you where you want to be in your career? Did you level up this year and want to flex your new skills in a role with more responsibilities and a higher salary? Have you been toying with the idea of change and been dissuaded that now is not the “right time”?

All of these thoughts will be going around in the minds of many legal employees. Even more so this year, after such significant shifts have happened in both our work and personal lives.
Here’s a look at how legal candidates can start planning now to take advantage of legal career opportunities in 2023.

What Do You Want From Your Legal Career?
This year has provided many of us with additional time to reflect that we didn’t know we needed. The extreme circumstances of emerging from the pandemic have been the catalyst for some significant mindset shifts.

Some legal employees found that during their firm’s time of crisis they were truly working within a team and for an organisation that they were happy with – for others, it provided the clarity to realise that they were not.
In some cases, there might have been certain career opportunities that you were promised which have not come to fruition, and this year might have shone a light on your employer’s dedication to your training development.

The rise of remote/ hybrid work this year has highlighted the importance of flexibility for both legal employers and their employees. Even next year, when the pandemic is long gone, how many will want to stay remote on a full-time basis? Many legal employees have seen the value of not just remote work, but a flexible approach to working, and will be looking for this from their employer.
Another area where candidates are placing their focus is their training and development in a post-pandemic world.

Training And Development
Of course, this year has not been easy for many firms, but employees must feel assured that their employer is invested in their development. Some law firms were quick to adapt digitally and offer staff all of the help and support they needed to work from home successfully. But other legal professionals have found that they were not supported in a way that is conducive to career progression. Despite the pandemic and economic crisis, legal firms have continued to train and develop their teams this year.

Are you regularly being supported and offered training and development in your current legal role, or has it been put on hold because of the pandemic? If you feel that your employer is not providing you with substantial development opportunities, you may want to look for a role in a company that will.
So, where are the challenges and opportunities within the legal sector for 2023?

Employers are looking for emotionally intelligent employees with a growth mindset who can flex.

Getting Your Legal CV Ready
When looking for a new role, you will want to appear to prospective employers as the legal candidate to invite to an interview – and you can do this with some tweaks to your CV.
Think about what you can offer potential employers based on the challenges you have faced and the growth you have achieved this year.

Employers are looking for emotionally intelligent employees with a growth mindset who can flex. Demonstrate how you have overcome challenges this year in regards to remote working, helping your employer as well as your colleagues through the challenges of Covid. Digital skills and the willingness to learn are going to be essential in 2023 too.

Read also: Hacey trains 134 teenagers on career development

For example, “In my role this year, I used my previous cloud knowledge to help our firm make the switch from office-based to home working. I stepped up and offered to be the facilitator and help my colleagues remotely with WFH challenges such as digital file-sharing and taking digital payments”.

The bottom is to ask yourself the question, “Where do you want to be at the end of 2023 in your legal career?” and answer honestly, then match your desires with the opportunities in the market.

Some great and underutilised and underdeveloped legal candidates are staying put because of perceived risk, but now is the time to think about what you want.

Sourced from Clayton Legal