CAREER STRATEGIES A PRESENTER AT ALTERNATIVE CAREERS SEMINAR
IN NEW YORK CITY

If you are thinking about pursuing an alternative career, or even thinking about whether or not you should be thinking about it, then by all means you should have attended “Tales from the Front Lines on Finding and Succeeding in an Alternative Legal Career.”

The seminar was moderated by Daniella Isaacson, Senior Analyst, Legal Intelligence for ALM, publishers of The New York Law Journal and American Lawyer, among others. Panelists included our own Bruce Blackwell, Managing Partner of Career Strategies Group, and professionals who have made successful career changes, including Brian Sogol, Assistant Vice President of CCS Fundraising, Lauren Bergida, Chief Program Officer for Shames JCC, and Michael Bethoney, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson for Citi Habitats.

The seminar, which was attended by about 50 professionals, addressed both personal experiences and professional considerations when exploring or pursuing an alternative career. A lively Q&A session was an important part of the evening.

The program was hosted by the Alternative Careers Sub-Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

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BLACKWELL SPEAKS at JOB SEARCH BOOT CAMP
SPONSORED BY YALE, COLUMBIA, NYU AND OTHER TOP SCHOOLS

Bruce Blackwell was among the featured presenters at a Job Search Boot Camp sponsored by Yale Law School, New York University Law School, Columbia Law School and 12 others. The program provided attendees with career planning and practical job search techniques. The boot camp included workshops on social networking, resume development, the importance of break-out cover letters, creation of a person brand strategy, and much more. Mr. Blackwell is frequently asked by bar associations and other professional organizations to share his knowledge of job search and career change.

CAREER STRATEGIES SOON TO ENTER ITS 25TH YEAR-
Reflections from our Founder

It is starting to occur to me that my practice will soon be entering its 25th year. It’s very hard for me to believe that I am nearing the quarter century mark doing work that I love. When I started, it was me, a laptop, a tiny interior office, and a lot of hope. I had no clue that this idea of mine about helping people find new jobs and new careers would turn into an international organization that has counseled several thousand lawyers, and that has been staffed by some of the country’s most gifted and caring career counselors.

When I started, I was not targeting lawyers — I thought, like most other people, that lawyers were happy and rich. After all, on TV lawyers worked in beautiful mahogany offices, wore exquisitely tailored suits, drove Mercedes convertibles, had long, lavish lunches at 5-star restaurants, served absolutely gorgeous clients, and handled intellectually challenging matters — at least until cocktail time. A few months into my practice, a lawyer came into my office and told me about billable hours, screaming partners, boring work, nasty judges and more. I thought he was crazy, but just for laughs I took out a little tiny ad in The New York Law Journal with the headline, “Hate Your Job?” The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since, and a soon-to-be-25 year old business was created.

My thanks go out to Lawyer Client #1, Andy from Scarsdale. There have been about 2,400 of you since. My thanks, also, to all of you who have worked with us, and to a great team of consultants and support staff that we have had the honor and privilege of working with. Here’s to you, and to the next 25! — Bruce Blackwell

ALTERNATIVE CAREERS SEMINAR PRESENTED FOR

THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER 

A seminar on Alternative Careers for Lawyers and How to Leave the Practice of Law was presented to the National Constitution Center by Career Strategies founder and president Bruce Blackwell. His presentation immediately preceded one given by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Blackwell’s 90-minute program qualified for CLE credit in many states. “I am deeply honored to have been invited by such an august organization to share my 24 years of experience counseling lawyers, executives and professionals on their career options,” said Blackwell. “I am more than flattered to be involved with an organization with such a distinguished Scholarship Advisory Committee.” The Scholarship Advisory Committee includes Professors or Deans from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Princeton and Brown. Other members of the Scholarship Advisory Committee include a present and former member of the U.S. Supreme Court and a former Cabinet Secretary.  “Little did I realize when I started my practice in 1992 that I would one day be speaking at an organization right before an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Blackwell noted.

The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution.” The Center hosts a wide range of educational programs for the public and for attorneys.

RE-ENTERING the WORKFORCE and EFFECTIVE RESUME WRITING are SUBJECTS of CAREER STRATEGIES SEMINARS for CONNECTICUT BAR
Bruce Blackwell recently conducted two seminars for the Connecticut Bar Association. The first addressed the issues faced by attorneys who have left the practice for a prolonged period of time — typically either for health, business or child-rearing purposes — and who now seek to return to the legal market place. Blackwell has lectured on this topic for the New Directions program at Pace Law School, and at a panel discussion before the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. His lecture dealt with resume issues, modern job search techniques, and how to deal with questions relating to an extended absence from the practice of law.

The second seminar, Effective Resume and Cover Letter writing was a lively, interactive discussion of resume Must Do’s and Must Not Do’s, and included critiques of attendees documents.

YOU CAN NOW LOOK FOR JOBS RIGHT ON OUR WEBSITE – NEW FEATURE

We have now added Indeed.com to our website. Indeed.com is a job aggregator that scans the internet and identifies job opportunities through the keywords you select. Your entire on-line job search can now be done directly from the Career Strategies Group website.

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NEED A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER FOR YOUR GROUP OR ORGANIZATION? CALL US!

If you are looking for an informative and entertaining presentation on job search, career strategies and development, Contact us at Career Strategies Group. We offer 30 minute “lunch and learn” programs. We also offer 60 and 90 minute detailed job search and career strategy seminars. We are a available to civic and religious organizations, professional associations, graduate schools and private companies. We also offer half-day and full-day job search and career development programs. If you would like us to develop a powerful presentation for your organization, please give us a call.

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If you are a lawyer or executive looking for a new career at 30, 40, 50 or 60, are seeking to change careers or explore a career change, we can help. If you are looking for new jobs in law, are looking at career options, contemplating an alternative career or alternative legal career, or need a life coach, career coach or career counselling in any form, give us a call today! We offer the full range of job search services, including executive and legal resumes, resume distribution to recruiters, leads for legal jobs and attorney jobs, career testing and much, much more.