Selling One's Self...

Selling Myself

 So I am attempting to secure summer employment in the legal field. This field, like many of the professional career fields, is strapped due to the recent economic upheavals.  As a law student, I am put in the unfortunate position of trying to make myself desirable. Like the "Superb Bird of Paradise," we law students find ourselves doing intricate mating dances in an attempt to be noticed and wanted. 

So the question I am faced with, having dug up the names of about thirty Atlanta area judges, is how to I market myself? How do I set myself apart from my classmates? Just what combination of bells and whistles do I need to arrange, and in what pattern, and with what tune?  This has for some strange reason become a daunting task. Seriously.  It will make you question yourself!  Ask anybody that knows me well and they will tell you that I think very highly of myself.  I feel I am good looking.  I don't like to be wrong. Usually, when I speak on a topic, I do my best to be both educated and opinionated.  I naturally take a leadership role in most things that I do because I was raised that way.  If there is something I don't know, I go find the answer. 


In my past working life (pre-law school) this was sufficient to land me a job as an office manager, an administrative assistant, or at very least a glorified data entry specialist. But now! OMG (and I promise I will try not to use that expression too often)!! I am up against overachieving, Aderrall popping, cheating on finals with iPhones, flirting with employers, "I got an extra four hours to complete my exam (even if it was warranted)," Law School Students. Yeah, I said it. It is the truth. So what do you do? How do you compete? And how do you manage not to completely forget your fabulosity in the process? I mean...after all, it is not as though the Scales of Employment Justice are equally weighed...


Well I will tell you what I plan to do.  I plan to put in that extra hustle instead of painting myself up to be the super law student (and dancing around like that freakin bird).  The crazy thing is, if any potential legal employer had a glimpse into the sheer amount of BS and drama I managed on a daily basis during my prior employment, they would automatically realize that I can handle ANYTHING that is thrown at me.  


So the take away of this little pre-semester rant of mine is simple.  When you are faced with a task that makes you question your worth in ANY way,  simply look back at what you have already accomplished / overcome.  Pull your worth from what you have achieved instead of second guessing yourself based on what you perceive to have been completed by others.


....that was a good little pep talk I just gave myself!! Hope it helped you too! :-P