How to Succeed in a Lawyer Career Transition: Your Target Market List

You've assessed your strengths, interests, and values, developed a vision of your future, and determined what type of job function would best suit you.

You have a clear vision of your ideal career path, but no idea of potential employers.

You know what kind of work you want to do, what type of organization and environment you want to work in, and the geographic location you want to do your work.

The final phase of your career transition research is to identify specific organizations where you want to work.

This information will help you decide which of them to focus on in your job search campaign.

 Researching Potential Ideal Employers

Research the organizations that interest you and that match your interests, knowledge, skills, and experience. Consider the environment of an organization - the physical setting, the company culture, and the makeup of the team you would be working in.

Don't just look at organizations with advertised job openings. Look for employers that might be a good fit for your transferable skills and interests, even if they have no openings.

 How to Research Potential Target Employers

A tremendous wealth of online information can help narrow down this process, such as Glassdoor or LinkedIn company pages for more opinions from employees and industry reports with valuable data points like salary comparisons.

 You can also find lists of potential employers through targeted Google searches. Consider non-traditional sources, such as trade journals, industry news publications, and blogs related to the industry.

Your family, friends, and other contacts can be a valuable source of information about what it's like to work at different companies.

If you can visit a local company, take advantage of the opportunity! In-person visits can give you much more insight into the organization than if you only read about it online or in printed materials.

 What You Should Know About Potential Target Employers

Educate yourself about your potential employers. This information will help you decide which of them to focus on in your job search campaign.

What factors set these potential employers apart? What makes them unique? What is their culture? Who are the decision-makers? What are their biggest problems?

 The importance of organizational culture to your success cannot be overstated. Learn how they define themselves and what makes them unique. What are their values?

Learn about the decision-makers in these organizations who decide who gets hired, promoted, or fired. Keep an open mind so you can get a sense of whether an organization is something where you might be a good fit. Learn as much as you can from employees inside and outside the organization through informational interviews.

The knowledge will help you when you talk to these potential employers about possible positions where you can add value. The more information you have the better prepared you will be to convince potential employers why they should hire you.

 Questions About Potential Target Employers You Should Know the Answer To

•  What is it like to work there?
•  How would I fit into this organization?
•  What are my chances of getting hired if I apply for a job here?
•  Is it competitive or easy to get hired knowing no one in the company?
•  Are there jobs that fit my qualifications and motivation better than others?
•  What is the culture like?
•  What do they reward?
•  What problems do they face?
•  What have they done to overcome these challenges?
•  What are their plans for the future?
•  What is the biggest advantage of working there?
•  What is the biggest headache working there?
•  Who are the influential people?
•  Are they growing, shrinking, or staying about the same size?

Patterns and typical answers about potential employers should emerge.

Which organizations most closely match your desires? Continue to drill down into these to find your "A-list" of potential employers that meet all your criteria for an ideal employer.

 Continue to Build Relationships

Once you have your A-list of 12 to 20 good potential employers, time to ramp up relationship building with people in those or related organizations.