Crafting Your Social Media Image For Career Success Steve Nelson, The McCormick Group Nancy Carpenter, The McCormick Group Abe Pollack, George Washington University Law School
Steve Nelson Steve Nelson is Managing Principal for Law & Government Affairs for the McCormick Group, an executive search firm based in Arlington, VA. He conducts partner-level searches, searches for in-house counsel for corporate law departments and other organizations. In addition to managing the company's attorney placement operation, Steve coordinates the activities of the legal management group, which handles high-level administrative placements at law firms and corporate law departments Before joining The McCormick Group, Steve served as Managing Editor and News Editor at the Legal Times and as Executive Editor and Director of the Washington office for Prentice Hall Law & Business. Steve is a Fellow and Trustee of the College of Law Practice Management, an honorary organization which formally recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of law practice management. In his spare time, he performs stand-up comedy at local venues.
Nancy Carpenter Nancy Carpenter specializes in executive searches for lawyers in both law firms and in-house positions at public companies both locally and nationally. Prior to joining The McCormick Group, Nancy recruited financial professionals at a national financial institution. She also recruited lawyers and administrative professionals at a local recruiting firm. She has worked at several major law firms both in Washington, DC and New York, including Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling and Cooley where she was responsible for lateral hiring as well as the summer associate program. Nancy graduated magna cum laude from Rider University where she received her Bachelor s Degree with a major in marketing.
Abe Pollack Abe Pollack is the Associate Dean for Professional Development and Career Strategy at the George Washington University Law School. In this capacity, Abe heads the Career Office at GW Law. Prior to joining GW Law, Abe was Director of Employer Outreach at Georgetown University Law Center. At Georgetown, he developed a number of innovative initiatives on career strategies for students and alumni. He previously served as a managing director at Major, Lindsey, and Africa. Abe also practiced law at two large law firms in DC, where his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and securities law. Abe is a graduate of The University of Texas School of Law and Franklin & Marshall College. Abe currently serves on the Board of Directors of NALP The National Association for Law Placement.
Goals for Today Practical Differences Between Social Media Vehicles (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) Improve Your LinkedIn Profile Increase Your Connections, and Include Key People and Groups Build Your Brand
Difference in Social Media Vehicles LinkedIn is used primarily for business Facebook is used primarily for social/personal Twitter is a combination of both
Relevant Statistics on LinkedIn Usage Most popular social network with lawyers 95% of lawyers are on LinkedIn Approximately 396 million LinkedIn users Two new members join every second Core Age group for LinkedIn is 30-49 56% users are male; 44% female Adding a profile photo makes you 14X more likely to be found Listing skills in your profile will increase your profile views by 13% 41% of millionaires use LinkedIn
How In-House Counsel Use LinkedIn State of Digital & Content Survey by Greentarget, ALM Legal Intelligence and Zeughauser Group -- April 2014
Profile Page Don t misrepresent yourself Should be consistent with resume but doesn t need as much detail Keywords List all relevant jobs Education pros/cons of dates Photo recent and clear head shot
Profile Page
Why Your LinkedIn Profile is Not the Same as Your Resume LinkedIn is the first thing people often see (first impressions are everything!) think of it as a promotional piece!
Preparing a Successful Summary Review summaries of colleagues in your field List skills, accomplishments, strengths What makes you unique? Know your audience and your goals Write your summary in a clear and concise manner Use active verbs and key words Format for easy reading
Summary Statement of Profile More than fifteen years of experience as in-house counsel for a Fortune 50 company, collaborating with and advising business clients in a range of intellectual property areas. Experienced in providing legal counsel regarding a broad range of matters. Highly skilled at creative problem-solving, advocacy, team-building, managing expectations, budgeting, and training.
Key Words for Profile I have 15+ years experience in various areas such as privacy, litigation, cybersecurity, SaaS, FCPA, M&A, contracts in industries such as transportation, energy, healthcare. As a general counsel, I am comfortable providing advice on a broad range of legal matters such as employment, licensing, compliance.
Job History Use key words Don t have to include all jobs (unlike your resume) Side interests and projects ok, but watch out for side ventures that aren t in your resume Dates of Education
Building a Network of Connections Colleagues Employers Past and Current Friends & Family Former College and Law School Classmates People You Meet at Networking Events Recruiters??
Creating Connections Personalize Invitations Use card reading apps at events Try to connect with people within 24-48 hours after meeting them
Groups Join Appropriate Groups See what groups your top connections have joined Don t join too many - too much noise
Connecting - Protecting Your Identity LinkedIn states: We recommend only inviting people you know and trust because 1st-degree connections are given access to your primary email address on your account.
Building Your Brand What is it? Why is it Important?
Building Your Brand Integrate Your News Sources, and Keep Up Every Day Examples of news sources include Corporate Counsel, Inside Scoop, BNA Big Law Business, In-house Blog Comment/share articles on LinkedIn (better to post) Tweet info/trends in your industry Comments on Articles and Posts Use Posts, Not Updates Make yourself unique (hobbies, interests) fine line see common mistakes Twitter Can Be Helpful Here
Common Mistakes Posting Too Often Posts are Too Long Posting Inappropriate Information or Photos Exaggerating in your profile, or having it inconsistent with your resume Poor Grammar or Misspelled Words
One last note Google searches Most employers conduct Google search nowadays Google yourself when doing a job search Be prepared to discuss things that may be found (i.e., bad review, etc.)
To Summarize Develop a powerful profile page Increase Connections Build your brand by posting, joining groups
Special Thanks Katherine White, Principal KT White Law Careers LLC Specializes in coaching inhouse counsel
Contact Information Steve Nelson The McCormick Group snelson@tmg-dc.com; 703.841.1700 @SKNLegal Nancy Carpenter The McCormick Group ncarpenter@tmg-dc.com; 703.841.1700 @inhousehunter Abe Pollack The George Washington University Law School apollack@law.gwu.edu; 202.994.0678