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Since July, Syracuse students have been able

to put this experience to work, now that Har-

blin is on board to help them. She received

her B.S. in Family and Community Services

from the College of Human Development

(now the College of Human Services and

Health Professions) at Syracuse, a course

of study initially designed to lead students

into public service agency administration.

But she, like many of her classmates, ended

up in the human resources arena. Harblin

spent 13 years in corporate HR in the greater

DC area, eventually serving both in-house

recruiting and outside consultant roles at a

few different companies – including her most

recent stint as a contract recruiter for Digex,

a subsidiary of WorldCom that specializes in

web hosting.

While there, Harblin fell victim to, as she

describes it, “the WorldCom pink-slip party”

that came as a result of that company’s mas-

sive workforce downsizing. “Being in HR,”

she recalls, “I had a good sense of what was

coming, based on adjustments in assign-

ments and recruiting workload I’d been see-

ing, so I was prepared.” Luckily, Harblin was

able to summon the quintessential career

counselor optimism: “Things happen and

lead to better things,” she declares matter-

of-factly. Correspondingly, upon relocating

to the Syracuse area to be near her family,

she spotted a job listing on the university’s

website that would lead to her current posi-

tion.

Though she’d never worked in a legal-spe-

cific career capacity, Harblin was no amateur

when it came to placing lawyers in jobs.

Previously, she both hired for corporate in-

house legal openings and retained outside

counsel in a variety of situations, not to

mention her regular recruitment of attorneys

for placement in non-traditional positions.

For instance, while working for GE’s Global

eXchange Services division, Harblin brought

on attorneys as IT product managers. “They

had a different approach to the position than

straight-up marketing people,” she explains.

“They had the ability to learn, to look at the

issues involved and get a brief overview of

the product, and they had the management

skills to interact with the engineering team

and decide whom they wanted to collaborate

with. They excelled in contractual areas of

the role, looking at what to do with potential

patents developed in collaboration with other

companies and how to maintain proprietary

information gathered as a result of channel-

marketing efforts. Their excellent skill base

led them to succeed where people might not

initially think an attorney would be a good

fit.”

As Harblin points out, a lot of law-school

career services offices are facing a similar

situation, an increasing number of students

choosing to forego practicing in the tradi-

tional firm environment. She builds this

reality into the counseling she provides. “In

addition to advising them on how to approach

traditional practice, I encourage them to

broaden the scope of their thinking to realize

a law degree is marketable in a number of

ways.” Another example of an alternative ca-

reer path is human resources, Harblin’s own

original field. “Attorney skills are very appli-

cable [to HR] in terms of developing policies

and procedures for companies, overseeing

how to appropriately, ethically, and legally

manage your workforce in compliance with

the state and local regulations that pertain

to a particular employee population. They

are also quite successful at insuring that

companies effectively administer individual

employer policies consistently, to reduce

liability.”

Now that she’s in the legal world, one aspect

of this new career that’s taken Harblin

some getting used to is the widely accepted

involvement of institutions with NALP (Na-

tional Association for Law Placement), the

governing body that sets forth guidelines for

law student contact with career counselors

and potential employers. “Coming from the

corporate sector,” Harblin explains, “I find

it unusual how the timing of many different

facets of the job search, including how offers

are handled, is managed through voluntary

affiliation with a governing body, not by state

or federal order or mandatory relationship.”

It’s this built-in formality and tradition of the

law profession that Harblin is still familiar-

izing herself with, though she admits the

NALP-imposed regulations are useful in

providing structure to students. “We’re not

supposed to have dialogue with first-years

until November 1, to keep them focused on

academic performance since good grades

are the easiest way to ensure a productive

career search. Establishing the practice of

strong academic performance early sets the

foundation for that.”

Still, Harblin finds many students chomping

at the bit to get going on their job searches

right from the beginning, rather than gradu-

ally getting settled into the academic routine.

And that fervent approach makes a lot of

continued on back

Mary Harblin, Director of Career Services, Syracuse University College of Law [by Barry Perlman }

“My background lends itself well to counseling students in finding employment, since I know the thought processes involved in

ferreting out where they see themselves fitting and what type of employment will fit them personally.” So says Mary Harblin of

Syracuse University College of Law, our featured Career Counselor of the Week.

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CAREER COUNSELOR'S CORNER 1.800.973.1177

sense to Harblin, who sees the search as a

long-term commitment. “The first couple

months of your law school career is the

only time you don’t have to act in the search

capacity,” Harblin believes. “After that, your

first-year typically unpaid summer assign-

ment will lead directly to the quality of the

second-year summer position and whether

that will be a paid situation or not. The

second-year position is an opportunity to

potentially earn good money and receive an

employment offer in the fall of the third year,

which takes huge pressure off the remainder

of the law school experience. If students

know they’ve secured employment, then they

can focus on completing their education and

studying for the bar.”

That’s why, according to Harblin, build-

ing one’s resume very early on is essential

for establishing a fruitful career after law

school. “In conversations with students, I

tell them to try as hard as they can to secure

a highly professional position that first sum-

mer. Then, as they progress in internships

and employment, I ask them, ‘What have

you enjoyed the most and the least so far?’

and lend their answers the importance they

deserve in terms of leading them where they

want to go.”

Obviously, good interviewing goes a long

way in landing those coveted summer posi-

tions, and Harblin advises students with less

professional experience to hone their skills.

“Many who transition straight into law school

from undergrad have never interviewed for

more than a job at The Gap or the country

club, and it can be very challenging to sud-

denly interview for a very professional posi-

tion.” Not surprisingly, Harblin advocates

networking and alumni outreach as very

good strategies for job-seeking students.

“Students must make a strong personal

effort to think about their own sphere of

influence, how to leverage relationships they

may already have in their lives to assist them

in making connections. Ask yourself who

you know that may be able to introduce you

to someone who can help in your search or

offer you a job.”

In addition to keeping good grades and

securing solid professional experience,

Harblin recommends students make efforts

to be well-rounded individuals, affiliating

themselves with student groups that pertain

to a practice area they’re interested in or

wanting to explore. “Most law students

attending a good institution come out with

a certain level of functionality. Employers

want to know what else about them is unique,

what else they bring to the table.” Harblin

stresses this “whole person” approach is

key to impressing potential employers. “As

one managing partner at a high-level firm in

New York told me, employers are wondering,

‘Would this be a good person to work with at

2 a.m.?’ In other words, which candidates

would still be pulling their weight late at

night – and maintaining a good sense of

humor about it?”

Ultimately, beyond the specific practical

advice she gives, Harblin tells all her stu-

dents the same thing: “The people who are

happiest are the ones who derive satisfaction

from what they do for a living. If you like

what you’re doing, it shows.” Thankfully,

Harblin enjoys helping students find jobs so

much that she looks forward to coming to

work everyday, and her own satisfaction lets

her serve as a model of precisely what she

preaches.