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Reflecting and Reacting: Set Your 2018 Career Goals

By Erin Wills

It’s that time of year again! A time for pause and reflection on where we started, where we ended, what went right, what didn’t, and how to improve our current trajectory through life. Yes, a better diet, more sleep, more exercise, etc., are certainly important, but what about your 2018 career resolutions?

Being happy and successful in your career, however personally defined, directly affects your overall happiness and well-being in life. Thus, setting goals and taking time to reflect at least annually on aspects relating to your career is a necessary means to achieving a blissful end.  Below are a few considerations that may help trigger thoughtful contemplation and/or perhaps even resolution-setting, if you’re into that sort of thing!

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Make a Lasting Impression

By Kimberly M. Johnson

The flashing blue light. That’s what I remember about Mrs. Lake’s third grade class. Show-and-tell was the best part of my week; especially when that sheriff’s deputy gave a bunch of us a sightseeing tour of his patrol car. It made a lasting impression.

Conducting a job shadowing event at your office will provide a lasting impression of our chosen profession in the minds of the millennials and the Justin Bieber crowd.

We have plenty to share with them:

  • Think about it. We create an indelible footprint everyday: handling administrative tasks, sifting through personnel matters, building and maintaining relationships, plus mining through the cloud.
  • Think about it. We acquire blocks of knowledge on a consistent basis: CLEs from the North Carolina Bar Association, specialized certifications, certificates and on-the-job training.
  • Think about it. We are adept at adapting: collaborating with courthouse personnel, figuring it out with the IT support service guy, discussing the next action with a partner and smoothing out the rough spots with a client.
  • Think about it. We use our skills in “pressure cooker” situations: When a paralegal abruptly quits and leaves no instructions or when a computer glitch wipes out a document that you did not save on the F drive and did not have a back-up copy located on a portable thumb drive.

Job shadowing is a picture-perfect way to explain your routine and how it relates to other positions within your firm or company. Consider these tips when you start planning: get buy-in from department leaders, encourage your co-workers to participate and provide a take-home packet or business cards.

We can be the flashing blue light for the next generation.

 

 

 

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