Prepare, Learn, Connect: How Positive Practices Fuel a Thriving Career

Career beginnings produce a range of emotions, and stress is one of the most difficult to navigate. Feeling pressure to make an early impact, many young professionals load up on assignments, stack their calendars, and email at all hours — anything that they feel might help them get ahead.

This do-it-all mindset can seem sound on the surface. Indeed, how we perform early in a career often determines whether we’ll be in it for the long term. Yet trying to do everything at work is also entirely unsustainable: Overstretched professionals are more likely than their peers to eat poorly, lose sleep, skip workouts, and withdraw from friends and family — an ideal recipe for burnout.

A Fruitful First Year

In preparing to welcome Vinson & Elkins’ new class of talented associates, I got to thinking about all that goes into a fruitful first year. In an industry that expects excellence in every endeavor, there will be moments when pressure mounts. But there are positive practices that early-career attorneys can use to set themselves up to succeed.

Preparing for unknowns. In a nascent legal career, nearly everything feels uncertain — client needs, the steps in a matter, and the division of responsibilities, for example. Instead of waiting for answers, curious associates ask thoughtful questions. Managing uncertainty shows initiative and resourcefulness, burnishing a new associate’s reputation and opening opportunities for high-profile work.

Learning from mistakes. From legal substance to work processes to firm culture and more, new associates have much to learn, and mistakes often deliver the best education. When something goes wrong, pragmatic associates resist letting a setback spiral into doubt, dejection, or defeat; they acknowledge it, find the lesson, and incorporate what they learn into future work.

Connecting with colleagues. Law firms hum with diverse knowledge bases, skillsets, and experiences, and new associates can benefit from each by forging connections — with both fellow first-years and more seasoned colleagues. Collaborating on projects, sharing views and ideas, and supporting one another help foster the authentic relationships that make work more enjoyable and meaningful.

Robust Attorney Development

There’s a delicate balance between taking care of business and taking care of ourselves, and striking it is essential for cultivating a productive, fulfilling career. To that end, our firm has built out a robust Attorney Development Program — one that equips new associates with the mentorship, coaching, and support they need to acquire valuable skills and experiences. See a recent article on our Attorney Development Program: https://www.law360.com/pulse/dc-pulse/articles/1504630/how-v-e-is-using-development-coaches-to-boost-its-attys

In this program, growth and wellbeing sit front and center. The long-term goal is to help our attorneys be the best versions of themselves — both professionally and personally — and position them to thrive wherever their practices take them.

An associate’s early career centers on enterprise, enthusiasm, exploration, and — yes — substantive, complex assignments. Clients expect work of the highest quality, and helping produce it challenges new attorneys in ways that many have yet to experience. But those who see their first year as an opportunity — who prepare thoroughly, learn with purpose, and connect with their colleagues — can overcome whatever challenges come their way.