15 top tips for career planning for solicitors from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment
The world of work this year looks very different to even a few years ago. Hybrid working is normal, there are huge demands on employers for full remote working, AI tools are embedded in most professions, career paths never appear to be straightforward (train, qualify, move around a bit, become a partner, sell your firm/share, retire) and jobs for life seem to largely be a thing of the past.
The first five tips are for everyone. The remaining ten are for those who are not completely sure about their current role or direction.
1. Revisit (or finally create) Your Career Plan
No plan? Once a year, step back and write down the following (on paper, not in your head):
- What you earn now
- What you want to earn in 5 years
- What work you do now
- What work you want to be doing in 5 years
- Where you want to live and work in 5 years
- Five positives and five negatives about your current role
- Where your family or household wants to be in 5 years — and whether this matches your plan
- What needs to happen between now and then to close the gap
Put this somewhere safe. Revisit it every January. Most people are surprised by how much (or how little) their answers change.
2. Examine Your Overheads — can you actually afford your job?
Some people actually pay to work. If commuting costs, childcare, subscriptions, professional fees eat most of your income, your job may not be serving you — even if the salary looks decent on paper and you enjoy your work.
Ask yourself:
- Do I need a pay rise, a role change, or a structural shift (hybrid, remote, compressed hours)?
- Could flexibility, bonuses, profit share, or reduced hours improve my quality of life more than a headline salary increase?
3. Update your CV and your Online Footprint (eg LinkedIn)
In today’s online world, your CV is only a small part of the picture.
- Does your CV reflect what you actually do now — not what you did three roles ago?
- Does your LinkedIn profile clearly explain who you help, how, and why you’re good at it?
- When did you last write a post on LinkedIn or create an online advice article for your work website?
- Is your contact information easy to find on social media platforms?
- Does your LinkedIn profile look current, or abandoned in 2021?
- Have you actively sought Google reviews from clients? They help you personally as well as your employers.
Headhunters, clients, and employers will Google you. Make sure they like what they see.
4. Plan Your Year
Book annual leave early. Protect it. Waiting to see what everyone else does usually means worse dates, more stress, and less rest. Time off is not a luxury; it’s maintenance. A burnt-out professional is rarely a high-performing one. When on annual leave, turn your mobile phone off.
5. Invest in Life Outside Work
Work cannot be the only pillar holding up your wellbeing.
Ask yourself:
- What do I do that has nothing to do with my job?
- Am I learning, moving, socialising, or contributing to something bigger than work?
Whether it’s sport, volunteering, creativity, fitness, travel, or community involvement, a fuller life supports a longer, happier career.
If you’re not completely happy at work, keep reading
If you are genuinely happy at work, stop reading this article. Otherwise, read on.
6. Are You Happy at Work?
If the answer is no, do something about it.
7. Identify the Reason You’re Unhappy
You can’t fix what you haven’t identified.
Ask yourself:
- Is it the workload, the culture, the people, or the leadership?
- Are boundaries respected?
- Are you being undermined, ignored, or quietly bullied?
- Does your boss use passive aggression to torture you?
- Are expectations unclear or constantly moving?
Many people leave one bad situation only to walk straight into another, because they never worked out what went wrong the first time. Seek external help where necessary.
8. Is the Profession Where You Still Want to be?
Are you doing this job because you enjoy it, it aligns with your values, and it supports the life you want? Or is it because it’s what you trained for, what your family expected, or it feels too late to change? It is never too late to pivot. Staying miserable to keep up appearances is a terrible long-term strategy.
9. Research the Market
Look outward — not just inward.
- What are people like you doing elsewhere?
- What skills are in demand at present?
- What roles are growing, shrinking, or being automated?
- How do your pay, responsibilities, and progression compare?
The market often tells you things your employer won’t.
10. Start Building Visible Expertise
Consider writing short posts or articles, speaking on panels or podcasts, contributing to professional forums, or mentoring and teaching. You don’t need to be an influencer — just visible enough that people know what you’re good at. This investment in creating your own expertise benefits your employer as well as you personally.
11. Discover How AI Affects or Could Affect Your Role
Ask:
- Which parts of my job are being automated?
- Which parts are becoming more valuable because of AI?
- Am I using AI as a tool, or competing with it?
12. Build a bit of Gig Economy Into Your Career
This might include a side hustle, joining a broader professional network, or get a qualification that opens doors or starts you down other routes. Careers feel less scary when you’re not trapped in one specialism.
13. Stress-Test Your Career Against Your Future
Ask yourself:
- Will this job still work if my health changes?
- If caring responsibilities increase?
- If I want more flexibility, not more money?
14. Don’t Sell Your Soul to Your Boss
Your career is not a charity – your relationship with your employer is a business to business relationship in lots of ways. Going above and beyond occasionally is healthy. Doing it constantly at the expense of your wellbeing is not. A good employer benefits from a healthy, balanced professional, not a burnt-out one.
15. Work is a Means to an End, not the Meaning of Your Existence
Your job supports your life, and you need to protect your work life balance at all costs. Your physical and mental health should be your number one priority at all times.
