By Kim Pietersen

The expression, ‘starting at the bottom of the food chain’, is a familiar tune to any candidate attorney. Having just graduated from law school, one steps into the workplace with scattered recollections of legal knowledge, which proves insufficient. If young attorneys can realise that their lack of book knowledge at that time is okay; and they focus their efforts on gaining legal experience, while building a meaningful professional network during their articles, they can be sure to move up the corporate ladder.

Working your way up the corporate ladder today, however, means more than just gaining workplace experience and building an impressive professional network. Soft skills are shaping the future of young attorneys more so than ever before. Hence, being intentional about something like personal branding, and being social media savvy in the fourth industrial revolution, may just be a young attorney’s ticket to the top.

Personal branding

Personal branding is typically described as the ongoing process of establishing a particular image or impression in the mind of others. Although this term is most often thrown around in the field of marketing, it is a concept that applies to the legal profession alike. Simply put, young attorneys should be intentional and consistent about the image they portray, both in the workplace and beyond.

Similarly to your firm having a value proposition, which appeals to its clientele, you have your own skills and expertise which appeals to your colleagues and clients as well. Hence, in climbing the corporate ladder, you are required to consciously work at your unique selling points, and promote same, just like any firm does in its race to the top.

Brand vs reputation

Though this concept often conjures up ideas of a person’s reputation, these two concepts are distinct. Very well put, Jay Harrington, a writer on the legal site Attorney at Work, distinguishes these two concepts by noting that while your reputation is something that happens to you, your brand is something you make happen (J Harrington ‘Substance and form: The Elements of a  Lawyer Brand’ www.attorneyatwork.com, accessed 29-9-2016). It is often a young attorney’s understanding, or misunderstanding, of this distinction that leads to his or her fortune or misfortune in the workplace.

With the above said, young attorneys should note that climbing the corporate ladder essentially means being aware of both substance (expertise) and form (brand). Because most of your colleagues will be able to get the job done, it has become increasingly important to know how you may be able to get the job done uniquely. And bearing in mind the distinction between reputation and brand, it is similarly important to ensure that others know this too.

Use social media to your advantage

In building your personal brand, you should realise that your social media accounts are ideal for marketing yourself to the world at large. Just like you may invest your time in gaining hard skills in the workplace and professional settings alike, you may want to invest some of your time in relaying those hard skills on your professional LinkedIn page as well. Again, given the competitive environment young attorneys find themselves in, being competent is not enough if the right people are not aware of such competence. LinkedIn, thus, provides you with a good platform to both showcase your skills and connect with people professionally. Engagement in this way does not only motivate you to further improve and increase your range of skills, as you see how your colleagues and other connections are building their value propositions, but it also allows you to grow your professional network on a larger scale than mere workplace engagement.

Be social media savvy

Now just as social media can be used to advance your journey up the corporate ladder, we all have seen stories in the media, which have painted a different picture as well. And though we may have debated these stories in light of the law around defamation, the right to privacy, and so on, too few of us translate these valuable insights into the way we manage our personal social media accounts, such as Facebook and Instagram. As noted, young attorneys should also be intentional and consistent about the image, they portray beyond the workplace. This applies to your image on social media as well.

It is not often that you socialise with your colleagues over the weekend, but given that we are in the fourth industrial revolution, face to face contact is not required for your colleagues to know what you were up to over the weekend. Hence, a proactive approach to the way you portray yourself in the workplace should continue in the way you manage your personal social media accounts. This simply means that you should be mindful of the way you engage on social media in general, just like you would be mindful of your engagement in the workplace and other professional settings.

As Sherly Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, says in her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead  (New York: Alfred A Knopf 2013), there really is no such thing as a ‘workplace you’ and a ‘weekend you’. Even though different parts of your personality will come to the fore in the respective settings, you should always remember that there is ultimately only one of you. Hence, on the premise that you have made a good impression in the workplace, best you realise the value of that impression and not taint it unintentionally in the belief that you are acting as the ‘weekend you’ when engaging on your social media accounts.

Branding your way to the top

Evidently, even though all young attorneys start ‘at the bottom of the food chain’, only some make their way to the top. The legal environment is fiercely competitive with many competing with the same skills and expertise. To stand any chance of success as a young attorney in the fourth industrial revolution, best you work on your personal brand consciously and consistently, while using social media to your advantage. The sooner you do this, the better.

Kim Pietersen BA LLB (Stell) is a candidate attorney at Van der Spuy & Partners and head of communications at the Cape Town Candidate Attorneys Association.

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2016 (Nov) DR 28