SoFi Blog

What do Tina Fey, Justin Timberlake, and Ellen DeGeneres have in common? Aside from being excellent and hilarious entertainers, each of these influencers has done an exceptional job with personal branding.

Though the meaning has fluctuated over the years, what I mean by “personal branding” here is your unique promise of value. That is—your personal brand is the story only you are able to tell. It’s the one that makes you stand out from the rest of the pack.

Every law school graduate knows the classic career trajectory: snag an associate position at a firm after graduation, work crazy hours to prove your worth, and then, hopefully, make partner and ascend to the next level, financially and otherwise.

But that typical path may be shifting. The rise in emphasis on overall quality of life and career fulfillment has produced a sea change in the next generation of lawyers, who have found the traditional route to success leaves much to be desired.

At least, according to a recent survey we conducted. We asked lawyers across the spectrum—from associates to partners, to in-house counsel for companies to attorneys working in government—questions about their values, where they plan to go next, down to the most basic question of all: Are they happy in their careers?

Looking toward the future, plenty of lawyers laid out a big question mark. One lawyer admitted they enjoyed their day-to-day, but doubted the path ahead: “I like my firm, but I always wonder if one day I will burn out.” Another worried about balancing it all: “Will I have a life, and if so, will they pay me enough to keep up with the cost of living?” Their responses circled the same topics‚ from figuring out their career to money concerns. One respondent basically summed it up: “Where am I going, where do I want to go (career-wise), and can I make it work financially?”

The overall results are pretty fascinating, and provide understanding into how lawyers are defining their careers today, as well as what it means to achieve fulfillment in the current job market.

If you’re a young lawyer working at a law firm, you probably envision being named partner someday. But, as you know, the road to partnership can be tough to traverse, even for the most prepared associate—and it’s only gotten more rigorous in recent years. Consider this: The number of equity partners at firms has increased by only 27% over the past 15 years, while the number of all other attorneys has increased by nearly 86%. Additionally, the demand for law firm services has been fairly stagnant for the past eight years, with the exception of a brief rise in 2011, according to the 2016 Report on the State of the Legal Market. The increasing competitiveness among firms has resulted in a thinning of the ranks for equity partners, which means a much longer timeline to being named one, if at all.

While you can’t predict whether you’ll be named partner, you still have significant ability as an associate to steer your career in the right direction. Because it’s now more difficult than ever to make partner, you’ll want to know if you are on the right track, so you can come up with a game plan to reach that goal more quickly—or decide whether you want to pursue other options.

You’ve gone beyond proving that you’re a star in your field. You survived grad school (although exams and student loans may still cause night terrors), advanced in your career and have notable achievements under your belt. You’re also responsible, trustworthy, loyal to your company, and love what you do. And it shows. Perhaps you’ve even been told that you’re a born leader, and, humility aside, you can’t find any reason to disagree with that. But how do you take that compliment and put it into action? What do you need to do to reach C-suite status or earn partnership at your firm?