Alternative Avenues

Here's one for the in-house lawyers.

Is there anything on this list you haven't done?

- Reviewing key risks and negotiating contractual terms

- Supporting tender and project teams on major projects

- Advising on commercial strategy, compliance, and regulatory requirements

- Proactively identifying opportunities for efficiency and innovation

- Developing strategies to mitigate and resolve delays, claims and disputes

- Developing and maintaining commercial policies and procedures

Probably not, right? 

Anyone who has worked in an in-house commercial legal role for any length of time probably has experience in all of these areas.

But these criteria weren't taken from a position description for an in-house lawyer.

They're the wish list for a Commercial Manager role.

A lot of lawyers take a narrow view of the type of jobs available to them, but there are lots of different roles out there that require similar skills.

So many in fact that Anthony Simpson and I set up a business, The Bench, putting people with legal backgrounds into non-legal roles.

Anyone who has tried applying for a senior legal position recently will know how competitive it is at the top of the in-house legal market.

So why not broaden your horizons and see what other roles are out there?

Dare I say it, you might even find that your ideal role isn't as a lawyer...