Navigating the job market can be challenging! There are a number of variables to consider. Once you do make the decision to job search, it is very common to come across a recruitment agency in the legal community.
Not everyone has worked with a recruitment agency to assist in their job search. Since firms are often looking for a specific set of skills and experience when making a hire, they will often engage recruitment agencies to assist in their search for the right candidate.
As this is a rather common practice, today I wanted to talk to you about some of the benefits of working with a Recruitment Agency to aide and assist with your job search. Ultimately, working with a recruitment agency can expedite your job search and do so for free. You tap into the experience of a professional and get a second set of eyes, helping you find the best opportunity that matches what you are looking for. A recruitment agency can lead you to opportunities you had never considered before and can help bring calmness to the craziness that the job searching process brings along.
Here are some of the benefits of working with us.
First - No Cost
If you are looking for a job, there is no cost to you. Whether you find a job through your recruiter or not, you’ll never be charged. We are engaged by law firms and our service cost is covered by the firm.
Second - Access to a Variety of Job Opportunities
We work with multiple law firms on a number of requisitions and can discuss multiple opportunities with you. We work on both a mix of active job postings but are also aware of deeper opportunities such as those that will be coming up with firms down the road or in situations where firms choose not to advertise the position – i.e. if there is a need for a confidential search.
Further, we are here to assist people in finding the right long term fit for them. If someone does apply to a position we are working on, but they are not the right fit, we will redirect them to a position that is more suitable. The reason that employers pay recruiters is that they want to find talent that fits into their team and corporate culture. Job seekers who are a better fit are more likely to stick around long term.
And this is very important! Our goal is to be able to discuss with you a number of opportunities so that you can find the job that is the best long term fit for you. There is no benefit to anyone if you take a job you are miserable in or which is not the best fit for you. We are an extension of your job search. We want to present you with opportunities you’re excited about. During this process it is important to be honest with us.
Third - Manage the interview process
We manage the interview process and can prepare you for what to expect in an upcoming interview. We coordinate interview times and can ensure that all your questions are answered before moving towards the offer stage. This can include hunting down the answers for you to some of the questions you forgot to ask or are unsure of, or it may be scheduling an additional meeting between you and the firm.
Fourth - Assist with discussions regarding the Job Offer
Sometimes people feel that the job offer will not happen, because the start date their employer prefers is not doable, although this is not the case. We can assist you through these obstacles or provide clarification on some of the points made in the offer.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about working with a recruitment agency or how we can best assist you, feel free to email or call us.
Happy job hunting and Good Luck!
When the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?”, this is your time to shine. This is your time to show that you did your homework on the firm. That you are serious about your career. That making a move isn’t something that you take lightly and that you want to make a move that will have the best long-term affect for you.
Let’s get started! Here are some of the questions you should be asking:
Ultimately you want to ask questions that are going to provide you with enough answers so when you leave the interview, you will know whether you are interested in proceeding with the firm and their process (assuming they choose to as well).
It is important to do research so that questions don’t seem too scripted, but rather reflect a genuine interest in the specific firm. It is important to customize the above questions so that they are relevant to the job for which you are interviewing and reflect your own speaking style.
Thanks for reading! If you have an interview coming up and you want to run your questions by us, feel free to send us an email or give us a call.
Happy Job hunting and Good Luck!
Starting a new job can be hard and going through the on-boarding process at any firm isn’t always going to be easy. We experience all kinds of emotions as we go through the growing pains of learning new processes, meeting new people and ultimately doing things a new way. We bring many expectations and hopes to a new job, some that are realistic and inevitably, some that are not. We want to have a real impact quickly, in order to prove ourselves, yet we don’t know what our lawyers or supervisors expect of us.
There is an assessment and trying out phase. Given this, sometimes, the work we are doing during the on-boarding and probationary period is not necessarily the work we envisioned ourselves doing, or that we were told we would be doing during the interview stage. During this time, the work may seem slow, too administrative, and not busy.
Our lawyers and supervisors have their own expectations. During your probationary period and on-boarding, it is important to remember that your firm is investing time, effort and money in you, because they believe in you. They want you to succeed. They are feeding you work at a pace they feel is best to successfully amalgamate you into the firm and the way they do things!
While we may not necessarily agree with the pace or how things are done, it is important to have confidence in their process. If things are not going how you envisioned, instead of immediately believing you need to find a new job or instead of complaining, you need to be patient.
This is especially true if you like the work environment, the firm culture and if you get along well with everyone. If the pace or volume of work is the only thing that seems to be off to you, then patience is key.
During this time, it is best to take time to really understand and learn your job. Overtime, you can make suggestions and changes as situations arise, and as your input and expertise is called upon. You can ask for more work, to be more involved, and for more complex files.
Thanks for reading! We hope this helped. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this topic, be sure to give us a call or send us an email.
Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!
While we always encourage pursuing one’s dreams and swinging for the fences, we also know that when it comes to your job search, having unrealistic expectations can lead you down the wrong path. We find that too many times, candidates cause themselves disappointment and misery because they have unrealistic expectations when applying for jobs. Yes, it’s true you need to aim high, but aiming too high can just lead to a longer time of being unemployed or searching for a new job.
Many people we work with will have a number of reasonable criteria they will be looking for when considering changing jobs. These include added responsibility, career growth opportunities, a collaborative work environment and a reasonable raise. However, sometimes we come across those who have a lengthy list of requirements and want each of them met when they move to a new employer.
The reality is, if you are seriously considering changing jobs, having lengthy demands will do nothing but prolong your job search. With this in mind, here are our tips for managing your job search expectations.
1. It is unrealistic to think that you will apply for one job, secure an interview and be offered the position. The hiring process takes time, and this is why it is important to pursue several job opportunities at one time. Further, seeing multiple opportunities allows you to see what actually exists in the market and will force you to realize how likely you are to get everything you are asking for.
2. Know the market. Know the salary for your years of experience and area of law. If you work in private practice, don’t compare your salary and benefits to someone who works in-house. Expecting the same type of compensation will only leave you disappointed. Know what firms are looking for and what is in demand.
3. Come to terms with what you can do without. Rank which of your criteria you need to have in a new job and which things would be nice to have – but you are ultimately comfortable living without.
4. Apply to jobs which you have relevant experience for. Having 2 years of experience and only wanting to apply to Supervisory positions within national law firms, will leave you job searching for a very long time and will most likely only end in frustration.
Replacing unrealistic job search expectations with realistic ones, will give you your best shot at a successful job search. This means that you need to realize finding a job takes time, and that sometimes you will need to be flexible about some of your search requirements. Finally, remember that persistence is essential, and you’ll need to be consistent about following up on inquiries and interview outcomes.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or would like to discuss what the job market presently looks like and how realistic your job search is, feel free to call or email us.
Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!
Have you ever left an interview feeling like the conversation was great, but you didn’t get to really sell yourself? You talked about the weather, current events, how your children play in the same sports league. The rapport was fantastic! But you still felt unsure about whether or not you left the interviewer with the impression that you could do the job?
While rapport is important, giving the interview substance and highlighting what you can do is important. When we conduct interview preparations with our candidates, one of the aspects we stress is the importance of being detailed when describing the duties and responsibilities in your current role.
Many interviews, especially when meeting directly with the prospective lawyer you will be working with, tend to be very conversational. Because of this, you may not be asked specific questions about your role. And while the conversation might be fluid and great, it is still your responsibility to highlight your skills and experience.
You need to highlight what you do, the actions you take on a file, your duties and responsibilities to assist your lawyer, and client interactions, if any. Lead with and emphasize your responsibilities that match with the position you are interviewing for.
For example, let’s say you are a Legal Administrative Assistant working in a small law firm. In addition to your LAA responsibilities, your role includes handling office management, reception and accounting responsibilities.
You are searching for a strict LAA role as you want to grow your LAA career and are not keen to continue doing the other functions which you presently do (reception, accounting, office management).
Now, if you are interviewing for a LAA position at a mid-sized or larger law firm, where the accounting, reception and office management roles are currently handled by other people, you would not want to lead with and weight most of your discussion towards your Office Manager functions.
While it is an important skills and great experience, you will do one of two things by speaking mainly about your office management experience. One, you will not devote enough speaking time to your LAA work and therefore, the lawyer may not know your capabilities around running a file. Two, the interviewer may get the impression that what you really want is an Office Manager role.
You lead with your LAA work and while discussing your role, you highlight everything you do that is specific to your LAA role – specific to how you support and manage a file. This can be opening and closing files, client intake, scheduling meetings and trials, searches, dictation, etc.
On this, we also work with people, who are of the school of thought that because their responsibilities are listed on their resume, then that is enough. This is not enough. Assume the person you are meeting with hasn’t read your resume (they will have, but assume they haven’t). Assume they know nothing about what it is you do or how you do it. Plus, you talking about your role will strengthen what they have already read, more likely to engrain it in their mind.
Be detailed, be descriptive, keep it relevant, but do keep it concise.
After you describe your role, then you insert the examples, which we addressed in a previous article, “Are You Using Examples?”
So the next time you go into an interview, be detailed about what it is you currently do and align it to what is expected in the role that you are interviewing for.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions on this, feel free to contact our office and discuss with one of our consultants.
Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!
It’s natural to feel anxiety about an upcoming job interview. Many of the candidates we work with tend to feel nervous before they head into an interview. When you get nervous, it means that what you are doing is important to you. However, heading into an interview overly nervous tends to lead to an undesirable outcome– it can paralyze you or lead to exhibit some unflattering traits during their interview – either speaking too much and rambling or clamming up and not saying nearly enough.
Today I wanted to go over some of our suggestions to help calm your nerves before heading into the interview.
The first and most important thing to do is to be prepared. Ultimately, the best wayto stay calm is to be very prepared in every way possible. Research the firm and the lawyers the position will be supporting. Practice answers to anticipated questions, think of three to four examples that highlight things you want the interviewer to know about you and your skillset or performance on the job. Also make note of the questions you want to ask the interviewer. Know the location of where you are going, know the names of the people you will be meeting with and bring enough resumes for both them and yourself.
This is one opportunity. Remember, this is just one interview and one opportunity. You need to explore it to make sure it is the right match for you. It is important to remember that there are other jobs out there and no matter what happens, this interview will be a learning experience that will make you a better job candidate moving forward.
Also, remember that this will be a conversation. When you interview with lawyers, the majority of times the interview will take on a very conversational nature. You need to remember this – whether meeting with a lawyer, office manager or HR, this is simply one conversation. Further, it is a two way conversation. This isn’t just going to be them interrogating you—you have questions you need answered, and they are most likely just as nervous about making a good impression.
There’s only so much you can control and accept the fact that mistakes will happen. You can only control so many things about the interview process - You can take the time to figure out how long it will take to get to their office; You can pick out what you are going to wear, what you bring and how hard you prepare and study. However, you cannot control everything and you need to accept the fact that mistakes will happen.
Finally, keep in mind that you got the interview because the interviewer saw your resume and liked what they saw. You ticked enough boxes to get your foot in the door and there is enough of what they saw to believe that you can do the job. Now, it’s whether or not you are the best match. If you are, then fantastic! If it’s not the best match and you don’t get the position, then that’s okay too!
You want to make sure that you secure a position at a firm where you can be yourself and a position that aligns with your current skillset, while also pushing you to grow in your career. If this is the position for you and there is a strong match between you and the firm, then things will work out. If not, there are other opportunities out there that will provide better long term matches.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, feel free to send us an email or give us a call.
Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!
