How to Position Yourself for a Raise and Promotion
I don’t have a beef with resumes, though I like a one to two page bio best. Recruiters and hiring managers being who they are, however, it’s still best to use a standard resume to detail your education, experience and skills. When your resume does the expected job for you - scoring an interview - think of the resume as back-up, not your calling card.
“…think of the resume as back-up; not your calling card.”
Most of my clients initially want to pitch their past experience during that first interview (or during their quest for a raise and promotion at year end). That first interview is make or break and your prospective or current employer already knows what you’ve done. What they don’t know, and what they’re dying to know, is what you’ll do. Not only that, they want to know what you’ll do to serve their needs. That’s why I encourage my clients to schedule at least one interview, whether it’s first or last, with the person who really needs you.
When I was hiring associate attorneys for my trial teams, I had pressing needs. And those pressing needs were quite specific.
Three months before a complicated multi-party multiple million dollar case, I usually needed:
Someone able to make a court appearance
Someone able to take a deposition
Someone who could not only draft a coherent and persuasive pre-trial motion, but one who could suggest we file a motion I hadn’t thought of.
Someone who could produce work on a tight schedule
Those are just the top four that come to mind all these many years after I retired from practice as a commercial litigator and trial attorney. Those “top of mind” qualifications were not, however, precisely what I needed. And that’s why an applicants first step in a hiring or compensation interview is to ask what the partner with a need specifically needs.
Tough to know? Not really. Just ask me. Like this.
I understand you’re going to trial in January. What will you need someone with my experience to do?
Thanks for asking. Too few applicants do. I’ve got two critical expert witness depositions coming up and I need an associate with your background (yes, I’ve read your resume) to help me prepare for it.
Great! I’ve prepared partners for expert depositions on several occasions. What are their areas of testimony?
I’ve got a statistician who’s going to testify that the defendants must have engaged in a conspiracy based on a statistical analysis of the reasons why all of the defendant insurance carriers denied a pain clinic’s patient’s claims. The other expert is going to testify about lost profits.
Interesting. I took a statistics class in college and frankly don’t remember much but I’m a quick study. If I’m the one you hire, I’d ask for the statistical analysis, the underlying data, the expert witness statement and a sample of the documents that could demonstrate that the claims were not denied by defendants in a sufficiently similar way to justify a conclusion of conspiracy. That’s the sort of analysis I’m best at. I suspect the lost profits expert will be more straight forward. I’ve prepared my partners for those depositions on several previous occasions.
Terrific. I like the way you think. We also have to take the depositions of some claims managers who worked with our co-defendants. I’ve got outlines for those depositions. Do you think you’d be up to taking them?
I’ve second-chaired dozens of depositions and only taken a few myself. I believe I could handle the claims people using the outline. I’ve used outlines before and always expand them somewhat. I’m also able to follow a witness who goes in a direction that the outline doesn’t anticipate. Again, I’m a quick study and have been wanting to get more hands on trial and pre-trial work for the past couple of years.
“And that’s why an applicants first step in a hiring or compensation interview is to ask what the partner with a need specifically needs.”
Why does this attorney get hired or promoted, paid more or promised a significant post-trial bonus for putting in the hours that all trial work demands? Primarily because she is not simply telling me what she’s done before, but what she’ll do once she’s hired. She’s eager and clearly willing to work hard in case I need to throw something at her that she’ll be doing for the first time.
In the hundreds of interviews I conducted in a 25-year litigation and trial career, I can count of one hand (just one!) how many applicants: (1) asked me what I needed; and, (2) indicated that they would be able to do what I needed. And the resume? The past experience? That’s just verification for the more in-depth inquiry I need to make to fill my pre-trial needs.
So when you read the dialogue above, forget about the details - it’s the “can do” attitude that sells. The resume is just backup. Inhabiting the role gets the job, raise and promotion every time.