Reading Time: < 1 minuteBusiness Acumen – what’s it all about? This term comes up quite often in legal job interviews, whether for training contracts or qualified solicitor roles. But what exactly does it mean? In reality, not a lot! The usual question is along the lines of “can you give an example of when you have had to…
Reading Time: 2 minutes“I’ve heard a lot of talk about career paths – what should I be doing about this, and is it a good idea to plan 5 years in advance when working in a law firm?” It is very hard to know what a legal career is all about when you start out in law. Firstly…
Reading Time: 2 minutes“I want to move because my current office is affecting my health – damp on the walls, mould on the ceiling, and freezing cold. No pay rise for anyone at the firm in 5 years.” Another firm yet to wake up to the realities of modern day living – being nice to your legal staff…
Reading Time: 2 minutesNegotiation with some firms is like a gunfight at OK Corral! It can be great fun dealing with firms and candidates when it comes to job offers being made by firms. Some firms make good, competitive offers, which any sensible candidate would accept, and other firms make low, slave wage level offers, which only someone…
Reading Time: 2 minutesI have recently been reading a load of books on investment, personal wealth management and similar titles, and have discovered that there are a lot of different strategies for creating your own financial stability. All the advice appears to point to either having a job or business on the side, or to conduct investment at…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe main aim and focus during interview must be: EVERYBODY LIKES ME, I LIKE EVERYBODY, I AM WILLING TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING (WITHIN REASON), I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH ANYTHING OR ANYBODY. 12 Top Tips for Surviving and Succeeding at Legal Job Interviews. 1. Do not reveal your political leanings if at all possible during…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn a recent article a senior recruiter argued that a better approach to recruitment would be as follows: (1) give full specifics of your post prior to interview – this can sometimes be very frustrating in legal recruitment – firms give very vague requirements and are surprised when candidates get annoyed at travelling a long…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe choice of benefits varies quite considerably, but you need to know why employers will like or dislike them. When that time of the year comes up when you actually get to discuss your salary and package rather than just thinking about it, it is important to have all the facts to hand. You can…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt has become the industry standard that once you are past the training level of the profession, the way to apply for the vast majority of posts, apart from local authority ones, is via a CV. In fact, most firms who have tried to use application forms for posts have met hostility from candidates, whether…
Reading Time: 2 minutesOne of the easiest ways to spot a firm who are ‘good’ to work for and who have a happy working environment is to phone the receptionist and ask to speak to someone. Some receptionists consider this a real nuisance, and I have even heard sighs and tuts as if you shouldn’t really be calling…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe often get very senior solicitors and executives registering with us, and needing to make an application for work after many years in the same post and wondering what on earth they need to do. Very often these candidates send a CV through which is about 1/2 page long and just says name, address, name…
Reading Time: 2 minutesRecently we have had dealings with a firm who are very well known and established, and have a good reputation in the market place. However the firm have made an offer to one of our candidates and pushed slightly too hard, such that the candidate rejected the offer. I should start by saying that I understand…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen interviewing a potential employee for a job, it is important to see things at all times from the employee’s perspective – they will almost certainly be trying to guess what you are wanting, thinking and going to say to them and will want to get certain things confirmed about your firm before they commit themselves. This…
Reading Time: 2 minutesPotential trainee solicitors often worry that they are either applying for too many training contracts or too few. It is one area that people seek assurance on. This is how we deal with it: Firstly we ask what degree classification the person has – if you have a high 2.1 or 1st and went to…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is a question we get asked every day by NQs calling us. Our usual advice is to start looking for work about six months before you are due to qualify. Register with up to three agencies (we would prefer you just to register with ourselves of course – or at least giving one agent a…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAs recruitment consultants, we are not sure that this is good practice. In fact I would recommend avoiding confronting candidates head on with technical questions. Firstly, at an interview a candidate is nervous and slightly wary, secondly partners of law firms are notorious for asking questions that no-one on the interview panel knows or understands,…
Reading Time: 2 minutesFirstly, be aware that a lot of employers want to do the decent thing when it comes to interviews, and are open to requests. They are highly unlikely to offer to pay travel expenses unless you ask! You have to prepared to be proactive in interviews, and not expect everything to be handed to you…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe often get enquiries from solicitors wanting to relocate, and when this happens, invariably when going from the south to the north the salary range is impossibly high to source posts, and when going from the north to the south the salary range asked for is impossibly high to source posts! Why? There is an…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThere are certain times of the year when we get inundated with telephone calls from law graduates asking “have you got any training contracts” or “where shall I look for a paralegal post”, or just “um er have you got any jobs?” There are now more people looking for legal work and less jobs, partly…
Reading Time: 8 minutesWelcome to our Advice for Newly Qualified Solicitors. You can purchase our Guide for Newly Qualified Solicitors from the Ten-Percent Legal Careers Shop. Introduction Timetable for Job hunting Salary Levels and Negotiation Qualifying with Training Contract Firm Long Term Career Plans Introduction If you are reading this and are due to qualify in the next…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis is quite an easy question to answer as to a certain extent it has no hidden agenda, unlike a lot of questions, and does not leave you open to too much cross examination. One thing to be aware of is that if you come up with “I’d travel the world as I have a…
Reading Time: 2 minutesA cursed question to anyone who has not worked with business speak before. The reality is that the concept of teamwork is somewhat different in a law firm – the majority of decisions are made at senior level, and although more junior staff are informed that they need to be ‘team players’, very often the…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis article also applies to recruitment consultant jobs generally. Becoming a legal recruitment consultant is a little like joining the Dark Side in Star Wars – it involves professionals giving up a well paid job with status to take on what is, in essence, a sales position, and very often viewed as a step down the…
Reading Time: 2 minutesI often have conversations with senior partners of law firms who ask me to find them lawyers who are willing to work hard, be committed to their firm, and show entrepreneurial flair and determination. However they do not want anyone lightweight or…. wanting to work part time. Usually the requirement is for someone who wants…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteI have to confess I asked someone this once, and he said “oh no, I have never been ambitious – I just want to earn some money”, which is an honest enough answer! In fact most employers would love this as in reality this is what they are looking for – a solicitor who is…
Reading Time: 2 minutesOpen plan offices are the bane of our lives as recruiters. Some firms insist on them, as it is good for the boss – he sits in a nice large office at the end of the hall containing the workers, and has a significant amount of credibility. The workmen all huddle around desks set out…
Reading Time: 2 minutesConveyancing is usually divided into two areas of work in a high street setting – firstly there is residential conveyancing, and secondly there is commercial conveyancing. The difference is exactly that – one is houses for individuals or investors, the other is offices and premises for business or commercial interests. On the whole, high street…
Reading Time: 2 minutesFamily law tends to be concentrated at the high street end of the legal profession, with the majority of family lawyers dealing with matters for both private or Legal Services Commission-funded (legal aid) clients, where there is probably one large asset (a house), a couple of children, and warring parents. Family law is divided up…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWills & probate is a real hybrid for law firms. There are some people dealing with private client work at very large law firms dealing with clients having millions of pounds of assets, and the majority working in regional and smaller practices dealing with the full range of work from unemployed pensioners with no assets…
Reading Time: 2 minutes(also applies to the term ‘Company Commercial Solicitor’) A company commercial solicitor is usually well paid, deals with a lot of administrative work, and spends an inordinate amount of time being nice to directors of companies from back bedroom start ups through to blue chip multinationals. In essence, company commercial work is all to do…