Deep Dive

The most common question I get from mentees and LinkedIn connections is simple: How do I get a new job?  

Every week, I hear from lawyers looking for their next in-house role.

Some want a promotion or to change the nature of their current role. Others are looking to switch employers or break into in-house for the first time.

They’ve all been told to “network.” They know that applying cold to online job postings is often an exercise in frustration.

But they want more.

They’re looking for specific, actionable steps to increase their chances of landing an in-house job they’re actually excited about. Or of making the job they’re in more exciting, fulfilling, and enjoyable.

And they want more information than can fit in a quick DM or a LinkedIn post.

So today, that’s exactly what I’m sharing.

These ideas aren’t meant to replace the table stakes advice, like the importance of updating your resume and networking. But they are meant to supercharge your efforts, making you stand out as an exceptional candidate in a crowded field.

What’s especially great about these ideas is that they are useful for any in-house lawyer. Even if you aren’t currently looking to make a move.

Try these approaches any time; they’ll help you increase your impact, visibility, and level of fulfilment whether or not you’re looking for what’s next.

Ready to get started? Here are 6 tips you can apply to make yourself more marketable and more impactful.

1. Stand out by owning your weird.

In a world of navy blazers and grey ballet flats, be a bright pink pantsuit with Sneex.

Put simply: find your weird and own it.

This isn’t just about what you wear, though that can help. More importantly, it’s about how you choose to spend your time and energy.

Leaning into what makes you unique won’t just make your career more fulfilling. It will make you memorable.

And in a crowded field, where recruiters review hundreds of resumes a day and lawyers are bombarded with information on thousands of in-person and digital connections, memorability is an edge.

Here are just a few of the things that have helped me stand out at different points in my career:

• Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

• Teaching middle school through Teach for America before law school.

• Leaving Big Law to start a juice bar.

• Competing in endurance events.

• Joining nonprofit boards for causes I care about.

• Leading pro bono initiatives when I was too junior to lead matters for paying clients.

Some of these are directly relevant to developing skills as a lawyer. Most of them aren’t. But collectively, they’ve made me me. And they’ve helped me build a career that fits me.

During interviews for summer associate roles back in law school, many interviewers were most interested in talking about my time teaching or my experiences hiking around the world — because everyone they were talking to had good grades from great schools, but not everyone had those unique experiences.

More recently, people I haven’t seen in years have reached out after thinking of me when they heard about someone competing in an ultramarathon or leaving the law to start a food business.

Your “weird” won’t be the same as mine. But by leaning into what makes you you, you’ll build a more fulfilling career and life, while standing out from the crowd.

And when you do get hired, it will be into a role where your uniqueness is valued.

So, what’s your weird? And how can you lean into it more?

2. Do the job you want before it’s yours.

You’ve probably heard the advice to “dress for the job you want, not the one you have.”

Here’s a different version: Start doing the job you want . . . before it’s officially yours.

If you want to be a leader, find ways to take on leadership responsibilities, even in a junior role. That might mean formally managing interns, mentoring junior employees (even outside legal), or stepping up to lead a project.

If you want to practice in a new area of law, do learning experiments in that area before anyone would pay you for the work.

If your current role doesn’t offer opportunities that match your goals, look elsewhere:

• Volunteer for pro bono work that aligns with your desired specialty. Many state and local bar associations offer training and supervision.

• Offer to take a specific project off your boss’s plate. Choose one you know you can execute well. (Pro tip: most managers are stretched thin, and a well-thought-out pitch to take something off their plate will likely be welcomed.)

• Start learning publicly, whether by writing, speaking, or sharing insights.

That last one is key: Don’t just learn. Talk about what you’re learning. It forces you to clarify your own understanding. Plus, it builds your reputation in the space you’re aiming to enter.

One caution: Don’t take this too far.

Don’t go behind your boss’s back and start inserting yourself into their projects.

Don’t present yourself as an expert in an area you’re just beginning to explore. You can be transparent about where you are in your learning journey while still building credibility.

Common sense applies. But if you take this approach the right way, you’ll often find yourself doing the job before you ever have to ask for it. (If this happens, you may be able to skip to asking for a raise).

3. Create a fantastic LinkedIn profile.

A strong LinkedIn profile turns job opportunities into inbound leads. It increases the chances that the right recruiters find you instead of you having to chase them.

And while resumes aren’t dead, they are far less important than they were a decade ago.

It matters what people who have never met you will say about you when you’re not in the room. LinkedIn is one way to control this narrative.

At some point, I’ll do a whole issue on what a fantastic LinkedIn profile looks like for an in-house lawyer. But for now, a few quick tips.

1. Use a professional looking headshot for your profile picture.

   • You don’t need formal business attire (unless your industry requires it), but wear something you’d wear to a professional meeting.

   • You don’t need to pay for a headshot. Use portrait mode on an iPhone and have a friend take the photo. Avoid selfies.

   • Consider AI-generated headshots—there are solid tools that can create polished images from your existing photos. Just be sure the result actually looks like you.

2. Optimize your headline.

   • If you’re job searching, your headline should describe the type of lawyer you are or want to be. Not just your current job title and company.

   • Example: Instead of "Senior Counsel at XYZ Corp," try "Tech Transactions & Data Privacy Lawyer | Helping Companies Scale Securely."

   • This makes you more visible to recruiters looking for your skill set.

3. Make your “About” section work for you.

   • Use this space to sell yourself as the kind of in-house lawyer your target companies need.

   • Focus on business impact, not just legal skills.

   • Speak directly to your ideal hiring manager: What problems do you solve? What value do you bring beyond just reviewing contracts?

A well-crafted LinkedIn profile doesn’t just open doors. It brings the right people to you.

As you know, in-house roles require a lot more than legal skills. Be sure to highly your business acumen, ability to work well-cross functionally, and your industry expertise—not just your legal chops.

Note: you do not need to start actively posting on LinkedIn in order to have a fantastic profile. While there are many benefits of doing so, just updating your profile picture, headline, about section and job description(s) will put you ahead of most job seekers.

4. Give potential employers the chance to disqualify you.

Wait what? Why would I want to let employers disqualify me?

Because the opposite is disqualifying yourself.

Do you want the job? Do you either have the knowledge and skills to do the job well, or the knowledge, skills, and other relevant resources (network, a plan for how to learn, etc.) to quickly learn how to do the job well?

If yes, then go for it.

This advice applies to everyone, but it is especially important for women. As a group, we are more likely than men to apply only for jobs where we meet all or nearly all of the requirements.

One older study found that women only applied for jobs where they met 100% of the stated requirements, while men applied when they met only 40% of the requirements. This is a crazy difference!

So don’t disqualify yourself. Apply for the job.

The worst that will happen is you’ll get rejected and realize that it’s not as painful as you imagined.

5. Strategically add to your in-house lawyer “toolbox” over time.

If you’re reading this, I already know two things about you:

1. You’re a smart, capable in-house lawyer.

2. You care enough about your career to invest time in making it better.

And yet, no matter how good you are, there’s always room to grow.

If you want to land a better in-house job, one of the smartest moves you can make is continuously upgrading your “toolbox”—the legal and business skills that make you not just a competent lawyer, but an indispensable asset.

That could mean:

• Earning a privacy certification to deepen your expertise.

• Reading one book per quarter on the legal area you’re pivoting into, or a business book on the industry you work in.

• Taking a corporate finance course to better understand the business side of law.

Whatever your next move, the key is intentional growth. The best in-house lawyers aren’t just legal experts—they’re constantly evolving their business skills to stay ahead of what their companies (or future employers) need.

6. When you are actively looking for a new role, talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend.

The process of searching for an in-house job can be brutal. It may take longer than you want, require lots of effort for minimal results, and otherwise be generally frustrating. And to make matters worse, rejections can feel personal, even when the logical part of your brain knows they’re not.

It’s easy to beat yourself up during the process.

When this starts to happen, ask yourself: is this how I would talk to my best friend in this situation? If you are being harsher with yourself than you would be with them, stop.

Job searching is difficult enough without negative self-talk.

A parting reminder: Don’t just read these tips. Take action.

When thinking about making a career move, or about improving your impact and marketability where you are, it’s easy to get stuck in the cycle of information gathering.

Researching the market, compensation trends, ideas for approaches to job searches, etc. You’re spending time and you feel busy, leading you to assume you’re making progress when you’re really not.

But don’t do that.

Want a better in-house job in 2025? Choose one tip from this list and take action today. Then, hit reply and tell me which one you picked. I’d love to hear from you.