By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)
Twelve of the nation’s largest law firms are centrally located in the city of Los Angeles and according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 556,790 lawyers in California – not including those who are self-employed. As a lawyer, making a name for yourself in this city may not be the easiest of tasks, but if you’re incredibly dedicated to your work, your clients, and your profession – such as the women heralded by the Los Angeles Times as the city’s Women Leaders in the Law – chances are, you’ll make a name for yourself.
The supplement to the Times featured a number of Los Angeles’ top female lawyers, including a revered firm’s first female attorney and a lawyer who was behind a landmark civil rights case. Let’s get to know Amy Fisch Solomon and Deborah Chang, two lawyers who took a different path to making history.
If it weren’t for a severe injury, Amy Solomon’s life might have turned out much differently. In third grade she made a deal with her mother: her mom would continue to pay for ballet lessons if Solomon promised to work hard in school and always have something to fall back on. The deal continued well after high school when Solomon began dancing professionally, but after sustaining an injury, she was forced to reevaluate her life. “I enrolled in college and was Pre-Med my first year. I decided that it was too much science and not enough ‘people stuff,’ so I focused on preparing to go to law school,” Solomon said.
Only a former dancer, still in love with the art, could equate her performances on the stage with her performance in front of a jury. “From the beginning I always knew I wanted to be a trial lawyer because of the similarity of performing as a dancer,” Solomon said. “It was the same idea: connecting with an audience to tell them a story that will move them. When I discovered that I could tell stories for people who had no voice – ‘the little guy’ – I was immediately drawn to that area.”
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Tips for Re-Entering the Job Market – Get that Senior Level Job Back
Expert AnswersLast month, the New York Times published an article entitled “In Job Market Shift, Some Workers Left Behind.” Catherine Rampell reported that for the last two years, the weak economy has created an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people who were displaced by technological advances and international trade.
This article struck a chord with me because I work in the recruiting industry and hear about the woes of the unemployed masses on an almost daily basis.
One in particular is a neighbor, a former banking HR generalist who has not procured full-time work for over 2 years. “Jane” is in her early 40s with a University of Chicago undergraduate degree and is now at the end of her 401k savings. She fears losing her rent stabilized apartment on the Upper East Side soon, and her attempts to sell her Burberry coats on Ebay recently have failed.
She has come very close to being hired for a number of HR jobs. But in the end, the hiring managers always decided to go for someone who had more computer experience, more hands-on experience in talent acquisition, or with employee benefits. In the past, companies may have been okay with a generalist skill-set that was short on specifics – but no more.
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Movers and Shakers: Laura Herman, Managing Director, FSG Social Impact Advisors
Movers and ShakersAt age 14, Laura Herman spent the summer on the north coast of Spain with a host family. It was her first taste of independence, immersion into another culture and glimpse of a society affected by political unrest. Once back in the quiet Boston suburb where she grew up, she determined that not only would she go back to Spain the following summer, but she would do something “international” with her life. That experience kindled a lifelong passion for other cultures and an interest in social issues. Herman not only returned to Spain for the subsequent three summers, but has visited, volunteered and worked in more than 40 countries to date.
When Laura first arrived at the University of Michigan, she thought she would major in International Studies and then join the Peace Corp, but she was ultimately drawn to the U of M Business School. “I came to this huge university from a small high school with a graduating class of 100 students. Entering the business school was a way to make the university seem smaller and I liked the cohesion of the business program.” While at U of M, Herman spent a summer as an intern working in Prague at a new foundation just after the Berlin wall came down.
Abject Poverty and Multinational Companies
After Herman earned her undergraduate international business degree, she spent five years at Deloitte Consulting. While she was learning the nuts and bolts of business consulting, she continued to travel and volunteer. During a leave from Deloitte, she spent nearly three months in southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia). As she traveled around the beautiful, yet economically desolate, countryside, she saw struggling communities alongside multinational companies. “I thought a lot about poverty, why poor people were poor, and exactly what was driving such poverty.” And she started to think about how they could work together.
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Seven Expert Presentation Tips for Women Climbing the Ladder
Expert AnswersGiving a presentation is one of the most stressful responsibilities you have in the workplace, especially if you do not give speeches routinely. However, women who have broken the glass ceiling know how to engage and involve their audiences during every presentation. Sure, they get nervous (we ALL do!). But they don’t get caught up in the moment thinking, “Will I make sense? Do I look all right? Am I going to embarrass myself?”
To be an effective, engaging presenter, you have to let go of your own internal conversations and focus on your audience. This means you have to care sincerely about and want to connect with each person in the audience. They need to know that you are putting their needs first. Even if you have given the same presentation before, you need to know enough them so they feel they can trust you and will want to listen to you. Get to know the hopes, fears and interests of your audience. Take the time to understand the people, their backgrounds, and the collective culture – often called the “personality” of the group – so you can connect your comments with what they care about.
Here are some proven ideas on how to reach out, discover what your audience wants to know and connect with them even before your presentation begins!
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Back to Work Wisdom: New Directions
Managing ChangeAs the definition for work-life balance continues to evolve, more and more people are choosing to take a “career break” to concentrate on family and personal priorities. This trend has created a new area of focus for employers: how do companies address the gap in experience and the inherent challenges faced by candidates returning to the workforce? The Goldman Sachs New Directions program aims to provide on-rampers with guidance on how to successfully get back in the game and secure a position.
“The biggest question we are asked is: what skill set do returners need to sharpen prior to on-ramping?” said Monica Marquez, Diversity Practitioner at Goldman Sachs.
The question and answer panel of Goldman Sachs’ New Directions program is one of the most popular segments of the half-day back to work program. Developed in 2006, the New Directions half-day conference helps individuals transition back into the workforce after a voluntary career break.
“We often hear from returners that they have maintained their core skills but are rusty on new technical developments such as a new version of Microsoft Office or how to use a Blackberry,” Marquez said, “It may seem simple but can pose a real challenge if not addressed early on”
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Voice of Experience: Wendy Stops, Global Managing Director, Quality & Client Satisfaction – Technology, Accenture
Voices of ExperienceWendy Stops is a panelist at our upcoming event “Women in IT: Staying Technical and Getting to the Top.” We still have a few tickets left – to register, click here: https://theglasshammer.com/events/
“I guess it’s the individual, smaller things that inspire me. When I see very confident, articulate people who are genuine, and know what they want to achieve and share their story with you,” began Wendy Stops, Global Managing Director of Quality and Client Satisfaction for Technology at Accenture.
Stops’ career has brought her around the world – from Australia, to several locations across Southeast Asia, back to Australia, and now to New York City. She said, “My area of current experience and focus – consulting and tech – is helping our business delivery quality solutions for the client. Delivering these quality solutions is very important, and we are always looking to make improvements and changes. My challenge is to innovate how we can continually deliver high quality solutions.” She explained, “I like change – I like dealing with things I know are going to make a difference.”
She continued, “I get inspired by people who are not afraid to make tough decisions – who aren’t hiding and [are willing to] admit when they make mistakes. That’s the sort of person I want to be.”
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-Up
NewsIn the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be abolished and replaced by a number of committees and agencies, The Bank of England will take on an expanded role as arbiter of both monetary and regulatory policy and a new Banking Commission has been established to review the future shape of the banking industry. The EU decided to publish results of “stress-tests” on 25 banks in July.
Economic Backdrop
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Celebrating Two of LA’s History-Making Female Lawyers
News, Spotlight on PeopleTwelve of the nation’s largest law firms are centrally located in the city of Los Angeles and according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 556,790 lawyers in California – not including those who are self-employed. As a lawyer, making a name for yourself in this city may not be the easiest of tasks, but if you’re incredibly dedicated to your work, your clients, and your profession – such as the women heralded by the Los Angeles Times as the city’s Women Leaders in the Law – chances are, you’ll make a name for yourself.
The supplement to the Times featured a number of Los Angeles’ top female lawyers, including a revered firm’s first female attorney and a lawyer who was behind a landmark civil rights case. Let’s get to know Amy Fisch Solomon and Deborah Chang, two lawyers who took a different path to making history.
Amy Fisch Solomon, Girardi Keese
If it weren’t for a severe injury, Amy Solomon’s life might have turned out much differently. In third grade she made a deal with her mother: her mom would continue to pay for ballet lessons if Solomon promised to work hard in school and always have something to fall back on. The deal continued well after high school when Solomon began dancing professionally, but after sustaining an injury, she was forced to reevaluate her life. “I enrolled in college and was Pre-Med my first year. I decided that it was too much science and not enough ‘people stuff,’ so I focused on preparing to go to law school,” Solomon said.
Only a former dancer, still in love with the art, could equate her performances on the stage with her performance in front of a jury. “From the beginning I always knew I wanted to be a trial lawyer because of the similarity of performing as a dancer,” Solomon said. “It was the same idea: connecting with an audience to tell them a story that will move them. When I discovered that I could tell stories for people who had no voice – ‘the little guy’ – I was immediately drawn to that area.”
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Mary Schapiro, SEC Chairman, Talks at the FWA
Featured, NewsPhoto courtesy sec.gov
“I’ve surrounded myself with great and talented people and that’s the secret of my success,” said Mary Schapiro, Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission. Schapiro was interviewed by CNBC‘s Maria Bartiromo Monday at New York Law School, for an event hosted by the Financial Women’s Association of New York.
Schapiro attributed her level of success to, “Not being afraid to hire people much smarter than I am.” She also mentioned the importance of “diversity of perspective.”
She continued, “The people make it worthwhile. …We are well-positioned to make a difference for American investors.”
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Ask-A-Career-Coach: How Do You Talk About A Personal Leave of Absence?
Ask A Career CoachContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™
This question came after a webinar I led last week: “How The Hiring Process Really Works.”
It was mind blowing to learn that my resume will probably not make it through the resume screening stage due to my current year-long (and counting) resume gap due to having a child (Note: in the webinar I mentioned that gaps of any kind, not specifically family-leave, raise red flags in a resume screen). In the meantime, how do you recommend mothers address a resume gap for time taken off to have a child and/or raise a family? In the beginning of my job search, I was very open to explaining that the gap was due to having a child, but I sensed some hesitation from several prospective employers once I revealed that tidbit of information. Lately my strategy has been to ignore the gap and only volunteer my motherhood status if asked. Should I explain the gap in my resume? What about in a cover letter?
Yes, you should explain the gap in your resume. No, don’t highlight the gap in your cover letter. And definitely NO, don’t attribute the gap to your kid(s).
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Women in Tech: Building Confidence and Visibility
Industry Leaders, LeadershipFriday’s 85 Broads NYC Internet Week panel “Hot & Bothered: It’s Time To Change The Gender Ratio in New Media & Tech” tackled the myth that there just aren’t that many women in the tech space. Moderator Rachel Sklar, Editor-at-Large at Mediaite, explained that she meets a lot of female leaders in the tech space, but they just aren’t getting recognition.
Panelists included Esther Dyson, angel investor, tech industry pioneer, and journalist; Michelle Madhok, founder, SheFinds Media; Alexa Hirschfeld, co-founder, PaperlessPost; and Joanna Stern, contributing editor, Engadget.
Sklar said she decided to put the panel together after reading New York Magazine’s recent piece “Tweet Tweet Boom Boom: How Tech Startups Like Foursquare and Meetup Are Trying to Overthrow Old Media and Build a Better New York,” Sklar said, “The ratio in the New York Magazine piece – 53 people and 6 female – didn’t reflect my experience, socially, in this space.”
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