It’s that time of year again. You’ve made your personal New Year’s resolutions. But now, it is time to set some professional resolutions.

I’m talking about career development goals. You may be required to develop or update a career development plan as part of your firm’s evaluation process. Some are part of a formal program, while others are less structured. If you are not required to do so, you should take the time to do it yourself.

What is a career development plan? In simple terms, it’s a collection of your own goals that you can use to keep yourself on track. It is something concrete you can look back at over the course of the year to make sure you are moving in the right direction. It will let you evaluate each new opportunity that comes your way and will help you determine whether taking the opportunity will move you toward your goals or will infringe on the time and energy that you need to achieve your goals.

For example, your career development plan should “address what you want to accomplish, what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it.”  Your goals should be realistic and include a plan for addressing your current circumstances, including any deficiencies or limitations that you face. Your plan for reaching those goals should include a specific time frame in which you want to achieve your goal and each step toward your goal. It should include both short-term (today through the next five years) and long-term (five to ten-or-more years out) goals.

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An attorney recently referred a new corporate client to me. I contacted the corporate representative shortly thereafter to discuss my potential representation. The client decided to retain my firm.

A few weeks later, I met the company president for a site visit. As a young lawyer, I certainly felt like I had a lot to prove. The president has been in the business for decades and built the company from the ground up and he’s worked with many attorneys in his time; I was younger than his children and did not have a clue about his industry.

During the drive out for the site visit, I learned that the last attorney with whom the company worked was not accessible to the client. Multiple phone calls went unreturned.

The president later explained one of the reasons the company decided to hire me is because I immediately contacted the company after the referral and always returned calls and emails. The company did not have the same experience with past attorneys.

As a young associate, I am expected to bring clients into the firm. I’m also expected to nurture and develop relationships. I have made it a point in my practice to reach back out to a client within 24 hours and to provide updates as often as possible, but I had not previously realized the value of being accessible and returning a call or email.

Not every potential client is going to be willing to take a risk on a young lawyer. Yet, giving a potential client personal attention and being available may just give a young lawyer the edge to land — and keep – the client.

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Being consistent is important in the professional realm, be it law or sports. It’s important in work product, timeliness, communication and client/customer service in general.

It’s something I struggled with as a lawyer and something I currently struggle with as a recruiter. Consistency problems are particularly apparent to me as a recruiter. In a sales-type environment, I see examples every day of what happens when someone is and is not consistent, and the results are pretty astounding.

When a recruiter takes the time to be honest, straightforward and do all she can to help a person, she can expect referrals and future business even if she couldn’t help the person at the time. The benefits are not always immediately apparent, but they do come and it’s the way successful recruiters bring in business.

When a recruiter does not take their time with candidates, leaves them hanging or blows them off, the effects can be devastating. The recruiter doesn’t get referrals and word gets out not to work with him; the recruiter may never know that’s why he can’t grow his business.

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My parents, like many other parents, wanted more for their children. Specifically, they hoped that we would go out, get an education and have careers where we don’t have to wear a name badge. To them, that was progress.

In order to attain that goal, I spent a lot of years working at jobs with my name on my shirt doing everything from cleaning toilets to slinging vegetables (“pile it high, and watch it fly!”). I started at Safeway as a courtesy clerk when I was 16, and I worked there through high school, college, law school and beyond. I’ve worked in Parker, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Silver Spring; and Baltimore. I’ve been a courtesy clerk, checker, baker and produce clerk (by far the best department).

Working that many years in retail flavors all subsequent jobs. At Safeway, the most important thing I learned is people may come to you the first time for your product, but they come back a second and third time because of your service.

Most lawyers understand they provide a service, but they do not always understand they are in the customer service industry. Motor tort lawyers must provide good service in order to get that second or third accident case. Some firms don’t rely much on repeat business — for example, medical malpractice firms rarely represent the same person twice. However, good customer service means that a client will recommend the firm to others. I suspect civil defense lawyers must provide good service, particularly to the insurance companies or businesses that pay their bills.

So when I find myself becoming frustrated with a client, or when my paralegal gets exasperated explaining something for the umpteenth time, we need to remember that these are people in unfamiliar and sometimes desperate situations, and a big smile goes a long way. We should all have our names on our shirts.

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A few months ago, I stumbled upon a website called AVVO, pronounced, “ah-vo”. According to the “About Us” on its website, “Avvo empowers consumers by rating doctors  and lawyers, and having these real professionals answer their questions — all for free. Avvo profiles contain helpful information including experience, background, disciplinary history, and reviews from patients and clients.”

Each attorney is given a rating of 1-10, although some are rated as “no concern.” The rating is calculated using “a mathematical model that considers elements such as years of experience, board certification, education, disciplinary history, professional achievement, and industry recognition — all factors that are relevant to assessing a doctor or lawyer’s qualifications.”

I won’t comment on whether the rating system is accurate or flawed – there are enough articles on that subject. I will opine on the system, which I’ve taken seriously.

I’ve done so for two reasons: clients and prospective clients. Point in fact, over the past several weeks I have spoken with several clients who have referred to my AVVO rating as a reason for their contacting me.

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When I first started practicing law, my main focus revolved around the actual practice of law.

After a clerkship in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, I spent time in private practice with a primary focus on asbestos defense cases on behalf of one large client. After a couple of years, I moved to Bowie & Jensen, the law firm in which I have been with for more than six years, representing individuals and businesses with any of their legal needs.

As the years have passed, so has my focus. In addition to the actual practice of law (i.e. trying cases, taking depositions, providing legal advice to clients), I am also required to assist in the marketing of the firm. This includes presenting seminars on legal topics, networking with potential clients, and establishing relationships with those within and outside of the legal community.

For some of us, marketing and self promotion is second nature, but for others, this is not one of our strengths. Many attorneys joke that law schools do a terrible job in preparing its students to practice law.

In some ways, however, it is true.

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