Networking advice: what in-house lawyers should NOT do while introducing themselves 

Landing an in-house job in the Bay Area is nuanced. General career advice sometimes doesn’t apply to us. I read this post by a self-described top 1% networker on “how to introduce yourself to open doors” and wanted to distill what works for our community and what advice to disregard.

Advice I would disregard:

1. The first piece given is to avoid using your job title when introducing yourself and instead “lead with proof,” like “I’ve scaled brands to 8 figures in under 2 years” as the opener. That is way too strong as the first words out of your mouth. Other lawyers who are hiring DO want to know what level you’re at and who you work for, e.g., a senior at a top law firm in corporate (or whatever your practice area is), or head of corporate at company X.
2. The second piece of advice given is “hit a pain point” to show you get their world immediately and say something like “most founders struggle to stand online.” Why this doesn’t work with other lawyers is our pain points are pretty clear (like having to close sales deals end of quarter or to resolve an antitrust or regulatory matter), so it’s better to say who you are and what you’ve done (see #4 of parts that are ok below).

The parts that are ok:

1. “You have 7 seconds to make a first impression.” I agree it’s a very short window so you do need to take control of whatever you can.
2. Good body language. Yes, “stand tall, make eye contact, and slow down your delivery.” It’s always good to come across as confident and unrushed.
3. Use the other person’s language. “Listen to how they describe their business, then mirror it. If they say ‘partners,’ don’t say ‘vendors.’” This makes sense but is a minor point.
4. Name drop with something the person would understand. The example given is “Collaborated with McKinsey on their growth strategy.” In the legal in-house world, it could be you helped launch an Apple product or helped Google/Meta (whoever) with scaling/hyper-growth.
5. Use a 10-word story. Yes, “make it sharp and memorable” because lawyers usually do too much backstory. I wouldn’t do the 10-word story in your intro but would do it once you start explaining what you do like you do in #4 above.