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&lt;p&gt;The brave new world that emerges from this recession will be a competitive one, in which associates will need to take charge of their careers early on, says Frank Michael D&amp;#8217;Amore, a recruiter at Attorney Career Catalysts. In his Legal Intelligencer article, D&amp;#8217;Amore notes that, as associates lose the &amp;#8220;false sense of security&amp;#8221; instilled by the lockstep system, they will have to make greater efforts to stand out from their peers, whether they&amp;#8217;re preparing for an internal review or a lateral move. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;If this recession teaches associates anything, it is the value of looking ahead,&amp;#8221; says D&amp;#8217;Amore. Toward that end, he offers four steps associates can take now to help prepare for the future:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Take on challenging work.&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8220;An associate&amp;#8217;s attractiveness on the market, and to clients and partners in the evaluating firm, will largely be driven by the complexity of work and how well that work is performed.&amp;#8221; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Network, network, network.&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8220;Keep in touch with college and law school classmates, in-house counsel and general business contacts. This is the foundation from which you will get work and also is an important group of contacts who can help you in making a move.&amp;#8221; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Save your writing.&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8220;[K]eep copies (both hard and digital) of all those articles, blog posts, newsletter pieces and other writings that you do for your firm. &amp;#8230; In this regard, it helps to periodically &amp;#8216;Google&amp;#8217; yourself, as this may produce some surprises as to where your contributions have appeared.&amp;#8221; &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Record your achievements.&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8220;These accomplishments will be essential not only in talking to a prospective firm, but in client pitches and in making your case inside of your firm when compensation review time arrives.&amp;#8221; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;In many respects,&amp;#8221; D&amp;#8217;Amore concludes, &amp;#8220;the key going forward is to begin thinking like a partner. This will better prepare you for the future, will help you to become a better lawyer, and will make you much more valuable to your firm and clients.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(Oh, and you might want to re-think the working from home thing. While some enlightened partners urge firms to &amp;#8220;focus on efficiency and competency&amp;#8212;not hours in the office or hours on a project&amp;#8212;but on productive time doing quality work,&amp;#8221; others apparently still consider face time the real measurement tool.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;- posted by vera&lt;/p&gt;

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