In this article, Julia Vanoli, learning and development manager and lead career coach at the House of Commons, offers some career advice for junior lawyers

Recently I had the opportunity to spend the day at Berwin Leighton Paisner with colleagues from its HR and learning & development teams as part of an Industry and Parliament Trust placement day. We shared ideas and learnt about the different ways we support our employees throughout their careers, through coaching, talent management and development activities. Having worked at the House of Commons for 13 years, it was enlightening for me to get a different perspective.

Career coaching can benefit everyone, at any time in their career; however, right at the beginning can be a useful time to seek guidance and begin to develop a relationship with someone whose own journey and experience can provide lessons. Here are some of my top career development tips:

1. Find yourself a trusted mentor
A career coach doesn't need to understand your chosen field in detail in order to assist you; often you also need guidance from a person in a similar career area. So having a trusted mentor who can advise and guide you, help with introductions and difficult work situations will always be beneficial. Your mentor may be from your own workplace or in a similar field elsewhere, but choose someone you know is great at listening, has some management and/or coaching skills and will have your best interests at heart, not tell you their way is the best or simply indulge in all their wonderful success stories.

2. Understand your motivators, drivers and strengths
Career coaches understand how to use a range of tools which can assist with this. Some classic examples are; Schein's Career Anchors, Holland Code, Myers-Briggs, DISC, Belbin team types and transactional analysis driver's exercise. Working through these with a career coach will bring greater clarity about your current career goals and help you make the right future choices.

3. Networking is key
This needs to be face-to-face and not just online, and there really is no limit to the potential benefits of making professional connections. If you are not keen on networking (many of us aren't, but it's really not just focused on selling yourself), start making the connections between others and become a sought-after person to connect with too.

4. Just talk it out
Whether you are just starting out, considering a career move, or know you want a change, seek out a career coach or mentor that you can talk it through with. If you see a job and think that sounds great, but you are unsure you could do it all to the level required, don't dismiss it – seek another view first. See challenging questions and change as positives and you will always gain the most from career coaching.

5. When the time is right, become a coach or mentor yourself
The benefits of having a great mentor are obvious. So why wouldn't you be one too? Mentors get great skills development from helping others, as well as the recognition that comes from having a mentee. You will need a clear structure for working towards goals and enabling contacts to ensure mentoring doesn't become just another conversation and retains the focus needed. I'd recommend some mentoring training as a great starting point to see if this is right for you.

This article was commissioned for the Turning Points hub, an online career development resource from Legal Week in association with Berwin Leighton Paisner.