Young Professionals: Take Note!

 

Valuable advice is sometimes hard to come by for a young professional setting out on a career in the legal and accountancy sectors. 

Taking note of the real life experiences from those who have built a career in professional services and have been there and done it provides you with a flavour of what to expect. 

But how do you get the opportunity to ask those at the top of your firm for their advice?

Don't worry we have done it for you and asked a select number of individuals in the accountancy and legal sectors a simple yet thought provoking question -

"If you were to provide one piece of advice to your younger (professional) self what would that be?"

 

Prepare for disappointments

In professional life there are going to be high points and low points, therefore preparing to accept these ups and downs is essential.

When you encounter disappointment, you should always look for the positives in every situation and highlight the lessons you need to learn.

 

Become a ‘Quasi-Director’

Do not give advice to a client until your absolutely confident that you can place yourself in the client’s shoes and fully understand their requirements.

John Crabtree suggests that young professionals entering the world of law should learn to become 'quasi-directors' - a director who specialises in the law. This is unlike other director roles, such as a finance or marketing director for exmaple, who respectively see the business from their own perspective. 

 

Be curious

Volunteer for new challenges and show an interest in other areas of the business - this will help you to build your confidence and build your profile amongst colleagues. 

Taking on new challenges can open up secondment opportunities which you should grasp with both hands.

 

Show initiative 

A great way of showing initiative is to engage with someone in the paygrade above you to understand what their role entails and think about how you would approach it. People will take note of this which helps to raise your profile within your firm whilst furthering your knowledge. 

 

Develop your own style

Peter Battle, CEO of Tracscare, suggests that you “back yourself, have confidence in your own ability and stay true to your beliefs.”

Through talking to more experienced professionals and observing the way they work can help you to shape your own style from elements that you believe work well. Developing your own style of working will help you to create an identity and reputation amongst colleagues and clients alike.

 

Gain commercial experience 

Developing commercial acumen is at the heart of creating your own style and the best way of doing this is by mixing with commercial people and finding the right secondment opportunities. David Beech, CEO of Knights 1759, highlights the importance of exploring the world of business which is essential in professional services today. The law teaches you practical skills whilst the business world helps to build your commercial experience. 

 

Find an enjoyable and interesting specialism  

Gain a variety of experience in the early days to help you find a specialism that you enjoy and interests you. From here you need to begin to build a quality network focused around your specialism, start building a network of contacts sooner rather than later which will pay dividends in the future.

 

Seize Opportunities

Grasp every opportunity your presented with; go to as many meetings and events as possible to broaden your experience to help you discover what you really enjoy. This is a great way to challenge yourself too in order to identify a specialism that you enjoy. 

 

Build a network of contacts

Invest your time in getting to know people early on in your career, building relationships with key individuals that may not be of immediate use but will be of use as you progress through your career. 

 

Learn to Listen

Developing the ability to listen and absorb everything from experienced professionals will help you to understand how they behave, their knowledge as well as helping you to develop your own style. 

 

Question everything 

There is no such thing as a silly question. Asking questions and showing an interest not only helps you to understand things and grow your knowledge, it helps to build your internal profile as someone who shows an interest. 

 

 

Advice from the professionals:

An essential discipline is to resist giving advice until you are absolutely confident that you are in your ‘client’s shoes’ and can act as his or her ‘quasi-director’ (by that I mean, like a director who specialises in the law, as opposed to other board colleagues who respectively, of course, specialise in finance, production, marketing & sales, commercial etc., but through their formal positions have the unique perspective of the business directly in mind).

John Crabtree, Chairman / Non- Exec Director

 

Find a specialism that you enjoy and are genuinely interested in and build a network of people who you get on well with and your careers will grow together.

Mark Beardmore, Birmingham Office Senior Partner and Midlands Head of Corporate, Eversheds Sutherland

 

Make the most of every opportunity you get – go to as many meetings as you can, volunteer yourself for new challenges, use your initiative and challenge yourself.

James Syrotiuk, Investor, Business Growth Fund

 

Develop commercial acumen and thinking from the start by mixing with commercial people and finding secondment opportunities. The law teaches technical skills and the business world teaches you commerciality which is crucial in today's professional service sector.

David Beech, CEO, Knights 1759

 

Back yourself, have confidence in your own ability and stay true to your core beliefs. This may mean walking away from solid roles, but if the environment is wrong, be it people, politics or culture, you need to bank all you can from the experience, believe in yourself and move on. The right doors will open.

Peter Battle, CEO, Tracscare

 

When you enter a profession like the Law or Accountancy you have to commit to developing your career over the long term. This means accepting the ups and downs and the highs and lows of professional life. A career of this nature is extremely rewarding but it comes with pressure and sometimes disappointments can occur. Make sure you treat the highs the same way you treat the lows. And remember that whatever the situation you find yourself in, look for the positives, what lessons you can learn, what experience have you gained and how well have you supported your colleagues or represented your client or firm.

Huw Dolphin, Birmingham Office Managing Partner, DLA Piper UK LLP

 

Start to develop your network as early as possible – As you get older and more senior, your network becomes crucial to your success. It is important to start to develop this network as early as possible and to make long-lasting relationships. And don’t forget, your internal network is just as important as your external network.

Amy Burton, Associate Director, RSM UK

 

 

My advice would be to listen and learn from as many experienced professionals as you can; look at the various styles used and then take what you think to be the best elements and create your own style.

Paul Finlan, Partner, Duane Morris LLP

 

 

Be curious and innovative – find out what the person the paygrade above you does and work out how you can do it better.

Pippa Hawkes, Partner, BSN Associates Limited

 

 

Never be afraid to ask questions. There are no silly questions and asking one isn’t showing weakness rather it shows confidence. Build your internal profile (in a positive way of course). Make sure people within your organisation across different departments know who you are. Get out and about and meet people, you never know where it might lead.

Richard Thomas, Investment Director, Palatine Private Equity LLP