Future-Proofing Your Career

The legal world is shifting fast – with restructures, new technology, and evolving expectations of legal and governance teams. But waiting until change happens isn’t a strategy; it’s a risk. Learning new skills, gaining experience, and building a professional presence are essential to staying ahead.

1. Why is this topic important now?

In the 19 years of recruiting in-house lawyers, I haven’t seen a culmination of so many factors impacting the legal market. There’s no one factor, rather a confluence:

The decline in reliance on formal qualifications.
“Education” is now on the last page of a CV.
Universities are passing everyone – when I studied law, we were told – look to your left, look to your right – only one of those two people will pass Law.
Technology process and AI.
WFH – has changed the way we engage
Labour Market – weakening 3.5 to 4.5% over the last year.
Social media – attention spans and human interaction are decreasing while narcissism and loneliness are on the rise.
Industrial Laws – making it more onerous for employers, are pushing them towards AI and technology.

Data from World Economic Forum (Future of Jobs Report 2025 p. 35)

2. What’s changed?

The priority of skills has changed.

Was – 1. Experience, 2. Capability, 3. Communication

Now – 1. Capability, 2. Communication, 3. Experience

(The Economist recently published a great video on this! – What should you study in the age of AI)

Jobs requiring a physical presence, like carpentry or plumbing, as well as office roles, key skills include:

Critical thinking,
Reliability,
Communication, empathy, building relationships, and
Adaptability

Jobs with complex social interactions will need humans – negotiation and persuasion.

This bodes well for In-House Lawyers, as these skills are used every day!

BUT certain skills are in decline.

Interpersonal connections are becoming weaker, and it is often difficult to reach anyone under 30 by actually calling them on the phone.

Most interaction now takes place on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which reduces real, direct communication.

Even the word parasocial, defined as a relationship felt by someone between themselves and a famous person they do not know, is the Word of the Year for 2025.

Visual from The Economist (Can AI replace junior workers?)

3. Skills-Based Recruitment

Companies are moving to a skills-based recruitment technique – recruiting for skills rather than qualifications and experience. Before AI, this process was slow and costly; however, with AI, skill-based assessments can now be conducted quickly and efficiently.

When looking for your next role, expect.

Psychometric testing (Measuring intellectual abilities, personality traits, and emotional intelligence.)
Presentations,
Tasks
Document reviews.

Be prepared for them – take practice tests – and you can significantly improve your mark. In a couple of hours, I increased mine by 10%.

In-House
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