Halloween is the time when people come and see pumpkins — each one with a different design, each one being the product of hard carving. The plain little ball-like pumpkin at first eventually becomes something very characterful and light-giving.
Your legal career is not so different. You start with the innate potential — the talent, curiosity, and drive that constitute the very core of you. Gradually, through each challenge, decision, and opportunity, you cut the unnecessary off and shape something meaningful: a career that truly resembles you.
It is a process that demands patience, ingenuity, and bravery. Some cuts are daring and obvious — like switching firms or going for a new qualification. Others are subtle and internal — developing habits, gaining confidence, and determining success on your own terms.
Just like with the pumpkin carving, you will inevitably make some cuts that are not perfect from the start. But those imperfections are precisely what give your design its genuineness — showing that your career was not a product of copying it nor of hurrying it up, but of being intentional and deliberate.
At Owen Reed, we consider every professional journey a work of art still in progress. We believe that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all placement or a generic career path. Instead, we guide you to identify your strengths, to reveal your vision, and to create a route that is absolutely yours.
Because one doesn’t just happen to have a brilliant career — one carves it out, carefully, purposefully, and proudly in the light that is shining through.
The entire carving process starts with a decision. Would you go for a large, striking pumpkin or a small, intricate one? Would you prefer a smooth one that is easy to handle, or would you rather take the trouble of working with a slightly irregular but very lively pumpkin?
In the same way, an unsuccessful lawyer’s career can result from a lack of self-awareness. Put it this way:
Once you are aware of your inherent strengths and motivators, you can choose a career that suits you — one that does not exhaust you.
Owen Reed guides talent in the legal industry to find places where their skills and spirit are in sync, thus giving every hire a meaning.
First of all, the designer creates a drawing of the future work. In your case, it’s your map.
It is not required to be flawless, but it is to be thoughtful. Decide on the measure of your achievement, not along the lines of what others expect. Ponder over:
We at Owen Reed partner with candidates in drawing the “career design”—the precise measures between current employment and the vision for the future.
It is not easy to make a pumpkin. There is no going back after each cut; nonetheless, this is the way the art piece comes out.
Refinement in the legal profession means making big and perhaps hard choices:
The path to growth is often not a straight line; it can be quite unclean. However, each fresh encounter that comes your way takes away the excess and marks your capability even more brightly.
A perfectly carved pumpkin that is not lit is as good as it is. In the same way, the skills that you have are not necessary if they are kept hidden. Let the world see your brightness by:
Owen Reed is a professional who helps individuals to shine by putting them in cases where their beauty reinforces, rather than blocks, the team’s overall dynamic.
What are you going to do with the pumpkin seeds? You will save them, roast them, and plant new ones.
Every challenge or setback in your career can become a seed for future victory. Analyse, learn, and apply those lessons in your next steps.
It may be feedback from an interview, a tough case, or a missed opportunity— every experience has its worth, provided you give it the proper care.
A glowing pumpkin attracts other people. The same is true for great careers.
Mentorship, collaboration, and kindness will not reduce your light— they will amplify it. Support your peers in walking their ways by sharing wisdom, encouragement, and demonstrating balance.
The legal profession is not only intellectual but also a community.
Pumpkins are not eternal — the same goes for one stage of your career. Every couple of years, evaluate and redesign.
Your aspirations will change. Your view of success will also change. Welcome change as a token of development, not of defeat.
Owen Reed guides professionals through the different seasons of their careers — starting from entry-level positions to senior changes.
The light of a pumpkin does not come from being perfect — it comes from being intentional. It has been the artist’s hand, so gentle and cautious, that has waited for the very cut and still dared to hold the pumpkin’s core light out in front of him.
Your life is no different. It will never be a perfect one, and it will never have to take that approach. Every turn in the road, every lesson learned, every risk taken all add on to your design. The errors? They are not failures; instead, they are the parts of the carving that make your story full of character.
Whether you are a freshly graduated legal assistant who is just getting to know their first chance or an experienced person who is prepared to rewrite their story, do not forget:
At Owen Reed, we do not just provide recruitment services but also act as your creative partners. We assist lawyers in carving out their careers with clarity, courage, and purpose, ensuring that every position brings them closer to the role they were intended to develop.
Hence, this Halloween, look upon your career as something your two hands can build, not as a fate that befalls you.
Be careful with your carving knife. Let your light be seen and speak volumes of your confidence. And always remember, your light was meant to shine.
Are you set to write your next chapter? Get in touch with Owen Reed
and together we will carve out a career that really glows.
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